Perfect Karate [Import] [Paperback]

Shigeru; Miura, Miyuki; Oyama, Yasuhiko Oyama (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Asahi Press (1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4255960437
• ISBN-13: 978-4255960432
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,873,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good, February 25, 2005

By 

ShinKyokushin (Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfect Karate (Paperback)

The first time I glanced trough this book I was dissapointed.

Having read it a few times, I now cannot understand why -probably because the photos that could have been better (white clad practicioners on white background. Not much contrast which makes it hard on the eyes).

Shigeru Oyama was one of the finest and most respected teachers in kyokushin karate (known for its full contact, bareknuckle competitions), until he left and founded his own style known as world Oyama karate.

This book is one of very few to focus on the fighting aspect of full contact styles. Tactics, theory and fighting combinations is the core of this book, and it is all very good.

While many combinations shown would be fouls in any knockdown bout (the full contact, bareknuckle rule system used in kyokushin, world oyama, ashihara and several other full contact styles), it is the tactics and foot work that gives a glimpse of how Jissen kumite (all out full contact karate fighting) should look like.

I highly recommend this book to any practicioner of any style that use knockdown rules in competition (you know who you are). Practicioners of other styles might find it interesting to see aswell, even if they might not use most of the information due to rules restrictions and the difference in tactics that it leads to.

5.0 out of 5 stars A hidden gem..., September 5, 2009

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Still waiting - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Perfect Karate (Paperback)

I came across this title in a list of Kyokushin books on a forum. I had never heard of it, not had anyone else I knew, so I bought a used copy. Verdict: well-worth the price of admission. The illustrations and format are excellent, in the same style as 'Fighting Karate' if that helps. The book is devoted to kumite, no kata and the kihon demonstrated is very technical in presentation. The rest of the book is all fighting. It is unusual in that it also deals with different personality-types of people and what techniques are best/less useful for them, something I have not seen in a karate book before.

The goshin-jutsu at the end of the book is very good. The techniques are all believable, unlike most goshin-jutsu, even in Kyokushin books. No multi-step 'I do this while bad guy does that and then...' or doing some multi-step technique that requires said bad guy to stand stock still. As a rule of themb, any self-defense technique requiring more than four pictures to illustrate is suspect right from the start. The techniques in Perfect Karate are all hard, fast and nasty, and leave you with a feeling of "Ouch, now THAT would leave a mark". The tone of this section is like the rest of the book, you feel like the author is dispensing advice over a beer to you. I quote: "Basically what we want to say is, avoid fights, but when you are unable to, then you should go ahead and beat your assailants to a pulp." This would not pass the Politically Correct tests of the current day, but it is refreshing.

This book is, in tone and content, NOT an American karate book but a Japanese karate book that has been translated for accuracy, not the sensitivities of North America. A hard to find book, I got mine used for a good price. The Oyama website now has a four-volume work that expands this work, so that might be a better way to go than paying too much for a used copy. Each volume is less than twenty-bucks, tempting even though I have this copy. Try a web search. Worthwhile, buy it.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT!, July 6, 2000

By 

Dean Diefendorf (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perfect Karate (Paperback)

Excellent photo-packed guide with explanations that will guide the student from the basics to full-contact sparring. This book is excellent in reinforcing what you learn in class.