Heart of Karate-Do [Paperback]

Product Details

• Paperback: 127 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha America
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870118161
• ISBN-13: 978-0870118166
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,185,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart of Karate Do, June 22, 2000

By 

Kevin Meisner (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Heart of Karate-Do (Paperback)

This book has been out of print for some time and now it's back! It is one of my favorite books about karate, written by a man who studied directly from Gichin Funakoshi. Originally published at The Way of Karate: Beyond Technique, this book will guide karate practitioners to another side of karate, a softer, more powerful, and more spiritual side as described by one of the pre-JKA pioneers, Shoto Kai Master Shigeru Egami. This book provided insight and helped me improve my karate (I have trained in Wado Ryu for over 20 years). The book also has historical significance in that it provides a window into the understanding of a man who trained with Funakoshi and went on to make his own discoveries.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Only ONE problem: Why replace the photos?, October 8, 2002

By 

Jozev (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heart of Karate-Do (Paperback)

This is no doubt a true classic in the traditional Karate world, which I should find no reason not giving it full marks. So where is that missing star?
The problem came with this 'Revised Edition'. I was so surprised when I received it, finding out that they'd replaced all the demonstration photos from the older version. What a dumb move. The quality of the new photos might be a little bit better, but the new demonstrators are simply not on par with the ones in the original version.
My advice: If you can afford the $ and time, hunt down an out-of-print copy of the original version instead.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought Japanese Karate had No High Kicks?, October 30, 2001

By 

C. J. Hardman (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Heart of Karate-Do (Paperback)

Think again! But for the pioneering spirit of Shigeru Egami...Egami pioneered certain flexability and strength exercises that are demonstrated in this book. Included are several kicking exercises which are similar or identical to many done by Korean and Chinese stylists, like the jump split kick, jump double front kick (both feet out at the same time), and so on. Also many jumping and flexing exercises. If you are familiar with the martial art of Shintaido, founded by Horoyuki Aoki, you will note many similarities, for Aoki, a disciple of Egami's, encorporated many of Egami's flexibility training ideas and techniques directly into Shintaido, making them the foundation of the art and doing away with much of the ridgidity that had taken over Shotokan since Funakoshi. Egami was an accomplished karate man, unafraid to innovate, experiment, and include new helpful training methods. Advanced "hard" stylists should enjoy this book, especially Shotokan, Wado-ryu, Sh'to-ryu, Kyokushinkai. Egami is seen in some circles as the "Tohei of Shotokan", innovating and changing karate in a manner similar to the way Koichi Tohei changed Aikido.