Product Description

'The secrets of karate are contained in the kata,' said the masters of old. What did they mean? For many years, people have struggled to understand where padwork, grappling, ground-fighting and even high kicks fit into traditional karate.While many people understand the purpose of individual kata, this book demonstrates how the various kata work together to create a logical fight progression from stand-up striking to close-quarter grappling and ground-fighting. "Four Shades of Black" decodes the kata in a radically different way, revealing how the traditional arts set out to develop a complete and rounded fighter. If you think you know karate, think again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76583 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Review
"'both valuable and long overdue' Geoff Thompson 'All karateka should read... this excellent book. There can be few people more qualified to write a book such as this' Iain Abernethy"

Iain Abernethy, fifth-degree black belt Author of Bunkai-Jutsu: The Practical Application of Karate Kata
Regardless of style, all karateka should read and digest the information contained within this excellent book. Gavin Mulholland is someone who fully understands the realities of combat and kata and if you wish to practise karate as the pragmatic fighting system it was intended to be, you should familiarise yourself with Gavin's work. This is a thorough and accessible explanation of everything you need to know to make sense of kata and become a complete fighter. Four Shades of Black is a must-read book that is certain to become a modern classic. Enjoy!

Nick Hughes, Chief Instructor of Fight Survival and Combat Karate
Gavin Mulholland is one of those rare karate instructors who actually impresses me. It's common knowledge that the bulk of "traditional" martial artists can't make their stuff work in the real world due to the emphasis placed on sporting applications over the last thirty years. Luckily, there are people like Gavin still out there proving that Traditional Martial Arts do indeed work

Customer Reviews

A "must have" book
Whether you train in Goju or any other Martial Art , this book underlines the principles and mind set for a student as they progress through their training.
It's layout and classy use of black and white photos enhances the high standard of the information contained in this book.
Although not a "step by step" text book , as many books on Karate are , it gives many insights and ideas for training using bunkai , partner drills and padwork.Which all help to raise the skills of the students as they study the Kata.
I think this book is the best book on the first four Kata contained in the Goju Ryu system.
Here's hoping for another on the rest of the Goju Kata.

Simply Brilliant!
I have to say that has to be one of the best books on bunkai out there! Not only is the information superb, it's also the way the book is laid out that is so impressive (think "coffee table" quality).

I was privileged to be able to make a small contribution to the book by way of the foreword (Geoff Thompson wrote the preface) and hence I got to see the draft a few months ago. Brilliant information! The final book truly is something to behold and I can honestly say I don't think I've seen as stylish a martial arts book.

Can't recommend this one highly enough.

Iain Abernethy

Training with purpose
I really enjoyed this book. Not only is it beautiful to look at, it is a pleasure to read. Clear, concise, eloquent sentence structure and very accessible. So valuable for the kyu grade in that it explains what you should be trying to achieve with your training at each level, but also for the dan grade to ensure that nothing has been overlooked.

It's not a 'how to' book at all really, more something to make you think about what you are doing and why. Its premise is to give you the underlying principles behind the training for each kata. Suggestions for the padwork, partnerwork and conditioning drills required to work on the necessary mindset. And as you progress through each kata, those skills are reinforced and built upon so that, by the time you get to black belt, you have accumulated an instinctive set of reactions to varying situations that will come to the fore when under pressure.

I loved the little snapshots of violence that introduced each kata and, by the end of the book, I wanted to be that student taking his first steps in the dojo.

I shall certainly be approaching my future training with a very different way of thinking.