Kung Fu for Young People: An Introduction to Karate and Kung Fu

Rating:
Summary: Some useful information, but the format is dated and campy
Review: I bought this book to teach my kids some self-defense basics, and to give them a healthy form of practical exercise.

I haven't begun going through the book with them, but I read through a lot of it so I could be more adept at helping them with the topics.

I have taken some brief training in fencing, kara te, and more in akido. So, I am not totally unaware of the goals of such training.

What I saw so far in the book looked practical, it was nice to see some moves used from a position of being on the ground, i.e. in case you get knocked down by an attacker. It had some good tips for getting limber and building strength.

However, the cartoons and "storybook" approach in the some of the text are very dated and perhaps even useless as a way of entertaining a reader approaching teenage years (to whom I suspect this book is aiming) given the exposure to so much multi-media junk these days.

A more simple, and instructive format of image data would allow the book to be more timeless and applicable, while being less "entertaining".

Still, what I read of the stances, kicks, and so forth lead me to believe there were some good moves to be learned from applying this book. It is nice to find a book that gets to the point, for the most part, on such a topic and that allows me to teach my children.