Читать книгу Practical Karate Volume 5 Self-defense F - Donn F. Draeger - Страница 7

PREFACE

KARATE is a martial art developed by people who were prohibited the use of weapons, thus making it a defensive art When one is attacked, the empty hands (which the word karate implies) are quite sufficient to defend oneself if one is highly skilled in the art However, to become highly skilled takes exacting discipline, both mental and physical. The main purpose of this series of six books is to avoid the advanced techniques of karate which require many years of study and instead to describe simplified karate technique as easy-to-learn responses to typical self-defense situations.

Karate is highly esteemed as a sport, self-defense, and as a physical attribute for athletics in general. It is becoming increasingly popular in schools, offices, factories, law enforcement agencies and the armed services, varying in degree as required by the respective wants and needs.

In response to the many requests for treatment of karate purely as a defensive system, it is hoped that the information contained in this series of six books will be more than sufficient to meet these requests. In conclusion, if readers of this series of books will fully understand the principles and ideals of karate, taking care to use its techniques with discretion, they will reflect great credit to this magnificent art

THE FIRST and most complete and authoritative text on karate in the English language, titled Karate: The Art of "Empty Hand" Fighting, by Hidetaka Nishiyama and Richard C. Brown, instructor and member of the Japan Karate Association respectively, made its appearance in 1960. It presents karate in its three main aspects—a healthful physical art, an exciting sport, and an effective form of self-defense. As such, it is considered the standard textbook of the Japan Karate Association and adequately serves both as a reference and instructional manual for novice and expert alike.

Many students of karate find the study of classical karate somewhat impractical in modern Western society, chiefly because time limitations prohibit sufficient practice. These students generally desire to limit their interpretations of karate to self-defense aspects. With this sole training objective in mind, a series of six books is being prepared which describes in simplified form the necessary karate movements for personal defense that can be learned by anybody of average physical abilities.

The authors, Mr. Nakayama, Chief Instructor of the Japan Karate Association and Donn F. Draeger, a well-known instructor of combative arts, bring a balanced, practical, and functional approach to karate, based on the needs of Western society. As a specialized series of karate texts, these are authentic books giving full and minute explanations of the practical art of self-defense. All movements are performed in normal daily dress and bring the performer closer to reality.

Today, karate is attracting the attention of the whole world and is being popularized at an amazing rate. I sincerely hope that this series of books will be widely read as a useful reference for the lovers of karate all over the world. It is further hoped that the techniques shown in this series of books need never be used by any reader, but should an emergency arise making their use unavoidable, discretion in application should be the keynote.