CompleteMartialArts.com - The Heart of Kendo: A Comprehensive Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of the Art of the Sword
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List Price: $24.95
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Manufacturer: Shambhala
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9781590300145
ISBN: 1590300149
Label: Shambhala
Manufacturer: Shambhala
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: 2002-12-24
Publisher: Shambhala
Release Date: 2002-12-24
Studio: Shambhala
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Editorial Reviews:
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"The martial arts, if taught correctly, are limitless journeys with no final destination," writes martial arts master Darrell Craig. "They are a way of life." He begins that journey here with the basics: sitting, breathing, and the all-important bow, or rei. He describes kendo equipment and its care, then progresses to some of the basic features of a kendo practice session: warm-up exercises, assuming the proper stance, grip, strikes, and positioning. Only then does he move on to the seven long-sword forms, or kata, that are the foundation of kendo practice. But Craig's teachings go far beyond mechanics. Through stories and actual recorded conversations with his sensei, Harutane Chiba, thirty-seventh generation of a famous clan of samurai swordsmen, Craig brings you into the presence of a true legend from Japan's imperial dojo. He presents the history of kendo kata, including stories of the kendo duel of old and an appendix describing the goshi, or country samurai, about which little is known today even in Japan. Throughout, Craig emphasizes and demonstrates the respect, restraint, and discipline that lie at the heart of kendo, where the most important opponent to vanquish is oneself.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Misleading Title
Comment: I am rarely as disappointed in a book as I was with this one.
Mr. Craig has a lot of love and respect for his teacher and his art(s) that come through in his writing. His reconstructed conversations and other stories are entertaining, but focus more on his personal growth inside of his art (a specific branch of Kendo practiced in few schools in the US) rather than as "A Comprehensive Introduction" to anything. I think this book would have been stronger as a memoir of his own philosophical development in the larger arena of the history of Kendo.
The "Practice" section is just as abysmal as other reviewers have mentioned. The line drawings are unhelpful and often misleading. In one instance, there are three drawings of foot positions which the text describes differently, but there are no obvious differences between the second and third drawings. Drawings of the kata seem to exist solely for filling up page space, as they fail to illustrate anything useful about the techniques themselves. Some sections were better than others, but the layout is so counter-intuitive that it makes finding anything impractical.
Not that finding anything is going to be a problem for me. I will probably reference it a few more times before I find a book to replace it. Personally, I was so turned off by the execution of this book that I am steering clear of the other manuals written by Mr. Craig in other disciplines. I do not recommend this book as a manual, but rather as an interesting read for one man's perspective on the philosophy and history of his art.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The structure of the book is mediocre, but decent book
Comment: I tend to agree with what was written in the "spotlight review". Darrell Max Craig appears to be highly competent in his many arts, of which organizing instruction doesn't seem to be included. There are plenty of good facts, cultural explanations, and the records of his dialogs with Harutane Chiba Sensei were great additions, but unfortunately it just wasn't well thought out for the purposes of instructing beginners.
Luckily, I bought this book for the philisophical explanations and to get an idea of what the "heart" or ideals of kendo was. The book does a fine job describing the history and ideals, and gives some direct testimony from the modern equivalent of a samurai.
The poor aspects of this book are the step-by-step instructions, which were very difficult to follow. The instruction didn't flow in many of the kata and technical instruction, and barely got the point across in the easier ones. I agree that real live pictures would have helped a bit, while the "3 column outline" would be ideal for most martial art book layouts. By 3 columns, think of one column being the shidachi, one the uchidachi (each of which are participants of the kata, and the last column for the word format of instruction. I also wonder why most kata include only about 8-12 picture and expect you to be able to follow adequately. I know that a book isn't the preferred way to train (especially to start), but I don't have any kendo school within 5 or 6 hours of my city. I just think it would be nice to include a picture for each and every step. if it's a long stroke (like a full sword swing) then maybe even a middle position picture would help. Instead this book shows a picture for every 4-6 steps in some instances, then shows a numbered diagram of footprints with arrows tracking all over the place. Some of these make absolutely no sense with the wording in the text, so one must be wrong!
I would suggest this book for a newer kendoka (kendo practitioners or students) who already has (or is about to have) a sensei they train with. It is really most helpful when seeking instruction in the history, philosophy, and motivation of traditional practitioners. Don't get this for the starting instruction on how to bow, and perform kata.....there has got to be a better way to learn that! Also, the writing is pretty well done, and the book is attractively put together, and thankfully, includes a glossary of all the new japanese terms, which gets used often.
Customer Rating:
Summary: fine read.
Comment: the first part of the book was well worth buying this book for. rest is about as good as any kendo books.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Book
Comment: This interesting text about kendo is also available in hardback (or at least was, at one time). So be sure to read the reviews of the same material under the separate hardback listing.
The stories are inspiring, the text helpful. This is the most beautiful book I've ever seen devoted to a martial art.
Customer Rating:
Summary: the last samurai
Comment: Sorry to disagree with other reviews but I thought the book was not a good read. Pretty much just as worthless as watching "kill bill."
Just a lot of flash in the pan with no real substance. How could an american really be a true samurai anyways? That is like a Japanese man trying to play basketball here in America.
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