Customer Reviews

Knife and Pistol Fighting

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2 star:		(1)
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Masaaki Hatsumi is the head of a martial art style. In this book he builds on the experience the practicioners of his art has and applies them to using a pistol. People who are not familiar with either Hatsumi's art nor firearms will probably not get much of anything at all from this book. Hatsumi does not teach how to do a san shin type strike in this book, though his technique depends on the person knowing it. In the same way, he does not teach gun safety or trigger control. There are other sources that can teach you both of the above skills and once you have them you can get some value out of this book.

In form, the pistol techniques Hatsumi teaches are very close to the techniques taught by Rex Appplegate and other point shooting advocates. I have tried these techniques out with both a soft air pistol and real pistols and found them to be quite effective within seven meters, the average range of a gun battle. And even in dim lighting when you can not see the sights you can use these techniques as long as you know where the target is and have a good hold on the pistol.

Hatsumi's techniques in this book ARE realistic. Also alot better than others I have read and techniques I have seen demonstrated. i.e kick the gun with this beatiful kick from the attackers hand? Good luck to you. There is no technique that is totally realistic or safe......and the probability unless you are incredibly skilled is that you will be hurt. However, the techniques in this book have been thought of in a very intelligent and constructive way. Congratulations to you Sensei Hatsumi

In this book, one of his early ones, Soke uses his experience in going to the USA for the first time to come to certain understandings about the nature of martial arts. A number of important principles are brought up in conversations with various participants in the seminars that he undertook at the time this book was written.

While these principles are actually quite important parts of Soke's art, the fact that they only comprise a relatively small part of this book will probably mean that very few will notice their value (if indeed, they are noticed in the first place). The majority of this book is filled with photos of techniques in action as well descriptions to match.

The layout of this English-translationed version (not to mention the quality of the translation) is quite cumbersome and along with the photocopy quality of the photos and text, makes for difficult reading.

Despite all of this, there is the odd gem or two hidden in this book, though it will be understandable, and perhaps reasonable, for the reader to look for them in some of Soke's more matured works.

You will be biased like myself. However anyone that knows anything about handgun defense and use will be able to see that the techniques in this book are both realistic and practical. I do feel that in order for this book to be really usefull you have to have some knowledge of basic Budo-Taijutsu techniques because it will be very hard to get the basics from this book. It is definately something for more advanced practitioners and martial artists.

ok so we all know soke wants to be a cowboy....hahaha...and we americans wanna be japanese ninja? no no no ...we will just leave it at that...although proof is in the pudding..there arent no more cowboys right?yea just like there isnt no more ninja....again nuff said you chose. but i think this says something.
i dare ya to call one of the cowboys still left a NEO cowboy...neo ninja cmon...ninjutsu is not dead.
budo maybe .... ah i love to call it out...are ya itching yet?

bottom line these techniques will work AT NIGHT like they are supposed to..and the form will help u hit dead center just as any good shooting coach should..but we dont have to change our form if we train this way already...bonus!!!
and getting to see pictures of the first ever taikai was a treat..if im not mistaken thats was this was sokes first "taikai" in ohio....use of kuji and the breathing methods taught in the art will only sharpen your aim.
by if you want to learn what a ninja would with a pistol...wish they would have done juust a few rifle waza...which could fit into hanbo/kenjutsu/the rifle was a muli faceted weapon then as it is now..dont thorw it away if your out of shells...unless you have back up and again i could be wrong about all this...good luck ..i would recommend to any japanese system fighter jujutsu aikido ect ect..

I've had this book for several years and it has always been a source of personal interest. The techniques are very interesting and, perhaps more importantly, reflect the basic body movements (taijutsu) of Dr. Hatsumi's system. Even for those who are training in another art, there is a great deal of useful information as to how one might incorporate knives and especially guns into your own method of natural body movement.

Perhaps more importantly, the book illustrates two fundamental concepts quite well. The first might be seen as defensive offense. By this I mean that most of the techniques show an agressive attack that, at the same time, utilizes positioning and a knowledge of the bodies movement capabilities to protect you when you execute the technique. This is a defense not just to the weapon in question but also to the person wielding it. One will find when playing with a rubber gun that many standard techniques will bring the muzzle of the gun or the edge of the knife into a position where the enemy can use it against you. This book provides info into how you can keep from putting yourself at risk while executing a technique. The second concept is that the weapon is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself. Your "job" is to disable your attacker so that they are not a threat. If firing the gun into their body works, fine. If not, the gun can be used as a striking object, a piece of misdirection, etc. The knife can cut or it can be used to trap an opponent's limb. This reduction of the hallowed weapon to a mere tool on the level of your hand or foot, albiet with a recognition of its different capabilities) is important. Far too many people will focus on the weapon as what they "have" to attack with, even if it's not the best choice at that moment.

The book suffers from two things. In my copy at least, the paper quality is similar to newspaper, which makes the photos dark and several are difficult to make out. This is agravated by the fact that a few of the techniques are shown in less frames than you need to understand how they got from photo 3 to photo 4. Not a problem if you have a competent sensei to assist you but it can make things difficult if you're trying to learn from the book only. The second thing is that the boo is a translation from Japanese and the English sections are a bit clunky.

All of this said, this is a fine book and very useful. It's a shame that it's out of print and some of the used prices are amazingly high when it's available at all!

I am a member of Bujinkan,and this is something what everyone of us must have.I practice in Bujinkan 10 years and I am 2 Dan. and support this book.

If you want to read about handgun defense, look for books and articles by Ayoob, Applegate, Fairbairn, Cirillo, etc. Nothing in this book is conducive to realistic defense of one's life.

Hatsumi's books (at least those published in English) seem geared more for the overly impressionable young teenager than for mature people who are aware of the realities of the modern world. I've practiced Eastern martial arts and dabbled in Western combat concepts for several years, and I've seen how inadequate Hatsumi's notions are in the face of modern combat realities. If you're hanging out with asian-style martial artists who will give you a dojo type of fight, you might do okay. But you're looking for the skills and frame of mind to cope with life in the big bad city, don't waste your time with this irrelevant nonsense.