Shotokan's Secret: The Hidden Truth Behind Karate's Fighting Origins - Softcover

The predecessors of shotokan karate devised these survival skills to overcome impossible odds. When the king of Okinawa found himself trapped between samurai occupiers and U.S. Marines, his unarmed bodyguards answered these threats by creating the cornerstone of hard-style karate: the heian kata. Modern masters pass down these technical forms to their students, but their martial applications remained a mystery---until now.

In this expanded edition of the acclaimed Shotokan's Secret: The Hidden Truth Behind Karate's Fighting Origins, author Bruce D. Clayton cracks open the kata with new insights into their meaning and purpose. Featuring new artwork, archival lithographs, photographic sequences, and six never-before-seen chapters filled with extensive historical research, the book shows serious students and karate enthusiasts why the shotokan style remains one of the world's most influential arts. The new edition analyzes the enemies that unarmed Okinawan bodyguards like Sokon Matsumura and Yasutsune Itosu faced. From there, Shotokan's Secret delves deeply into the heian kata, revealing how each heian form contains the key techniques for defeating one of Okinawa's adversaries.

Hundred of books have been published since Gichin Funakoshi's To-Te Jitsu in 1920, but Clayton's expanded Shotokan's Secret is the only one to dissect the lore, dig into the history and analyze the art. With Shotokan's Secret, you'll discover karate's true purpose.

Bruce D. Clayton, Ph.D., holds a seventh-degree black belt in shotokan karate and has studied the art since 1973. He is the author of several books, including Shotokan's Secret: The Hidden Truth Behind Karate's Fighting Origins. He has appeared on 60 Minutes, the CBS Evening News, Today and the Tomorrow Show.