Customer Reviews

Empty Hand. The Essence of Budo Karate

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From the son of Mabuni Kenwa, founder of Shitu-Ryu, this is a masterpiece. If you had ever wondered what those "hidden secrets of karate" were & dismissed the phrase because you thought you had discovered them already and then you will a nice surprise waiting for you in this book.

Did Funakoshi Sensei really found the Shotokan Ryu? Who did Funakoshi really learn is kata from? The ones introduced to Japan & the world early last century.

As well as a large section on the history on the origins of karate there is a great deal of illustrated material explaining the bunkai of some kata; none of which I've ever seen before. Kenei Mabuni Sensei deals with the meaning of what karate is & how it can benefit everyone all of their life by strengthening their character as well as their mind & body.

From one of Goju Ryu's greatest karate masters. It will be of interest to all style of karate not only for addicts & adepts of Goju-ryu. The book starts naturally with a detailed historical section of where & how karate came into existence & the large influence China had on the art.

He convincingly argues that karate should stick to its traditional roots & not be sport orientated for fear of loosing the original aim of the art, which was to not just improve ones fitness, but to forever daily improve ones character by strengthening ones spirit, mind & body. Also, how karate is one of the best self defence systems because it does not need to rely upon the use of weapons & yet teaches you how to defend against any weapon.

Students of other styles & arts such as Shotokan, Shito-ryu, Judo & Jujitsu will find a wealth of information in this book & help them acquire a greater depth of understanding about the study of budo as a whole.

Goju ryu students will be interested in accounts about his father - Mabuni Kenwa, Miyagi Chojun & of course Itosu Anko sensei's for example.

The book is written in a simple & easy to read style with only a very small amount of translation problems with the use of certain words.

Empty Hand - The Essence of Budo Karate is a must have book for any Shito-Ryu practitioner. It is not a "how-to" book, but a book full of explanation of Kenei Mabuni's traditional karate and of his past. Details of Kata and their origin are detailed in an easy to read fashion. The book title says it all about this book.

if you're one of the endangered species of those who, in the jaded, post-mma era still cling to the hope of finding credible, authentic rationales of traditional karate as legitimate budo, and who have evolved past the false 'EITHER/OR' dichotomy in framing the 'spiritual'/'practical' debate...this is a beauty...

This book is great! Most of the karate books I've read only touch the surface of karate history, techniques and spiritual mindset. This book cover's those three things, but in a totally different dimension. This book is rich in Japananse history and folklore directly related to the creation and advancement of karate. The techniques covered aren't just basic manuevers, but are theories behind advanced techniques that can only be truly understood by advanced karateka. However, these explanations point the beginner karate practioner in the right direction. Only someone of Master Mabuni's caliber can explain the spiritual side of karate so well. I feel very fortunate to have read this book!