Book recommendation's

[NidaninNJ]

I checked out your website Mark. Very Nice...

Yeah I agree. https://www.karatethejapaneseway.com is a really good website. Did you check out the Karate Underground there? It's a lot like this group but not nearly as big.

[Killer Miller]

No, I'll have to check it out. Fellow JKA discussion is fun...

- Killer -

[Fairfax_Uechi]

I have to second the Patrick McCarthy books. They have a lot of insight into the Okawanian arts. Also if you read the bibliography closely you'll see that he has references from all of the major masters in the books.

[Drgnslyer]

I'm a massive *and I mean massive* fan of the book "Budo Theroy"

.....not a ton on historical stuff as in a textbook would be...but on the origional theroy behind traditional karate....WOW

It's an incredibly heavy read if you really get into it, and is a massive amount of information for a book it's size...and ultimately only scratches the surface of the theroy behind the technique...but once you have the historical information of people, places, and dates, check this book out for the meaning behind the theroy of katate.

[NidaninNJ]

I'm a massive *and I mean massive* fan of the book "Budo Theroy"

.....not a ton on historical stuff as in a textbook would be...but on the origional theroy behind traditional karate....WOW

It's an incredibly heavy read if you really get into it, and is a massive amount of information for a book it's size...and ultimately only scratches the surface of the theroy behind the technique...but once you have the historical information of people, places, and dates, check this book out for the meaning behind the theroy of katate.

I think you meant 'theory'.

[Drgnslyer]

*grins*

perfection clearly isn't one of my strong points

[angus88]

I like the following quite a bit -

1. Seikichi Toguchi - Okinawan Goju-Ryu and Okinawan Goju-Ryu II

2. Peter Urban - Karate Dojo

3. Tetsuhiro Hokama - History and Traditions of Okinawan Karate

[Nurvingiel]

I definitely second Budo Theory. This book really outlines a lot of useful points about a number of aspects of karate. I haven't read it in quite a while but I remember being very impressed with it.

I think a far better book would be John Sells' Unante: The Secrets of Karate (2nd edition). It is about 50 dollars, but the best book in English I've read on karate history (Okinawan and Japanese). If you want to know Okinawan karate history, that would be it. Most other books seem just like a Reader's Digest version in comparison.

Funakoshi's book certainly does have some interesting anecdotes, but any one serious about learning the history of Okinawan karate should invest in John Sells' book.

This may be the only place to buy it (perhaps?): http://www.martialsource.com/Unante.htm

Thanks for the link Shorin Ryuu! $55 is a good deal for that book.

I recommend Funakoshi's book Karate-do Nyumon: The Master Introductory Text, and Okinawa's Complete Karate System: Isshin-ryu by Michael Rosenbaum. This book is very well-written and succinctly explains important karate concepts and history.

[wilko9999]

toa of jeet kune do by bruce lee

[Karate-addict]

Mark Bishop: Okinawan Karate: teachers, styles and secret techniques

One of the best books about okinawan karate.

Somebody also mentioned Unante which is probably the best book on the subject of karate's history. I highly recommend it.

You can also get it here http://www.monabooks.co.uk/ .