Mu Tau: The Modern Greek Karate [Paperback]

Jim Arvanitis (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 189 pages
• Publisher: Todd & Honeywell; 1st edition (July 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899620019
• ISBN-13: 978-0899620015
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,940,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Demitrios "Jim" Arvanitis is world recognized as Greek pankration's "Renaissance man." The Greek-American has made it his life's work to rebuild the remnants of the ancient combat sport from its ashes.

Among the elite pioneers of mixed martial arts, Arvanitis cross-trained in a number of different styles before it was an accepted practice. Opposing the theory that martial arts originated in Asia, Arvanitis began an odyssey to discover the combat roots of his ancestors before he was twenty years old. From the ancient pankration, he carefully analyzed the descriptions of Greece's early writers, and the paintings and sculptures of its most influential artists. These sources became his "blueprint" in resurrecting pankration into a modern form. It was Arvanitis alone who would introduce it to mainstream martial arts as early as 1970 and popularize it throughout the world in the years that followed.

Arvanitis has received myriad awards and has been honored by numerous organizations. In 2001 he was nominated by his former home state of New Hampshire as its "Athlete of the Century", and in 2006 was given "Living Legend" status by his fellow grandmasters in the World Head of Family Sokeship Council. Black Belt magazine inducted him into their elite Hall of Fame as "Instructor of the Year" in 2009. In addition to his contributions to the martial arts world, Jim is also a former boxing and wrestling champion, and a multiple world record holder for thumb pushups.

Highly respected for his teaching prowess, Arvanitis opened the first pankration palaistra (school) in 1972 and has also conducted seminars in many parts of the world. His students include boxers, wrestlers, martial artists from various styles, professional bodyguards and stuntmen, law enforcement personnel, and military special forces. Jim continues to teach small classes and privately, and has new book and video projects in the works. Specializing in both combat sport and reality street-defense applications, many seek him out for his effective weapons defenses and handgun disarming techniques.

Today, Jim Arvanitis is legendary for his inspiring list of achievements and by beating the odds in restoring a legacy from antiquity. Through his athletic feats, books, videos, hundreds of television appearances, magazine articles and radio interviews, Arvanitis has truly earned the title of "Father of Modern Pankration."



Website: www.jimarvanitis.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting and Rare Book by a Martial Arts Legend, January 13, 2011

By 

PrimeTruth - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mu Tau: The Modern Greek Karate (Paperback)

Mu Tau: The Modern Greek Karate is Jim Arvanitis' first book written in 1979. This book, by the Pankration popularizer, is often hard to come by and can be expensive (if memory serves I paid $60) but if you're a rare book collector like me, I'd say it's worth owning this piece of history.

The book begins with a history and basic philosophy of Mu Tau. The book then progresses to the physical and mental attributes, such as strength, speed, agility, and endurance, and how to improve each of these attributes, though he is a bit vague here on exactly how to do this. The third chapter deals with fighting positioning and distance. The fourth, the various bodily weapons at your disposal. The fifth and sixth, various defensive maneuvers and counter-attacking. Chapters seven and eight, some tips on street fighting, fighting strategies, and psychological attributes and training tips.

The book is actually very similar to Bruce Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do, as it's main purpose is to give a brief overview of the techniques and training methods of Arvanitis' fighting system. It's well written and, like the Tao of Jeet Kune Do, it has similar drawings demonstrating each technique, and this is where the book gets even more interesting.

If you look closely at many of the drawings, Arvanitis clearly traced drawings from Bruce Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do, such as several of the grappling maneuvers as just one example on page 118. If you compare MuTau's grappling section with Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do many of the drawings are exact.

That is one of the most fascinating facts about the book in my opinion and it's a treat to have such a rare book by a legend in the martial arts world.

5.0 out of 5 stars Laying the Foundation for MMA, October 26, 2011

By 

George Harris - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mu Tau: The Modern Greek Karate (Paperback)

"Mu Tau: The Modern Greek `Karate'" was Jim Arvanitis' first book on pankration and it is indeed a work of art. The quality of the written content was way ahead of the times, when classical karate and kung-fu ruled the roost. It gives us our initial glimpse of the ancient Greek combat sport and many of the principles that Arvanitis had developed early on based on that of his ancestors. It is fully illustrated with occasional photos here and there of Jim working out or sparring.

As a longtime follower of Grandmaster Arvanitis I must disagree with some of what was said in a previous review by PrimeTruth. First of all Jim did not "clearly trace drawings from Bruce Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do." Lee was not the only one who drew from various sources as many tend to think. It's obvious that he actually traced much of his grappling section from judo books that predate the Tao. Also, there are many wrestling techniques such as the guillotine (aka "twister") and others that were not in Lee's material, this coming from Arvanitis' long association with wrestling. Again, there are some images that are alike, but this is perhaps due to both authors extracting the same drawings from their chosen references.

Although the more recent books written by Arvanitis have evolved in its format and quantitative scope, this one is essential to anyone's library. It not only exposed pankration to mainstream martial arts, but paved the way for mixed martial arts. It deals with fighting, not the fancy forms, board breaking and routines that most confided in at the time. Obviously Jim was way ahead of the curve and envisioned something that the rest of the martial arts world did not.

The format is a large 9x12 with 193 pages worth of fascinating information from a legendary martial arts pioneer.