Customer Reviews

Looking at a Far Mountain: A Study of Kendo Kata (Tuttle Martial Arts)

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Being Japanese it is easy for me to read about Kendo, as there are many books on this subject available in my home country. 'Looking at a far Mountain', or 'Enzan No metsuke' Is the first book in English to study the aspects of Kata in depth. I first discovered it back in 1992 at its first publication. I found it to be extremely informative historically and clear in the technical explanation. The format is unusual, each section following the photographic layout.i.e. Uchidachi and Shidachi and I must say that I really appreciate the endeavours of the author. I am positive that this book, now available in paperback will inform and assist many practitioners of Kendo everywhere Signed: M Itoh.

This book is the perfect companion for anyone interested in Kendo, and more specifically, the kata associated with it. Kata seems to be one of the least written about aspects of Kendo, and by purchasing this book, one is able to improve their kata quite a bit. A must have for Kenshi!

This book contains detailed information on the kendo katas. It has all the notes one would like to have on how to perform each one. With this I do not need to worry about taking notes after classes and I can focus on performance. I especially like the shidachi and the uchidachi shown in opposing pages, so one can view the complete sequence at a glance. It also have interesting historical information with pictures. This book is a "must have" to practice far from Japan.

After many years of undertaking other martial arts, I've found myself having the opportunity to study Kendo. The club where I train has an emphasis on kata from the start of your training, and Budden's book provides nice clear illustrations of how to proceed with the long and short sword forms.

The pictures are clear, and the points of note useful when atempting to refine your practice. Overall a much better (and understandable) coverage of the kata than Ozawa's "Kendo: The definitive guide". The page lay-out includes both shidachi and uchidachi as they enter and exit, though I would have liked to have seen movement arrows (a la Yang, Jwing-Ming). Overall though, this has been a very useful purchace, and I recommend it for anyone interested in learning and refining their kendo kata.

This is a very informative book for those kenshi studying the Nihon Kendo Kata. Most do not devote enough time to the study and practice of the kata and this book is a valuable aid for this purpose.

I found this to be a wonderful book. I recommend it for all kenshi who do not read Japanese but want to make a throrough study of kata. The author lays the groundwork for understanding the theory and spirit behind the kata as well as deatailng the movements.

...this is just a very well done book, appealing to the eyes and full of useful information. Importantly, it covers the kata of kendo and presents them in a meaningful way.

A well done volume which goes beyond the basic repetitive kendo books which have been "done before". What a delight that this volume was finally reprinted! Enjoy!

but.. i would rather suggest dvd rather than trying to read and learn from any book. best way to learn kata is, of course, from sensei at dojo.