Customer Reviews

The Essence of Karate

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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This book has, quite naughtily, been promoted as previously unpublished works by some retailers, which it certainly is not. Nevertheless, the Karate enthusiast, historians and geeks should glean a lot of joy and some new snippets of knowledge and insight from the Master of Karate and the man Shotokan was named after, Gichin Funakoshi. Many of the stories have been produced before in works by Funakoshi and others, yet there is something so engrossing and comforting about this gentle man's life that make his words, repetetive or not, completely tireless.

Fundamentally, a small collection of memories, short anecdotes and words of wisdom from the great man; this book is quite the little gem. I read it in little under an hour, so don't buy it as holiday read unless you intend to study it carefully, then take a note book with you aswell and you'll stretch it to a day two.

There are, as always with Funakoshi's works, glimpses and clues as to the true nature of Karate-do, in particular for me the line, and excuse me as I'm paraphrasing here, "the true nature of Karate can never be reproduced in the sporting arena" is particularly telling. With these few words Funakoshi is clearly informing us that the true nature of Karate as the most effective self-protection system ever devised, is so brutal and dangerous that it's techniques, used as they were intended could never be re-produced as a sport. Funakoshi then reveals what most pragmatic karateka already knew but many others choose to deny, that "kata is the essence of karate" for within each kata are held complete fighting systems waiting to be unlocked and revealed.

The Essence of Karate give us wonderful insights into Funakoshi himself but also much more than I've ever read before about his great masters, Itosu and Azato, their similarities and differences and the effect of their fighting styles upon unfortunate opponents.

The forward by Sensei Kanazawa is quite interesting in itself but the afterword by Gisho Funakoshi, his nephew is filled with warmth, respect and awe for an uncle he briefly knew but left an ever lasting impression.

The Essence of Karate by Gichin Funakoshi is an absolute must for any Karate enthusiast.

This is another useful little book on Funakoshi's ideas and we should be greatful to the translators and publishers for keeping the price low. Too much of the translated martial arts literature is far too expensive. But I wish those with an interest in translating early pieces on karate would focus on others besides Funakoshi, such as Mabuni, Nakasone Genwa, Motobu and others. There is still much to be done, and what is available is often ridiculously expensive.

This book is a number one choice for all karate enthusiasts, or those who are involved with the karate martial arts. Being involved with karate, I have found this to be quite interesting; this book is the Bible of Karate. It explains the creation of karate through the monk culture of Japan.

The most amazing aspect of this book is how it wraps around the Japanese culture and how it influences their judgment. It was only for a certain number of people, mostly for the people with the right mind and soul. "In the past masters would first look at the character of potential students before agreeing to teach them. Those, whose natures were deemed inappropriate, even in the case of one's own child". This quotation is a stereotype--it is an example of how serious this martial art was before it went worldwide. The Japanese culture is honorable and takes a great pride in self-respect.

The Essence of Karate is a book for historians of the Japanese culture. It's just another variable of the development of the society. I really recommend this book for anyone who is an enthusiast of karate or the martial arts. On a personal level I would rate this book 4 stars.

Senior English Student 2011

the book is a great treatise on the philosophy of karate. It addresses issues from simple to more elaborate insight during your martial way.

This book illustrates examples of karate men who embody the essence of Karate. It is a great book for any Karate ka or student. This book is about the spirit of karate and how the purpose of martial artsif for self betterment and self defense not violence... I definitely recommend this book, although short it is very informative. This is not the most impactive karate book by Funakoshi but its very relevant and a great book non the less.