Shotokan's Secret (book review)

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Shotokan's Secret (book review)
By matrixman - 02-03-2010 03:30 PM

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Shotokan’s Secret! (Book Review)

Shotokan's Secret: The Hidden Truth Behind Karate's Fighting Origins (Paperback)

Dr. Bruce Clayton
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Black Belt Books; Expanded edition (May 31, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0897501888
ISBN-13: 978-0897501880
$20

I searched the site for books the other day, and found Shotokan’s Secret (Dr. Bruce Clayton) mentioned a couple of times, but not for a long time, and not as much as I felt it should be.

Interestingly enough, the guy at the martial arts supply store told me it wasn’t a very good book. Yet I found myself savoring words, almost not wanting to keep reading because I found what Dr. Clayton was saying so darned intriguing that I just wanted to keep rereading the words.

First, the book is a history, it backgrounds karate, tells why it was specifically invented and for what purpose. This viewpoint alone had me rocking and reeling. This is a basic why behind karate, and explains all sorts of things having to do with the development of forms and techniques. As I read this material I couldn’t stop going over my forms and examining them in new lights. I began doing my forms differently, and was totally revitalized and excited as new thoughts kept swamping me.

And, the book is a linguistic adventure. What do the hieroglyphics really mean? Is there a secret code in the language that would be understandable to the bodyguards and their ilk, and not necessarily to late comers? Fascinating to think that people, even the authorities we revere, could have been talked around themselves.

Lastly, the book is a research of magnificent proportion. I read a few reviews where people disagreed with the author, but I couldn’t go along with them. When he tells you about the shape of the imperial palace and how a form could be slotted to fit that geography, you pay attention. Yes, there could be, and probably are other reasons, there are always multiple contributing factors to any development. But he makes his case well, and you might find yourself alive with new ideas.

The material of the book is fascinating, well written, and makes a reader think. Definitely for karate stylists, especially ones with experience (I’ve got 40+ years in the arts). People with limited experience may not find it as fascinating, but, then again, they might. Other stylists probably won’t be taken by it, I think the guy in the store was a kung fu stylist, and that was why he was not so was not effected.

At any rate, I really hope you get the same joy out of it as I did.

By the way, doing a search on books, book reviews, and so on, on this site is very rewarding.


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[stone_dragone]

This book is on my top five list for books that every black belt in a traditional karate-based art should own, read, study and highlight.

[LuckyKBoxer]

This book is on my top five list for books that every black belt in a traditional karate-based art should own, read, study and highlight.

Why?

I have a pretty nice collection of books, about 150 so far, that I have relating to different martial arts, always up to add to my collection, but why would you recommend this book? What about it makes it a must own?
Thanks

[stone_dragone]

Why?

I have a pretty nice collection of books, about 150 so far, that I have relating to different martial arts, always up to add to my collection, but why would you recommend this book? What about it makes it a must own?
Thanks

Other than what is included in the OP, it is one of the few books that I have found that asked a new question regarding Itosuden martial arts (Shotokan and its variants, split-offs and arts that use the kata of shotokan such as the Heians/Pinans, etc). Having been in a few schools that studied Shotokan forms, I have never been fully satisfied with most of the bunkai presented in those schools mostly because they didn't take into account any of what the authors of "Shotokan's Secret" covered.

A brief example from the book that I'll touch on...Standard explanation of the first move in Heian Nidan/Pinan Shodan [Video of Form] that I have been given is that it is breaking a bear hug from behind and breaking one of the arms.

The book describes the possible bunkai in relation to the duties and tasks of a Shuri castle body guard in the 1860s. I'm not going to spill the beans here, but it changed my mind on all of the rest of my traditional forms.

For that reason and everything in the OP I recommend it to folks who study the Itosuden arts.

[LuckyKBoxer]

Other than what is included in the OP, it is one of the few books that I have found that asked a new question regarding Itosuden martial arts (Shotokan and its variants, split-offs and arts that use the kata of shotokan such as the Heians/Pinans, etc). Having been in a few schools that studied Shotokan forms, I have never been fully satisfied with most of the bunkai presented in those schools mostly because they didn't take into account any of what the authors of "Shotokan's Secret" covered.

A brief example from the book that I'll touch on...Standard explanation of the first move in Heian Nidan/Pinan Shodan [Video of Form] that I have been given is that it is breaking a bear hug from behind and breaking one of the arms.

The book describes the possible bunkai in relation to the duties and tasks of a Shuri castle body guard in the 1860s. I'm not going to spill the beans here, but it changed my mind on all of the rest of my traditional forms.

For that reason and everything in the OP I recommend it to folks who study the Itosuden arts.

You just sold me a copy...
Otherwise I never would have thought of buying it.
Thanks

[unshackled-chi]

Im not knocking the book cause i have no idea what its about, the desciption didnt give me much to go on to be honest. Alot of folks publish this kind of thing about karates origins when truthfully they dont know, because fact is alot is lost in antiquity. We know it came from China to Okinawa

However, i dont think you can say shotokan is the original karate or certainly that it holds the sercrets to true and pure karate. there are many aspects missing from the original and pure karate in shotokan.

I study Okinawan karate -do, Goju Ryu and goju kai to be exact, we draw alot also from Uechi ryu

[stone_dragone]

Im not knocking the book cause i have no idea what its about, the desciption didnt give me much to go on to be honest. Alot of folks publish this kind of thing about karates origins when truthfully they dont know, because fact is alot is lost in antiquity. We know it came from China to Okinawa

However, i dont think you can say shotokan is the original karate or certainly that it holds the sercrets to true and pure karate. there are many aspects missing from the original and pure karate in shotokan.

I study Okinawan karate -do, Goju Ryu and goju kai to be exact, we draw alot also from Uechi ryu

After reading the OP again, I can see where you could come to the conclusion that the author believes shotokan to be "the original karate."

However, the book makes no such assertion. It does, however, draw the distinction between Itosuden arts and Nahate arts like Goju and Uechi Ryus. What it actually discusses is how the Itosuden are arts that made a specific and direct departure at a specific point in time from what was generally practiced i.e. those arts with a closer philosophical and physiological tie to White Crane Chuan Fa.

Anyone who has trained in Either system, or both, and has eyes will recognize that Goju ryu and Shotokan are two entirely different beasts. I wouldn't defend a book so adamantly if it were written by someone who couldn't historically differentiate between the two.

[Brother John]

Unshackled has a point.

Alot of folks publish this kind of thing about karates origins when truthfully they dont know, because fact is alot is lost in antiquity.

I don't mean to rain on the parade, but a good deal of the book is little more than speculative / creative history; which I feel is ill-founded.

But....check it out for yourself.

Your Brother
John

[punisher73]

Unshackled has a point.


I don't mean to rain on the parade, but a good deal of the book is little more than speculative / creative history; which I feel is ill-founded.

But....check it out for yourself.

Your Brother
John

Agree that it is a lot of speculative ideas based on a reconstruction of what we know now. BUT, I still think that it is a good read for two reasons.

1) Okinawan background of known history and the cultural belief of truth vs. accepted stories and understanding how that fits into karate's history

2) He breaks Shotokan into a logical system of how someone would go about designing a system based on their needs and environment. It gives a student considerations of what THEY might need in their own style of study.

I thought he did present a good theory on the development of how shotokan differed from other okinawan arts.

[Brother John]

What I DO like about this book and others like it:

It makes martial artists look deeper and think harder about WHY things are arranged the way they are in the arts.

For that alone, it's worth the read.

Your Brother
John