Okinawa Karate

[jeffbeish]

I have a book, _Okinawa Karate_, by Mark Bishop, (1991 reprint) that references several people I met or trained under whole living on Okinawa. Some reviews on book are harsh on Bishop for some reason, but I found the book informative and a good reference. Does anyone else have opinions on his book and would it be beneficial to get the later editions?

Also, I have the 1976 edition of Nagamine's _Okinawan Karate-Do_ and 1959 edition of _Karate_, by Nishiyama. Any opinions?

 

[jeffbeish]

Dah. How many folks herein have read this book? Or even know of it?

 

[Yari]

Never heard of neither of them. But karate books aren't the first books I look for either.

/Yari

 

[jeffbeish]

It’s like so many other books and papers, so many are out there that one is overwhelmed. Then again, the selection of Martial Arts books is limited in most bookstores anyway.

My main interest in these books is historical. Also, I attended karate classes at Naganine’s dojo near Naha Air Base, Okinawa and when I saw his book it was great reading. I didn’t learn a lot of the history of his school then and it was interesting to say the least. After so many years away from the actual practice of karate and being under those old masters on Okinawa my skills deteriorated so his book was a gentile reminder.

By the time I reached the over the hill age for Judo tournaments I was then assisting in a kajukenbo kenpo class and a couple books helped me to remember the proper sequences and movements of the karate kata. Kajukenbo people are versatile and use a verity of different schools of thought in their practice. We used to refer to it as “dirty street fighting.” It was that okay.

Anyway, because I had been in two Okinawan karate dojos and learned the basic kata for shodan, then the books helped a lot. Okinawa is a small island and when one tired of one school they just walk over to another, or take a bus. However, in this country with so many different schools, styles, variations heaped on each other, it would be nearly impossible to find the typical Far East trained karate-ka to find his or her own style here.

The Nishiyama book is of Shotokan karate and Nagamine is of Matsubayashi-ryu. The Bishop books is from interviews he did while touring Okinawa karate dojos (dojoes).

BTW, I look for astronomical books in bookstores that I authored. Call it vanity