Cost of a few books

[Bret Hinds]

I was thinking of buying the set of books by Gen. Choi, Would someone give me there two cents worth on the books. Would a 3rd printing be ok or do I need to buy the late printing? And are they worth it, to buy? Are they full of good info, or the a bunch on good info? That should start a good and hot form! All the best in the arts

 

[terryl965]

I would say if you are going to buy nthem the early addition are better or at least to me.

 

[Kacey]

If you are practicing the Ch'ang H'on (ITF) forms, then they are well worth the price; if not, probably not as much.

You should be fine with the 3rd edition - although depending on what you want it for, you might do as well buying the condensed version (1 volume) instead of the complete set, especially if you don't perform patterns according to ITF guidelines/standards.

 

[Bret Hinds]

I was buying them just for the history and maybe if they have them some of the early forms. All the best in the arts

 

[Kacey]

Well, the complete Encyclopedia only has the ITF forms - if you can find the 1965 edition of the condensed Encyclopedia, you'll get older versions, as well as the Shotokan forms Gen. Choi learned in Japan.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Clearly the older version is substantially better. However Kacey is right if you are not a practicing ITF practitioner they probably will not have alot of value and the older version will be very expensive.

 

[terryl965]

Clearly the older version is substantially better. However Kacey is right if you are not a practicing ITF practitioner they probably will not have alot of value and the older version will be very expensive.

Brian and Kacey I would have to dis-agree here, if you would like to have them as a reference and something to hold on to for the long haul then the earlier addition are your best bet. Just my humble opinion.

 

[Kacey]

Clearly the older version is substantially better. However Kacey is right if you are not a practicing ITF practitioner they probably will not have alot of value and the older version will be very expensive.

It really depends on what you want them for - if you're looking for historical information on older forms, then I would think the older version would be more useful - but as Brian says, it'll be more expensive.

The Encyclopedia (complete version) was updated in regards to technical detail between the 1st and 2nd, and 2nd and 3rd edition; the 4th edition, IIRC, is a reprint of the 3rd edition, so there's not a significant difference there.

The original version was the condensed Encyclopedia printed in 1965, which is the only one I'm aware of that contains Shotokan forms - it also only contains 20 of the 24 forms currently practiced (25 if you include Ko-Dang, which was dropped in favor of Juche in an attempt to get the ITF, rather than the WTF, TKD association into the Olympics, which is a discussion for another thread). The later versions of the condensed Encyclopedia follow the complete versions in terms of technical detail. The complete (15 volume) set contains more detail - especially about the forms, including pictures of each move from multiple angles - than the condensed version; if that's not important to you, you'd be better off with a condensed version.

 

[DavidCC]

I was thinking of buying the set of books by Gen. Choi, Would someone give me there two cents worth on the books. Would a 3rd printing be ok or do I need to buy the late printing? And are they worth it, to buy? Are they full of good info, or the a bunch on good info? That should start a good and hot form! All the best in the arts

If you have a source for these volumes I would like to incldue it for sale at my online book store, www.kungfubooksonline.com Please PM me or post

thanks!

 

[matt.m]

Well, soon I will try and get a copy. All the Master black belts highly recommend it. I have read the schools copy. I find that relevant info is relevant info.

For instance: I have the Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido hard backs by Marc Tadeschi, I find that Marc did a horrible job representing TKD in its entirity, however he did a great job on the history aspect. He just didn't say anything substancial about the ITF and its importance.

I have 2 of Kwang Sik Myung's books on hapkido. They are both very good, it is Moo Sul Kwan Hapkido, nope but it sure is good and has relevance. His techniques are the closest to MSK hapkido I have ever seen.

I also have He-Young Kimms Hapkido Bible and Kodokan Judo. I have picked up a few of the books on the Tae Guek Poomsea as well as the Jhoon Rhee softbacks of the ITF forms.

It is all relevant and has something to do with everything else. I think that it is more important as a reader to read, decipher, and take in and draw in the information to see what is "Most important and Relevant for right now."

 

[Miles]

Slightly OT, but would our ITF'ers recommend the CD version of Gen Choi's Encyclopedia?

TIA!

Miles

 

[Kacey]

Yes - the DVD series is great for working on tuls, and includes most (if not all; I'd have to look) of the Encyclopedia in pdf format.