Customer Reviews

The Way of the Warrior: Martial Arts and Fighting Styles from Around the World

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although the information provided in this book is very brief, it does do a terrific job on giving you a really good yet basic overview on pretty much every martial art known to man throughout the world. Now I am quite sure that not every martial art was included in this book, I would be hard pressed not to agree with the statement that at least 90+% of them were included in this book.

The author provides you with some pretty amazing color and black and white photographs on glossy paper to really enhance their effect. Although this may not be a book that you can learn a particular technique from, it is definitely a book that you can learn something from.

Shawn Kovacich
Martial Artist/Creator of numerous books and DVD's.

The photos that are included in this book may well worth the purchase. They are stunning and dramatic. Beautiful.

If you simply are looking at the book from this visual perspective, it is worth the purchase. However, there are so many inaccuracies noted that it would take another book to point them out or correct them. This is very disappointing since it really detracts from what could be a landmark book. It seems as it the author had the magnificent photos and simply did a quick cut & phase of historical information, disregarding the source and the seemingly countless inaccuracies. The author would have better served the public if he had a group of people who knew how to do research fill in the details of each art, checking for historical accuracy.

I wish these were corrected because it has the potential for a 5 star book.

The Way of the Warrior: Martial Arts and Fighting Styles from Around the World
Well, the photos are amazing....even some of the information inside are amazing....but then i found a more and more information incorrect or missing. For example there is missing founder of Russian martial art Systema (p278).....if you take a 5 minutes research, you get the name - Mr. A.A.Kadochnikov. And there is more similar "defects". You know, i would expect from such book that information will be at least on the same level as photos are and as i wrote in a beginning - photos are amazing.....Real shame that significantly decrease value of the book. If i would know this before i would think twice whether buy the book or not...

It's a purchase you can say: Perfect!
It's a very well done book, beautiful very professional photos, and it contains some martial arts many people never heard of.
Simply perfect!
[...]

The book was in perfect condition, I bought it for a gift and they absolutely loved it. I highly recommend buying from this seller =]

At first look, this book looks quite interesting.
But it is Littered with historical inaccuracies and misinformation, especially in regard to the Japanese arts. It looks like this "author" did his "research" by just grabbing blurbs of fabricated information off of a bunch of web sites and regurgitating it in this book.

The Korean section repeats the modern myth that Tae Kwon Do is 2,000 years old, when in fact it is only around 60. It also mentions Taekyon, which everyone now knows never existed.

In the Japanese section it has a segment on Taihojutsu, which i have direct knowledge and experience in. Taihojutsu is NOT a martial art, it is a program created in 1947 by a committee in the Tokyo Metro Police Department that combines elements of different martial arts. The book identifies the year it was established correctly, but it says "no known founder". The "founder" is known. He was my teacher's teacher. My teacher introduced the program to the U.S. This book identifies a kickboxing coach as the person who developed the art into what it is today. Which is just silly. This is just one example of how misinformed this author is on the subjects related to Japanese martial arts.

I would recommend that serious martial artists stay away from this book.
Some of the information I know to be accurate and some may be new information to me. But the shear volume of things that I know to be dead wrong and in many cases fabricated earns this book a big fat ZERO.
The author may not have actually fabricated information. But he sure never did any fact checking.
The sad thing is that this is likely to become a popular book and this tripe will actually be believed by unsuspecting readers and further propogated through new web sites, books and teachings in lower end martial arts classes.

If you like big books with nice pictures, this is for you. If you want historical facts on martial arts forget about this one.

Love the book, knew someone who had one so i had to get it.. took awhile for shipping but it came in before the end date that was listed. only downfall was the corners of the book were kinda crushed in.. but kept it anyways. love the book..

This book kind of sucks. A lot of it is professional reworded Wikipedia articles. Especially the less known martial arts. The photos aren't even taken for the book. A lot of them were bought for used or asked for permission to use for the book.

The first thing that stands out with Chris Crudelli's new book "The Way of the Warrior: Martial Arts and Fighting Styles From Around the World" is the stunning photographs throughout the entire volume of this coffee table sized visual smorgasbord of martial arts from around the world. It is fascinating to browse and marvel at the wonderful pictures that fill almost every page of this oversized 360 page tomb of martial art information and splendor.

This magnificent visual guide to the martial arts is divided into seven sections, with each section focusing on the indigenous and imported styles synonymous with a particular geographical region. These sections include: India and South Asia; China and East Asia; Southeast Asia and Oceania; Japan and Okinawa; Europe; Africa, Middle East and Central Asia; and finally The Americas. In these seven sections there are descriptions of more than 300 fighting styles. Included are the obvious well known martial arts such as Judo, Karate, Taekwondo, and Aikido. But also included are little know obscure arts like Aki Kiti, Ba Ji Quan, Mizongyi, Taekyon, Banshay, and many others. The book is truly a fascinating look at more martial art styles than most people ever realized existed. Pictures range from ancient drawings, old photographs, and modern photos of stunning displays of martial prowess with fascinating backdrops. There are action shots from competitions and martial art demonstrations as well as those from training sessions and ancient training halls and temples. I can't stress enough what a visual feast this book is for the martial art enthusiast.

The text includes descriptions of the various fighting styles as well as notes on key players in the arts history as well as modern masters. The book illustrates key weapons the various styles are known for and describes the main principles and theories behind the styles. Obviously, due to how the book is organized, the country and culture of each style is also provided. These descriptions are brief, but make for a very interesting overview of the arts to accompany the great photographs.

Scattered among the descriptions and colorful pictures are quotes that capture the spirit of the various arts and warriors who devised them and helped shape the styles into not only methods of fighting but for many a way of life. I was glad to see one of my favorite quotes from Karate Master Gichin Funakoshi, "The ultimate goal of karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the perfection of the character of its participants."

This book is truly a work of art and a wealth of information. It could easily take a place on the coffee table of any martial artist, or a professional lobby or school front for anyone who practices the arts. And it is definitely a marvelous addition to any martial art library. I sincerely thank Chris Crudelli for putting such a book together. I highly recommend this for all martial artists and those who follow the warrior's path.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, author of the DVD set Hapkido Cane.

I was stunned at how comprehensive this book is. Virtually every martial art in the world is profiled here. Great photography and thorough research make it a great read. Sure, some of the systems listed here are a bit suspect(especially in the North America section), but the vast majority of the material is very good! Just buy it, you won't be disappointed!