BOOKS
 

 

"Your books are really excellent - well researched,clearly explained and professionally presented...

My congratulations on them" 

Terry O'Neill (7th Dan sensei), Merseyside, UK

 

Fortress Storming
This is the book that I was forced to write.  One of my students could not  believe the junk she was reading in a certain other kata book and asked why there wasn't something on the market that held more sense.  I tried to explain that everyone is entitled to their opinions, but she was a


For a long while we only did this book for my members as a spiral bound thing.   rational human being, and could not understand why anyone would want to believe that the first move from Bassai Dai was leaping forward to block an oi-zuki that couldn't possibly touch you unless you leap forward into it!!!

Bassai Dai applications book

As we got more and more bookings for seminars we ended up having to have it printed and bound just to save time.

It's about Bassai Dai kata, featuring at least one application for every move, a bit of history, and a bit about pressure points.  There's a foreword by Russell Stutely, Europe's premier pressure point expert.

This book is companion to Kata & Application volume 8 DVD, orderable here.

If you want practical uses for each move in the kata, then order the book here.  It is mailed out worldwide without additional postage charges if you use our "Add to Cart" button.  Hit the Lulu button if you'd like a download version.

£14.95  

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Peaceful MindPeaceCover1
This was the next book, looking at the Heian kata that are usually taught to low grade students.  There are many more people out there below black than there are at black belt and beyond, so it was wise to produce this for them.  It also exists in order to brief higher grade (black belt) students in furthering their education and pushing their boundaries.

Forewords here are by Anthony Blades, Russell Stutely, and Patrick McCarthy

See why x-block isn't for stopping a descending hammer-fist.  See what the jump in Heian Godan is really used for.  Find out why neither arm in the first move of Heian Nidan and Heian Yondan is "preparatory" for anything, and what those arms are really doing up there.  Why stepping to the left is a good idea, even if the opponent is "in your face".

This book features many moves which can be seen on Kata & Application volumes 2-6, which you can order here.

£14.95  

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tekkibookcoverIron Horseman level 1
This one looks at the Tekki Shodan kata and provides useful applications to all of those weird-looking postures.  This kata is much misunderstood.  It's shortness of performance and the inability to use most of it's techniques in competition Karate mean that it is usually overlooked.  In truth it's a work of genius, teaching the practitioner about close-in fighting. Arm-bars, chokes, and close strikes galore!

Order the book to find out why side-ways stepping is mechanically sensible.  Why crossing your arms in front of you might just knock the attacker out.  Why those ridiculous stories of fighting on horseback, down a narrow alley, or on the narrow paths between ricefields are just nonsense - and what the moves are really for.

Companion to Kata & Application vol 7 DVD - which you can Add to Cart here.

£14.95   

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Fortress Storming - the minor versionSHOfrontCover

This book is brand new, published at the very end of November 2008.  It features applications to the moves in Bassai Sho, Bassai Dai's 2nd degree black belt brother.  So few people reach Black Belt, and even fewer get beyond it to really investigate the higher kata.  This book acts as complement and comparison to the Fortress Storming book.

As well as featuring practical applications to each and every move - and none of them are defending against a bo staff - the book also contains theory on the relationship between Dai and Sho versions of kata.  The companion to Kata & Application volume 14 DVD (which you can Add to Cart below)

£14.95  

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The ebook is available here:

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The Pressure Point Guide for Martial ArtistsPPcover

Diagrams and photos of the points and how to use them.  An introductory guide to pressure points, debunking some of the myths.  This is the book that people keep asking me for.  I think you should find out in class and at seminars, but people just keep asking, so here it is.

This book features some of the most popular pressure point defences that we use most frequently.  Far from being just another anatomical atlas, my aim was to demonstrate the kind of blows that we commonly see in the martial arts, and how they are practically landed on these tiny targets for best effect.  Explanation is also given for Five Element theory, Yin-Yang Theory, and Quadrant theory - all in plain english and designed to make sense to the martial artist (not the acupuncturist).

Very kindly, Russell Stutely renshi has raved about this book, claiming it's one of the very few things that he keeps on his desk rather than on the shelf.

There is also a 2-disc DVD set available here featuring the points shown in the book.

£19.95   

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bunkai strategies book
 
The Bunkai Strategies Newsletter is available for free on the first page of this website.  
You only have to click the link over there ===>
 and give your name and email address and it will be send to you over the course of a year.
 
For those who have read it and wished that they had kept the individual emails; for those who can't wait the year to get all the pieces in one place; and for those of us who just like having things in books instead of on a screen, I've collated the first 50 into a book.
 
There's no frills to this presentation, it's just the e-mails put together as a book, but then the price is only £12.50, so that's fair, isn't it?  Printing and binding being what they are, £12.50 is not bad for getting all that information in one handy reference.
 
What information?  Well, we talk about the place of bunkai and kata in your training, dispel some myths, and explain what a whole load of different moves from different kata are for.
 
I answer some common questions that I always get on seminars and try to tell it how I see it.  I'm going to do a more comprehensive version with photos that will inevitably be more expensive (and there's no telling how long it will take me to get round to finishing it), but if you want those email Newsletters featuring Bunkai Strategies all in one place, then this link here gets it for you with no postage charges, no matter where you are:

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Your shopping basket can be seen here:
 
 
There is a series of video clips that made up the Bunkai Strategies Newsletter in 2012.  You can see them online at the tv.bunkai.co.uk site in the archives section, or you can download them and keep them as a resource on your pad or pc for the huge price of $10.  There is over 90 minutes of tuition there, looking at different techniques and principles.  Your very own bunkai library...
 
 
You can increase your libarary with the video clips from
Bunkai Strategies Newsletter 2013.  
We have weeks 1-50, which totals 4 hours of application tuition for the nominal price of  $29.95.
 
 
 
 
You can see what is in  your video download basket here:
 
 

Books or DVDs?
 

Some of us prefer books - that we can sit and ponder the words before us and invoke mental imagery to help us understand what hte author intended.  Some of us prefer DVDs (or downloads, these days) - that we can see what the author intended clearly.  Some of us like, want or need both!

Truthfully, only training will reveal what is intended in these products.  You need to feel it in some capacity (though we hope not with full force).  We're happy to see you at one of our courses, workshops, seminars, or just in class if you find yourself in the area.

 

John Burke's Bunkai Resources

Karate Academy, King Street Studios, King Street, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 2LG, United Kingdom

01626 360999
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