Practical Karate Book: Fundamentals (Practical Karate Series , No 1)

Rating:
Summary: Nakayama Masatoshi and Donn Draeger on Self-defense
Review: Nakayama Sensei, former Chief Instructor of the JKA (Japan Karate Association) and internationally known martial arts expert, Donn Draeger prepared this series in the early 1960s (they've been out of print for a long time). The real value of each of the books is actually the photographs of Nakayama Sensei -- both authors are no longer with us. While the self-defense scenarios may be slightly out of date and simplistic to seasoned karateka (students of karate), they are invaluable to the rest of us. Unless your mind works like a street bully -- you never think about such situations and how to respond, or practicing to respond. I have the entire set for my library and recommend it for those just beginning in the traditional Japanese martial arts. I've actually been trying to spot C.W. Nicol, who acted as one of the "bad guys", the author of "Moving Zen" which is perhaps the best chronicle of a occidental training in Karate -- in Japan.