Martial Arts Book Review: Karate Kata Heian 1-Tekki 1 by Masatoshi Nakayama
I just finished rereading Masatoshi Nakayama’s “Karate Kata: Heian 1 and Tekki 1” for the first time in several years and was reminded of the first time I bought this and the other four books in the series when I was just starting out. on my martial arts journey whose main focus in those early days was Karate and Tae Kwon Do. These books were some of the first I had on martial arts and kata or forms in particular.
This is an excellent series of books that focus on the kata necessary to advance from the ranks of color belts to first degree black belt. The author begins with the usual introduction and continues with a section on the proper performance of a kata and performance points to focus on, of which there are seven. The author also explains the five pros and cons of kata. This is followed by the book’s focus which is on Heian #1 and Tekki #1 kata. Both are required forms for lower ranked karate students.
The section on kata begins with an outstanding diagram of footwork as performed in kata. These diagrams are very clear and precise in their presentation. They may confuse you a bit at first, but they will become clear as soon as you perform the kata a few times.
The author’s design for this and the other volumes in the series is outstanding and is presented in such an easy to understand format that it almost underscores the importance of the moves themselves, making them seem easier than they really are. This, of course, is necessary due to the limited scope of this book and the sheer amount of technical detail that goes into even the simplest kata.
The author uses a variety of photographs to show you not only the beginning and end of each movement, but also the transition stages of movement between the beginning and the end of the technique. This is one of the many highlights of this series and it just goes to show the amount of time and care that went into the production and development of this outstanding book. The author also uses an occasional aerial photograph to accompany the standard front and side view photographs of each movement.
Another added bonus in this book is the inclusion of the application of each technique as it is applied against a real opponent. Although many of the “modern” experts may not agree with the value of kata as a method of teaching self-defense principles, those of us in the know understand the great value kata has when you understand all the principles behind it. correct way. execution of a kata. These “modern” experts tend to look only at the surface of kata, instead of delving below the surface into all the wonderful principles that kata actually represents.
The descriptions of each move seemed a bit short to me, but they were good and could have been even better if they went a little deeper. The closer views of some of the more difficult techniques were also well done and another little gem in itself.
The description of the katas is followed by a glossary of Karate terms in both English and Japanese. The book ends with a unique foldout of each kata shown from an overhead view with accompanying footwork illustrations along with the photographs. This is a really nice touch and quite unique as I don’t remember seeing this particular format in any other martial arts related book.
I highly recommend this series of books to anyone whose school or dojo practices the Heian/Tekki series of kata. Unfortunately, I think these books are out of print, so it may take some time and a few bucks to locate and get them, but they are worth it.
