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68 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The critics have it all wrong, February 5, 2006
Although most reviewers rated this book highly, a few panned it. With one or two of those reviews, I wonder if they're even talking about the same book. Crazy ninjas? Martial fetishism? I just don't see that here.
To answer a few of the more intelligible criticisms:
The low stances pictured in this book will not necessarily get you killed or "at least whomped" in a fight. If you're even a beginner in a style that uses low stances, you can use the moves presented here. Of course, if you try these stances for the first time having only seen them in a book, you'll probably do them wrong. Well, no kidding!
Some anonymous wit here remarked that you only need such fancy techniques if you "forget how to swing a bat"-- as if wielding a stick against an unarmed person is an automatic win. This attitude will get you killed faster than any karate stance. I am a small guy of not even intermediate skill, and I've taken bats away from far larger persons who were trying to knock my head into the bleachers! If I can do it, so can some street punk who's trying to put your lights out. This book shows exactly what to do when someone grabs you or your stick and tries to turn the tables on you.
Others accuse the authors of assuming your attacker will be unarmed and won't fight back. I can only say these critics didn't read this book. The authors are very clear on these points.
As for the complexity of some of the locks and takedowns, the authors state that you cannot always deploy these when you want to, and that in the meantime you should defend yourself with basic moves. They also stress that one technique will not always (if ever) be enough to end the fight. They emphasize that the complex techniques must be executed quickly and forcefully. This takes practice. You are not supposed to just flip through a martial arts book and go try this stuff on the streets.
Gee, no kidding!
Even if you never practice the advanced techniques presented here, they are interesting. And the basic techniques are, well, basic. I say buy this book, and to its detractors, I say read this book! And pay attention this time!
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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great little classic, January 1, 2005
When I was a young martial artist 40 years ago, I always looked forward to any new books by Draeger or Chambers. You could always count on them for books on rare or interesting topics that weren't being covered by anyone else. For example, their two books on Indonesion Silat are classics and were the first published in the English speaking world on this fascinating art.
This book by Chambers and Hatsumi is another example of that, and it's a testament to it that it's still around after 34 years. Back then I remember looking at the locking technqiues with the stick and deciding they were too hard to learn from a book. Then many years later I took up kali and escrima, which has many of the same techniques, and recently when I picked up a copy of this book and look at the chapter on those techniques, I found they weren't so difficult to understand anymore, so I guess I've learned something after all. :-)
Actually, this isn't such a little book, because it contains 58 techniques, divided into about half a dozen different categories. These are techniques against fist attacks, foot attacks, wrist holds, sleeve and lapel graps, seizure from behind, stick holding, and immobilizations. Each category has at least 6 or 7 techniques, although some have more, so there's a good selection of techniques of each type. One nice feature is a section devoted to jutte techniques, a rarely seen art that I know very little about. The section on basic techniques includes footwork diagrams, something often lacking and neglected in many books on martial arts.
After a brief intoduction and description of the stick arts in the Japan and a short discussion of the basic concepts, the authors devote most of the book to the vaious techniques. Despite the plates probably being pretty old at this point, the photos are still pretty clear and although slightly lacking in contast. However, if I remember right, this was the case with the first edition 30 years ago. At the end there's a brief glossary of Japanese terms.
With over 300 photos, easy to follow text and photos, and almost 60 techniques, this is an excelent introduction to the Kukishin-ryu art of stick fighting.
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Appropriate book with good explanations and photographs., May 27, 2004
By A Customer
I have been doing jo training for eleven years. This book has shown me things that I have never seen nor thought of. I own a dim-mak book as well and it is amazing how much overlap. In this book the author even uses accurate bone names. Pay attention to the techniques using a hanbo or similar instrument. These techniques and weapons are more powerful than you may think. Many of these techniques would be impractical to use, and he points it out from time to time. Very refreshing. The point of the mover is not to memorize them, but to learn what the weapon and skill is capable of doing. I looked at the back of this book and saw the rediculous pictures and poses. I though that this would be mostly fluff. Those moves are far easier and useful than it first seems. I have used technique 23(a strange cross-wrist scisoring) in too-rough sparing sessions and it worked to great success. My partner had no idea what had happened.
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