Demura, who studied under Taira Shinken, covers stances, striking, blocking, combinations, sparring, and an entire kata. Demura is considered among the finest bo experts of the modern age. Fully illustrated.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Amazing Book:
I recently received this book and it is the best martial arts book I have ever read. It had a plethora of pictures and clear writing. Most importantly it thoroughly covered the basics such as hand position, basic strikes, and basic blocks. The kata in the end left a little to be desired, but I could find no other flaws in the book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone and I plan on buying Fumio Demura's other books on weapon fighting now.
Very Good Overview On This Traditional Kobudo Weapon:
This is a very well done book on the subject of the bo staff, and it gives you an outstanding overview of this kobudo weapon and its history along with a variety of techniques demonstrated by the author. The book then delves into the basic techniques you will need to know in order to effectively utilize the bo staff. This includes various grips, stances, strikes, blocks, etc. I felt that this was done in a very well organized fashion and the photographs and accompanying text adequately explained the... more info
Covers everything but could be better organised:
This is a good book. It covers all the basic stances, strikes and blocks. It normally gives the english name of a technique after the Japanese name, but not always. For someone with my limited memory, I would have liked an index to the techniques, so when the book refers to one I've forgotten, I can quickly find it. But it doesn't have an index so I spend a lot of time flicking back and forward.
Also, the descriptions are very wordy. Instead of just saying 'Execute an XYZ strike', it describes every... more info
Good book on Bo.:
Fumio Demura's basic books on Kobudo (Nunchaku, Bo, Sai, Tonfa) are good. They include some historical data, basic stances and grips, as well as useful drills to train grips, blocks and thrusts. In this case, it includes also the Shushi-no-kon-sho Kata. Good Japanese terminology, also.
