Books, videos, DVDs, websites

Gichin Funakoshi und Genwa Nakasone, The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate: The Spiritual Legacy of the Master, ISBN: 978-4-7700-2896-2 [Amazon]

The famous 20 precepts by Gichin Funakoshi, with explanations by Genwa Nakasone. Funakoshi has endorsed these explanations.

Gichin Funakoshi, Karate-Do - My Way of Life, ISBN 0-87011-463-8 [Amazon]

Master Funakoshi's autobiography.

Gichin Funakoshi is one of the protagonists of making karate accessible to the general public. His autobiography provides an insight into the history of karate and how it came to be practiced by so many people. Filled with little anecdotes of his teachers and his own life, this book reveals a lot about the spirit of karate as Funakoshi did learn and love it. With the subtle irony of nearly ninety-year-old man who looks back on his life. An easy read, not too long, and intriguing throughout.

Gichin Funakoshi, Karate-Do Kyohan - The Master Text, ISBN 978-0-87011-190-7 [Amazon]

Master Funakoshi conveys background knowledge of karate, as well as a technical overview, detailed descriptions of kata movements and further training methods.

Rory Miller, Facing Violence - Preparing for the unexpected, ISBN 1594392137 [Amazon]

An incredibly good book about self-defence. All aspects from awareness through escalation, types of violence, options for action, up to the legal and psychological aftermath are treated thoroughly and proficiently. Rory Miller's gets across a vast amount of information, matter-of-factly and yet personal. His book is well structured and easy to read.

Patrick McCarthy, Bubishi: The Classic Manual of Combat, ISBN 978-0-8048-3828-3 [Amazon]

The Bubishi is a handed down collection of Chinese texts and drawings on philosophie, strategy, medicine and techniques of martial arts. This work did have great influence on the development of Okinawan karate. Patrick McCarthy provides us wth an English translation and many explanations and background information of the "Bible of karate".

Iain Abernethy, Bunkai-Jutsu: The Practical Application of Karate Kata, ISBN: 0-9538932-1-9 [Amazon]

A systematic approach of how to read the well-known katas of karate as textbooks for realistic self-defence. Iain Abernethy does away with useless standard bunkai and shows effective alternatives.

Iain Abernethy, Arm-locks for All Styles, ISBN: 978-0-9538932-3-2 [Amazon]

Step-by-step instructions for over 55 wrist, arm and shoulder locks. Including explanations of the underlying priciples and advice on training methods.

Bill Burgar, Five Years, One Kata: Putting Kata Back at the Heart of Karate, ISBN: 0-9544466-0-7 [Amazon]

Over the course of 5 years Bill Burgar has dedicated himself to working on only one single kata. In his book he describes his far-reaching findings from this work and shows his bunkai of the kata Gojushiho-Sho. For those readers who might be inclined to follow him in this kind of experiment, Burgar explains how to systematically approach the analysis and training of a chosen kata.

Rick Clark, 75 Down Blocks - Refining Karate Technique, ISBN 0-8048-3218-8 [Amazon]

75 different applications of good old Gedan-Barai.

Rick Clark, Pressure-Point Fighting: A Guide to the Secret Heart of Asian Martial Arts, ISBN 0-8048-3217-X [Amazon]

An introduction to vital point techniques (Kyusho) with many examples of applications from various karate katas.

Adolf Faller, Michael Schünke, Gabriele Schünke, Der Körper des Menschen - Einführung in Bau und Funktion, ISBN 3-13-329714-7 [Amazon]

The anatomy of the human body: Bones, joints, muscles, nerves, ... (in German)

Kenei Mabuni, Leere Hand - Vom Wesen des Budo-Karate, ISBN 978-3-938305-05-8 [Amazon]

Meditations on the origins, evolution and future of karate by the Grandmaster of Shito-Ryu. Thoughts on background, philosophical approaches and karate as a martial art as opposed to karate as a modern fighting sport. (In German)

Masatoshi Nakayama, Dynamic Karate, ISBN 978-0-87011-788-6 [Amazon]

A technical reference. Relevant for any German Shotokan practitioner's grading examination.

The Shotokan grading exam regulations of the German Karate Association (DKV) say: The execution of techniques should generally conform to the book KARATE-DO by M. Nakayama. Unfortunately this book is not being reprinted in German any longer. The English title is Dynamic Karate, and this book is still available.

Henning Wittwer, Shōtōkan – überlieferte Texte & historische Untersuchungen

German translations of historical sources from the Shotokan environment, as well as scientific research of the history of Shotokan karate (In German)

Henning Wittwer und Heiko Bittmann, Shōtōkan – überlieferte Texte & historische Untersuchungen. Band II

More German translations of historical sources from the Shotokan environment, as well as scientific research of the history of Shotokan karate. Furthermore the book contains a biography of Shimizu Toshiyuki. (In German)

Jigoro Kano, Mind Over Muscle: Writings from the Founder of Judo, ISBN 978-1568364971 [Amazon]

Jigoro Kano is the founder of Judo. In this book he describes his concept of Ju-Do, the Gentle Way.

Fabien Cathagne, Notwehrrecht in der Praxis - Handbuch für Kampfkünstler, ISBN 978-1484168301 [Amazon]

The legal right for self-defence is written in the law. Cathagne's book specifically deals with German self-defence law. In a very well structured form he explaines the idea, purpose and meaning of the German "Notwehr" articles and their interpretation in court. He gets across the judicial theories and illustrates them with several case examples and court decisions. Moreover, the author describes the legal aftermath of self-defence and gives practical tipps on how to deal with the situation. - A must-read for anybody seriously interested in karate as self-defence. (In German)

Ludwig Binder und Jörg Kerschek, Tactical Power Defense - Technische und taktische Grundlagen der Selbstverteidigung, ISBN 978-3-8370-7648-6 [Amazon]

The book presents fundamental thoughts on self-defence and trainings methods and shows many technical and tactical examples. An explanation of the German laws of self-defence and options for arguing in court complete the book. (In German)

Ralph Tannhäuser, Die Jintai Kyusho des Karate nach Gichin Funakoshi, ISBN 3869919981 [Amazon]

Gichin Funakoshi in his book Karate-Do Kyohan lists the vital points (kyusho in Japanese), that he thinks every karateka should know. Ralph Tannhäuser, Kyusho International instructor, in his book describes all 40 points in detail: Locations, how to attack each point, effects and medical outcomes. The author also gives some background information on kyusho and the medidians used in accupuncture. A brief introduction to the mode of action of reanimation techniques would make the book even more complete. Despite the many typos the book is easy to read. On the whole it's a very informative book and a worthwhile for an karateka. (In German)

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