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The Shotokan Karate Handbook: Beginner to Black Belt (Fifth Edition)

Gursharan Sahota
Publisher: Gursharan Sahota
Binding:Paperback Pages: 284
Publication Date: 2005-11-11
Edition: Fifth
ISBN: 0952463806
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11 Customer Reviews, Average Rating See reviews.

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Customer Reviews

• Excellent Book for parents of budding Karate champs by T. Scattergood - Lincoln, UK
• A great book for parents who know nothing about karate and have to help their kids practice their moves and kata's
  
  This is just what I needed.
• 1 people found this review helpful.

• The Beginner's guide to shotokan karate. by emily - uk
• Excelllent book. I'm very pleased with it pictures are easy to follow. I shall enjoy reading and practicing the movements. Exellent postage very quick came on the day stated.
• 0 people found this review helpful.

• Shotokan by Colinkingshott -
• This seemed like a good book but I had to return it as the Shotokan style in the book is different to the one my daughter is doing.
• 0 people found this review helpful.

• Excellent beginners guide by D. Pidcock -
• This is an excellent book for all those learning Shotokan Karate - in conjunction with training sessions with a Sensei.
  
  I have found it a great help when returning from training to spend some time working out how a new technique should be performed when there isn't the time to go over it in detail in training. It's also very helpful for remembering all the parts of the kata.
  
  Unfortunately the printing quality is not very good for the photos some of which have poor contrast and it is hard to see exactly what the position should be. The text does explain all techniques clearly though.
  
  Overall it is good value for money at less than the cost of 2 training sessions, and makes a great learning aid. Don't expect to be able to learn karate from this book alone or find much on the philosophy or history of Karate in here and you won't be disappointed.
• 0 people found this review helpful.

• The Best a Karate-ka can get!! by Terry Tozer - Reading, Bracknell, Brighton & Hove, UK
• I've been carrying Gursharan's books around in my bag now for the last ten years and swear by them. Of all the hundreds of book that I have about Shotokan karate, I always fall back and end up using Gursharan's two books for simplicity and ease of use.
  
  Yes, there are other kata books on the market which may be better pictorially (e.g. Nakayama) but Gursharan's have everything you need as a quick reference guide in just two volumes. The content is very neatly and logically laid out. If you're already practising karate, Gursharan's books will be the perfect handy reference guide for you.
  
  I agree mostly with the other positive reviews here too. As for different moves etc in one review, even though we're all learning Shotokan, you will naturally find slight variations from style to style and association to association. The art is hundreds of years old and has been passed down from a variety of different masters, each of whom have added to or taken away parts of the kata that they favoured or disliked the most.
  
  If you can find an association that follows the traditional line of teaching that focuses more on kata & bunkai, as opposed to sport or competition, then you'll be on the right path. As Supreme Grand Master Funakoshi said - "Karate will take a life time". Karate is more importantly about perfection of character and less about kicking & punching etc.
  
  As for teaching yourself karate from a book, you can't teach yourself just by looking at a few pictures, but if you're already attending classes, Gursharan's book (and videos) will help you revise, keep up or even get ahead of your class mates. The pictures and diagrams are quite adequate. No book could ever replace an instructor and teach you about the proper timing and kime that's involved in performing your kata.
  
  These two volumes have stood the test of time, are as complete as they should be and very affordable, considering the amount of content that they offer. They contain all of the 27 kata from the Shotokan canon and all of the associated stances, kicks, blocks, & punches etc that you need to become a very competent karate-ka and much much more.
• 2 people found this review helpful.