Martial arts of the Orient
Inbunden bok. Hamlyn. 1976. 168 sidor.
Gott skick. Skyddsomslag i hyggligt skick.
Slitet skyddsomslag med nagg och revor. Rikligt illustrerad med svartvita fotografier.
Bruce Lee and his successors may be good
box-office, but true lovers of the martial arts
have been less than enthusiastic. Violence and flashy acrobatics have no part in the
traditional fighting arts.
True most of the forms examined in this book derive from the battle skills of the samurai. But the modern follower of kendo, the way of the sword, or kyudo, the way of the bow, believes that he or she is embarked on a journey of enlightenment and self-realization.
It's the historical background to some of today's most popular martial arts and their differing basic skills and techniques which concern the contributors to this book. Take
ju-jutsu, for instance: a hard-contact fighting
system still very closely allied to practical
hand-to-hand combat situations. Or judo and aikido: both in their different ways descended from it, each adapting and refining its throws, locks, and holds. Then, in complete contrast, there's the Chinese art of tai chi, so subtle a skill that few now practise its fighting form, although as an attempt to harmonize with
Nature it gains more and more adherents
each year.
Add sumo, the sport of Japan's mountainous wrestlers, karate, kendo, kyudo and the inevitable kung fu and you get some idea of the range of this excitingly iliustrated book.
262 black and white illustrations.
