Karate Masters

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding first-hand interviews
Review: A very readable and enjoyable collection of interviews with famous masters and exponents in the karate world. Alas, some of my favorites, such as Mabune and Nakayama, have passed away since this book was published, but Fraguas has done us the service of immortalizing their thoughts on karate in this great little volume. You'll find dozens of famous masters here, and it includes interviews with well known American and European experts (such as Dan Ivan, Chuck Merriman, and Ray Dalke in the U.S., and H. D. Plee in France) as well as Okinawan and Japanese masters. At the time of these interviews, many of these masters were already in their 50s, 60s, or 70s, and it was interesting to hear their thoughts on the evolution of karate during their lifetimes, as well as how their understanding of karate had changed or deepened with age. There were some surprises too, when I learned that Kanazawa had been studying Yang style tai chi since 1957 and was rated a master in it (he mentions there are 7 levels to Yang tai chi and he holds the highest level). He feels that tai chi has helped his karate, which was interesting, since I study tai chi and have found it useful to me also in many ways. Overall, a very fine book of fascinating and informative interviews with many of the most famous names in karate of our time.