Customer Reviews

The Secret Royal Martial Arts of Ryukyu (German Edition)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

'The secret royal martial arts of Ryukyu' is a trip in time back to the origin of karate. It appears to confirm the research and theories of Bruce D Clayton in his book 'Shotokan's secret' (which I highly recommend) where he proposes that, aside from Okinawan 'te' and Chinese 'kung fu', many forms of karate had the further origin in Japanese 'ju-jutsu' and many weapon arts. This book is not for the beginner, it is more an informative guide regarding the original form of Okinawan martial art which has been kept alive in secret. The pictures would not be of particular use to a beginner as they cannot be followed in practice without a degree of experience in similar movements. The photo's are black and white and often of poor quality and while the translation has been excellently done the book leaves you wishing that it was much more comprehensive and useable as a working textbook. However, I rated this book at five stars as there is no equivalent work (upon this school of martial art) extant currently to my knowledge, although as I mention Bruce D Clayton has done an extremely good job of coming close. This book will be a benefit to anyone practicing a style of karate derived from Shuri origins, particularly if you have sufficient experience to recognise the applications demonstrated in the photo's.