Customer Rating: Summary: Great Book Comment: This book is well worth the price, it helps you reinforce your instructions. It also prepares you for the next step. Great Customer Rating: Summary: A good reference for katas Comment: Like other authors, Nagamine starts on his beginnings as a karate man. While interesting I found the photos of katas more beneficial. Whether you come from a different style of karate, or are just forgetful of what the next move is, the photos will help you understand the basic movements a kata takes. However, this book will not teach you how to perform the moves correctly, and they will not be exactly the same as your instructor's. Customer Rating: Summary: Indispensible for Matsubayashi-ryu Comment: Do not say that you study Matsubayashi-ryu unless you own and study this book. My instructor, a sixth degree black belt, carries it in his duffel bag. I do likewise.
The first section is a good review of the history of the matsubayashi system and of the principles of martial arts. The bulk of the book contains photographs of Nagamine, the author, demonstrating kata. I have been able to learn and practice kata between lessons without waiting to ask my instructor this or that question. Consequently, I have progressed very rapidly.
However, speed of progression is not the point of the book. The point is that karate is and should be practiced as a martial art. If you want to know what that means, you MUST read this book.
Customer Rating: Summary: A Master's View of His Martial Art Comment: Sensei Nagamine shares his heart, as well as his art, in this excellent book. The history of the martial arts development as well as its forms and function are presented in an easy-to-read format. For those who are students of the martial arts, especially Shorin-Ryu, this is an insight into the mindset of one of Okinawa's greatest teachers. It is a "must have" for the traditional student who wants to preserve the original kata forms and legacy of Grandmaste Nagamine. Customer Rating: Summary: Excellent book! Comment: This book is really indispensable for those who want to study Karate-do seriously, especially Shorin-Ryu practitioners. It includes historical data (Nagamine Sensei was a researcher, himself) along with moral and philosophical aspects of Karate-do, besides the technical aspects. After that, Nagamine Sensei shows the Kata of his branch of Shorin-Ryu, the Matsubayashi (may be some differences with other Shorin-Ryu schools in several Kata) along with some essential explanations. Readers must realise that the only way to learn Kata is training in a Dojo with a Sensei. However, this book is an excellent companion to remember and review aspects of the Kata and -as said- enter the realm of Karate-do as an art and a way of life.
