American Freestyle Karate (Unique Literary Books of the World)

Rating:
Summary: A good book
Review: As a collector of over 300 books on the martial arts, Anderson's book is the best I have seen on sparring. A top tournament competitor in the '60s, '70s and '80s, Anderson has crammed his book with tons of information gathered from his vast experience sparring countless fighters nationally and internationally. American Freestyle is an encyclopedia of techniques and concepts proven in the ring over many years of tough, competitive experience. I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: great primer;teaches lost art of footwork
Review: I have been involved in martial arts for 4 years (about to test for my black belt in American Karate). No first year player should be looking to a book for sparring instructions! Any beginner in any style belongs in a studio well past one year learning basics from an instructor before picking up a book and attempting to learn something new. I picked this book up about a year ago when I got to brown belt and have used it VERY effectively in sparring (both free and point). The presentation of the critical distance range and effective monitoring range were great! This is an aspect of sparring that is not taught well or emphasized enough (at least in my school), but without mastering it you will not win.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book - Not For The Beginner
Review: I have been involved in martial arts for 4 years (about to test for my black belt in American Karate). No first year player should be looking to a book for sparring instructions! Any beginner in any style belongs in a studio well past one year learning basics from an instructor before picking up a book and attempting to learn something new. I picked this book up about a year ago when I got to brown belt and have used it VERY effectively in sparring (both free and point). The presentation of the critical distance range and effective monitoring range were great! This is an aspect of sparring that is not taught well or emphasized enough (at least in my school), but without mastering it you will not win.

Rating:
Summary: the best book on sparring I have ever read
Review: I have been involved in the martial arts for over nine years and I have never come across a better manual for sparring than this!!! Mr. Anderson goes beyond the typical martial arts primer found in most martial arts books to explaine strategy, angles of attack, different attacking modes... this is an excellent book for the experienced martial artist as it doesn't spend much time on the basics. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in improving their sparring. this book is geared to compitition sparring but with a small ammount of imagination the reader can apply it to street fighting!!! a wonderful book!!! ps. if anyone knows of others like it please let me know!!!

Rating:
Summary: great primer;teaches lost art of footwork
Review: Sifu Dan was a top competitor during the golden age of American point karate,and everything taught has been "field-tested".Dan does not merely teach standard karate techniques,but also throws,hooks,uppercuts,knees,and elbows.He organizes his conceptual material into a logical gradient learning system.His applications of Bruce Lee's five ways of attack and his appropriation of Ali's footwork are presented in a conceptually coherent manner.Most martial arts book deal with individual styles and specific techniques.Sifu gives you information that cuts across various styles and emphasizes principles as well as mere technique.His description of angle footwork is alone worth the price of the book,and so is his method of using the obscure "angle hammer" or inside hammerfist strike.Overall, he teaches you how to use footwork to keep yourself safe and to set up your opponent,in the best tradition of Bruce Lee and Joe "The Jaguar" Lewis.

Rating:
Summary: Synthtcboy03 and the reader from TX are both right --
Review: The book IS hard to read, with its font size 9 (!!) print and Unique Publication's usual B&W photography. However, Mr. Anderson did add arrows to his pics to show the original position of limbs b4 movement and their destination (head of the arrow)is represented in the subsequent photographs. The material is NOT adequate for a beginner in my opinion. The TX reader speaks true in this regard. However, if you are intermediate to advanced, seeking to refine, and CAN STAND READING FONT SIZE 9 PRINT with small B&W photos, then, Dan's work smacks of sincere intent to TEACH GOOD SPARRING TACTICS just as Synthtcboy03 says. (Thanks for the recommend, btw) and I would recommend it too, though I probably shouldn't as I have a competition later this month and my opponent might be looking for something just like this to make our encounter more challenging on me. ;)

Rating:
Summary: Synthtcboy03 and the reader from TX are both right --
Review: The book IS hard to read, with its font size 9 (!!) print and Unique Publication's usual B&W photography. However, Mr. Anderson did add arrows to his pics to show the original position of limbs b4 movement and their destination (head of the arrow)is represented in the subsequent photographs. The material is NOT adequate for a beginner in my opinion. The TX reader speaks true in this regard. However, if you are intermediate to advanced, seeking to refine, and CAN STAND READING FONT SIZE 9 PRINT with small B&W photos, then, Dan's work smacks of sincere intent to TEACH GOOD SPARRING TACTICS just as Synthtcboy03 says. (Thanks for the recommend, btw) and I would recommend it too, though I probably shouldn't as I have a competition later this month and my opponent might be looking for something just like this to make our encounter more challenging on me. ;)

Rating:
Summary: I wouldn't say it was the greatest book on sparring.
Review: This book is a must for anyone who wants to take sparring seriously. This book is not a standard "primer" on martial art movements and technquies, but instead, is a masterpiece in giving the karateka tools, both mentally and physically, to enhance their sparring abilities.

The book discusses everything from entry and retreat to attacking and defending. Ideas are explored such as offensive and defensive attacking postures.The book discusses sparring for tournament, the dojo (training hall) and self-defense. This book was published in 1982 and still remains the epitome of sparring manuels. An absolute must!