Finalist - 2004 Book of the Year Award by ForeWord Magazine All too frequently, martial arts practitioners study their art without truly understanding where it comes from, how it was developed, and why it was created in the first place. Indeed, many don't care - and if you feel this way, you should put this book down. For the rest of us, who have taken our art beyond tournaments, it is reasonable to expect that we want to uncover the past. We want to understand the where, why and how of martial art development. We are intellectually curious about our combative history. To study the combative arts is to understand the circumstances of their development and to gain insights into the views and ethics of the societies that created them. As we travel back in time, we see consistent evidence of martial systems being influenced by those that came before and/or invaded. We also see the use of 'pre-arranged' fighting patterns kata to transmit proven techniques from one generation to the next. It is this transmission of martial knowledge, through kata and other forms of communication, that this book will explore. The author will demonstrate that pre-arranged fighting techniques katas were used by ancient Greek, Egyptian, Asian, African and European societies. And that Poetry, Dance, and Song were also significant methods of preserving and transmitting battle-tested fighting tactics through the ages. The purpose of kata training is not to become bound by the form but to transcend the form itself - to evolve.

Discover the Facts Behind a Fascinating Martial Art! In the martial arts, facts are often a scarce commodity. Histories are often confused or inaccurate, lineages are muddled and murky, forms get changed and no one ever finds out why. These problems can present major obstacles along your path to the understanding and practice of your chosen art. Well, now some of that confusion can be cleared up with Okinawa's Complete Karate System: Isshin Ryu. It's a "must have" for today's martial artist, whether you're an Isshin Ryu practitioner, Karate stylist or just interested in the origins and development of one of the most fascinating, effective, and fastest growing styles in martial arts. While providing the context in which martial arts developed on Okinawa, Okinawa's Complete Karate System offers you a comprehensive history of Isshin Ryu as well as a thorough investigation of its founder's life and philosophy. Dealing in depth with the system's lineages, the internal and external aspects of the art, and multiple interpretations of all Isshin Ryu kata, this book is a unique, compelling and engaging experience. Okinawa's Complete Karate System: Isshin Ryu is essential reading for all martial artists and historians. Development of the Code of Ethics and Principles of Isshin Ryu Karate. Analysis of the Practice of Kata, Stances and Footwork of Isshin Ryu. Discussion of the Function of Isshin Ryu in Today's Society.

In the tradition of such stellar writers as Cormac McCarthy, Harry Crews and James Agee, Escaping Darkness is the haunting tale of Donny Wayne Gavin, a young man driven to the edge of insanity by divorce and his brother's death in Vietnam. Neglected by an alcoholic father, tormented by his pious mother's sexual escapades and oppressed by the mountainous region in which he lives, Donny attempts suicide by jumping off a hotel's seventeenth floor ledge. However, at the last moment his attempt is stymied by a homeless woman named Mary, who helps Donny embark upon a spiritual quest that enables him to confront the demons within. Sadly though Donny's realizations later turn to dust and he is left once more standing at the crossroads of self-destruction and desperation facing life on the streets, suicide, or both. Filled with hope and despair, sexual tension, black humor, southern mysticism and moral drama, Escaping Darkness is the bittersweet story of adversity almost overcome and one man's journey through the unforgiving world of Southern Appalachia.