The Shotokan Karate Handbook: Beginner to Black Belt

Rating:
Summary: Shotokan karate book at its best
Review: I am interested in martial arts only because my wife has taken up the art and I was looking for a karate book, and came across this one. It is very easy to follow, excellent photographs and descriptions, Mr. Sahota makes it look easy, which is always a good sign of someone who has taken time to learn his art. An excellent book to have from the novice to the student who has been training for several years infact a lot has been packed into this edition.
Excellent value.

Rating:
Summary: karate review
Review: I think this book is amazing. Being a karate student myself i can understand very easily what i am doing whilst refering to the book. The book it self is broken down very well and is very easy to understand. Using this book i now have the option of learning karate not just in the dojo but in the presence of my home. The author GURSHARAN SAHOTA has explained this book in great detail and has shown great character in what he does.

Well done

Rating:
Summary: Maybe nice if you train in one of his clubs. Otherwise not
Review: This book is an excellent example of the bulk of karate books: A lot of not-too-good pictures, few explanaitions, and hardly any valuable content.

However, the author clearly didn't feel like stopping there, but found more, and sometimes quit innovative ways to really annoy the reader.

As more often in karate books, a lot of paper was wasted with page-sized pictures of him, trying to demonstrate how high he can kick, or in what exotic ways he can do certain techniques. Maybe some people like that, but I have a hard time not to interpretate this as ego-tripping.

And frankly, when I studied some of the pictures, especially kicks and kata, I'm quit totally sure that the way he performances many techniques, is contradictionary to how I learned Shotokan or Kyukashinkai karate. It just contradicts very basic stuff, like holding your standing foot flat to the ground, when performing a kick. However, you can't reason with this guy about this: He founded his own style of karate, so he makes the rules.

Last, but definately not least, were the last 10-or-so pages of the book. These contain pictures of the members of karate clubs all over Great Britain, founded by this guy. Maybe nice, if you happen to train in such a club, but I wish I was warned about this stuff, before I bought it...

Rating:
Summary: Beginner to Black belt
Review: This book is by far the easiest shotokan karate book that I have used. Each section is easy to follow with well illustrated diagrams and photographs. It is easy to train away from the dojo using this book as it has a simple step by step approach, especially the kata section, No excuses for not continuing your training..even on holiday. Great for beginners and advanced karateka alike, this book goes with me wherever I travel.