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Martial Arts Book Review: Karate Kata Heian #5 by Masatoshi Nakayama

Author: Shawn Kovacich
Date Posted: June 29, 2007

I highly recommend this series of books to anyone whose school or dojo practices the Heian series of katas. Unfortunately, I think that these books are out-of-print, so it may take some time and a few bucks to track them down and obtain them, but they are well worth the price.

This review is on the last volume in this truly wonderful series of books that focuses on the Karate katas required for advancement through the colored belt ranks on your way to first degree black belt. I just finished rereading this fifth volume in the series, “Karate Kata: Heian 5” by Masatoshi Nakayama for the first time in quite a few years and was reminded of the first time I had purchased this and the other four books in the series when I was first starting out upon my martial arts journey whose primary focus in those early days was Karate and Tae Kwon Do. These books were some of the first ones I owned concerning the martial arts and kata or forms in particular.

In this final book in the series, the author starts out with the customary introduction, as he did in the previous four volumes, and follows that up with a section on the proper execution of a kata and the performance points to focus on, of which there are seven of them. He then explains the five do’s and don’ts of kata, followed by the primary focus of the book which is on karate kata Heian #5, which is a required form for the upper rank karate students. The footwork diagrams are not only very well done, but they are very clear and precise in their presentation. You may be a bit confused by the diagram at first, but that will clear up just as soon as you perform Heian #5 a few times.

Outstanding is how I would rate the author’s layout for all the volumes in the series, and they are presented in such an easy to understand way that it makes each move in the kata look easier than what they really are.

An extensive variety of front and side view photographs are used in order to show you not only the beginning and ending of each move, but also the transitional stages of movement between the beginning and ending of the technique. This of course is necessary due to the limited scope of this book and the vast amount of technical detail there actually is even in the simplest looking of kata. This is one of the many highlights of this series and just goes to show the amount of time and care that was taken in the production and development of this outstanding book. The author also uses an occasional overhead photograph to go along with the standard front and side view photographs of each move.

Although I found the descriptions of each move to be a bit too brief, they were still fairly good and could have been even better if they went a little more in-depth. The closer views of some of the more difficult techniques was also well done and was another nice little gem unto itself.

Applications of each technique as they apply to being used against an actual opponent is also included in this volume. Although a lot of the “modern day” experts may disagree as to the value of kata as a method of teaching self-defense principles, those of us in the know understand the great value kata has when you understand all of the principles behind the correct execution of a kata. These “modern day” experts tend to only look upon the surface of the kata, rather than delving underneath the surface to all the wonderful principles that kata truly represents.

A Japanese and English glossary of Karate terms is also included towards the end of this book. The book itself ends with a unique fold-out of the kata shown from an overhead view with accompanying footwork illustrations alongside the photographs. This is a really nice touch and fairly unique as I don’t recall every seeing this particular format in any other martial art related book.

About The Author

Shawn Kovacich has been practicing the martial arts for over 25 years and currently holds the rank of 4th degree (Yodan) black belt in both Karate and Tae Kwon Do. Shawn has also competed in such prestigious full-contact bare knuckle karate competitions as the Shidokan Open and the Sabaki Challenge, among others. In addition to his many accomplishments, Shawn is also a two time world record holder for endurance high kicking as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. Shawn is the author of Axe Kick the third volume in the highly acclaimed Achieving Kicking Excellence™ series.

Article Source: JKD Street Combat - online collection of martial arts book reviews.

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