The story describes the journey of one man through 30 years of martial arts training. From the first karate class with a newly arrived Japanese instructor in 1971, he goes on to study with eminent martial artist of today. Among them are, Toyotaro Miyazaki, the nationally rated competitor of the 60s and 70s described by Chuck Norris as one of his toughest opponents, and Ken Ogawa one of the toughest fighters to come out of Morio Higaonnas Yoyogi dojo. The other instructors are Kiyoshi Yamazaki, trainer and choreographer for Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Conan movies and Joko Ninomiya, All Japan Kyokushin Champion and creator of the Sabaki Challenge tournament. Memorable moments depict meetings at the AAU Nationals with notables as Billy Blanks, Mr. Tae Bo, and Chuck Merriman. As a young student in the traditional Shotokan system, this narrative chronicles the transition to the eclectic modern training methods. This evolution the result of hard-earned lessons in real life encounters while working as a Miami Police Officer on the mid-night shift.
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About the Author
Antonio Bustillo has thirty years of training in the martial arts. He has worked as a Miami Police Officer. He is currently living in South Florida where he continues to dedicate himself to steady training, teaching and writing.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Honest Man's View of Karate,
By
This review is from: Steady Training (Paperback)
Antonio Bustillo is like a character in an Elmore Leonard book. Leonard is perhaps the finest living practitioner of the crime novel, that pedestrian form brought to celestial heights by Leonard and his predecessors Chandler, Cain, and Hammett. Among precious few others. Bustillo's like a Leonard protagonist because he's ornery, honest to a fault, a modest but proud man whose girlfriend's seat in a bar he will not allow a rude person to usurp; in a word, a stand-up guy. One key to Bustillo's character, he's not really American (he was naturalized), he's Cuban. His grandfather was a beloved pharmacist in Guantanamo. His parents fled Castro's totalitarian regime when Antonio was five. At twelve, slight of stature and going to junior high school in Miami, he kept a lead pipe wrapped with newspaper in his locker. At thirteen, he started studying karate. It was his enormous good fortune that two students of the great Kenkojuku sensei Tomasaburo Okano, Koji Sugimoto and Takashi Akusawa, were teaching in Miami during the years of his early training. (He made black belt at sixteen in the days when rank wasn't given lightly.) In this day when Chuck Norris poses in catalogs in a stars-and-stripes karate outfit, it's thrilling to read Bustillo's account of what it was like for him, as a teenager, to train with the incomparable Akusawa (or Akazawa), whom Bustillo calls "to date the best karate man I have seen," adding, "Akazawa would hit everyone 99.9% of the time." This is only the beginning! This book is like "Huckleberry Finn," if Huck, not Mark Twain, were doing the actual writing -- don't look for smooth flawless style -- and if Huck were a serious martial artist exiled from the nearest Communist satellite. There's a movie in this book. Bustillo becomes a Miami police officer! Thrills, chills, and spills! And the most amazing thing about it is that Bustillo, whose thinking has altered greatly since he endured the many thousands of drills as a teenager -- has written this book not in praise of himself (well, maybe a bit, but never directly, and only when it's due) -- but in praise of the worthiness of the martial arts when properly viewed by one whose vision is that of service rather than self-promotion. Martial artists will devour it; so will anybody who wants to read about some true-life adventures among the toughest of the tough.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Steady Training,
By Hoosain Narker (Cape Town, South Africa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Steady Training (Paperback)
Rarely does one find the time to read a book. It is even more rare to start a book and not want to put it down. Such was the case when I first started reading "Steady Training" by Antonio Bustillo.I've been fortunate to meet the author and to enjoy a training session with him prior to the Publication of this book. The guy was so sneaky as to not even let us know he was busy writing a book. I really enjoyed the book - many of the incidents were so similar to what I had experienced that it brought a good feeling to me knowing that the author wrote from within himself. This is a no-frills book which clearly highlights the author's travel from beginner level to where he is today. I certainly encourage you to read this book as it can only be of benefit. Sincerely Hoosain Narker
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Woman's View of Steady Training,
By Iraida Iturralde (West New York, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Steady Training (Paperback)
Antonio Bustillo's autobiographical book is a virtual ballet of leaps and throws, a choreographed display of unbound energy. The reader is overcome by its cinematic frenzy, literally swept up by the superimposed images of the body in a burst of thunder. The pace is quick indeed and, lack of good editing notwithstanding, the language flows as if from the hand of a seasoned writer. In this, his first book, Mr. Bustillo shows that he is as comfortable with the pen as he is practicing a flawless kata. His attention to detail is meticulous to a fault and, to a female tyro in this ancient manly art, Mr. Bustillo's eloquent descriptions, always tinged with a sense of humor, are both didactic and entertaining. The dramatic suspense of competitive sports is played out to the fullest in his thrilling accounts of the tournaments and stand-offs. Then there are the frozen frames, so vividly depicted that they linger in the mind long after the last page has been turned: the upthrust of a solid kick, a sudden rush of jabs... Yet Steady Training is much more than that. On the surface, it is the journey of a martial artist from an aspiring adolescent to a wise and sturdy Sensei; on a deeper level, it is a case study of the human condition, seen through the penetrating gaze of one whose physical prowess and mental endurance have been constantly tested. At times, the training seems unnecessarily brutal, like a primal yearning for the sight of blood. Yet it is this forced intensity that prepares the author for the jungle-like encounters in the streets, whether as a policeman or as a debonair gentleman taking his girlfriend out on the town. After reading this book, I would visit Antonio Bustillo's dojo anytime, if only to hire him as my bodyguard.
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