12 Best Karate Books

Gichin Funakoshi recalls his early training in Okinawa and the hardships that accompanied his commitment to karate. Personal anecdotes connect the martial art's spread with his beliefs about perseverance, self-reliance, discipline, and the character of a practitioner.

Patrick McCarthy translates and contextualizes a Chinese martial arts manual that influenced Okinawan karate. Its material combines combat techniques and strategy with philosophy and traditional medical ideas, while commentary examines the document's history and its place in karate's development.

Gichin Funakoshi presents karate's foundational techniques and selected kata in an illustrated training text. Explanations of movement, practice, and application connect physical instruction with his understanding of karate-do as a disciplined way of development.

C. W. Nicol recounts traveling from Wales to Japan to study karate and discovering its influence on his character. His memoir connects disciplined training and kata with trust, responsibility, gentleness, and the pursuit of inner tranquility.

Gichin Funakoshi's twenty principles and their accompanying commentary explore karate as a discipline of character and spirit. The book emphasizes mental agility, self-development, and the connection between martial practice and conduct beyond the dojo.

Masatoshi Nakayama introduces Shotokan karate through basic stances, strikes, blocks, kata, and kumite. Photographs and explanations organize the foundations of training, including balance, movement, and power, as the opening volume of a larger instructional series.

Gichin Funakoshi explains karate's philosophical and spiritual foundations through memories of training, accounts of other masters, and reflections on its history. His emphasis on avoiding conflict connects martial practice with personal development and the possibility of improving with age.

Lawrence A. Kane and Kris Wilder present principles for analyzing the martial applications of kata. Their discussion connects formal movements with practical questions about technique, strategy, and partner work, encouraging practitioners to examine what their forms may express.

Tetsuhiro Hokama documents Okinawan karate's history and traditions through historical photographs and accounts of its development. The book also presents illustrated material on Goju-ryu practice and connections between movements in Okinawan dance and combative techniques.

Michael Clarke explains hojo undo, the supplementary conditioning practices used in traditional karate. Historical background, tool-building drawings, warm-up guidance, and training instructions connect Okinawan equipment with the movements and physical demands of the martial art.

Ashley P. Martin organizes Shotokan karate instruction around progression through the belt system. Photographs and step-by-step explanations cover techniques and kata, giving students a reference for the material encountered as their training moves from beginner toward advanced levels.

Hirokazu Kanazawa presents a structured course in karate's basic techniques, forms, and sparring. Detailed photographs accompany instruction that progresses from introductory practice toward more advanced work, showing how individual movements fit into a broader training program.