| All prices include postage and handlingReturn Policy: Cash refunds in the first 10 days, credit against future purchases thereafter.
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| Book Locator:Click on a book title to locate it.The American Shorin-ryu Karate Association: An IntroductionLittle Dragons and Tigers: Handbook for ASKA Youth Students, Their Instructors, and ParentsNyumonsha: A Handbook for ASKA Students from Beginner to Purple BeltSeito: A Handbook for ASKA Students from 5th kyu to 1st kyuSensei: A Handbook for ASKA Instructors and Their StudentsYudansha: A Handbook for ASKA Black BeltsKobudo: A Handbook for ASKA Weaponry StudentsClimbing the Mountain – In Search of the Soul of KarateKamikaze! The Divine Wind and the Spirit of the Martial ArtsSamurai, Scoundrels and Saints – Stories from the Martial ArtsWarriors and Wisemen: More Stories from the Martial ArtsAmerican Shorin-ryu Karate Association: A Manual for Students and Instructors (Old version)Honorary Samurai: Tales of Courage, Honor, Fortitude, and StrategyI Remember When: Six Decades of Training in the ASKAFledgling Sparrows: An Activity Book for Young ASKA Students. Volume 1Monks, Madmen, and Martial Masters | |
| Ceremonial Diploma (Japanese and English)
$55 Please include in a separate email to papapaul@aska-karate.org, your full name as you would like it to appear, your rank, your instructors name, date, time and place of the event.
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| The American Shorin-ryu Karate Association: An Introduction (68 pages). $5.95 (free copy upon joining ASKA).This book contains essential information for every member of the ASKA. It includes our mission statement, a brief history of the ASKA, a thorough description of the ASKA’s organizational and instructional structure, a description of the services the ASKA provides, including camps, grants and awards, scholarships, and publications, and a list of ASKA schools around the country. Each member is issued one free copy upon joining the ASKA. Additional copies are available for $5.95 each. | |
| Little Dragons and Tigers: A Handbook for ASKA Youth Students, Their Instructors, and Parents (186 pages). $14.95This unique and heavily illustrated volume is really three books in one. For youth students, it includes extensive information about Japanese culture, along with numerous word games, coloring and learning exercises, and other fun, interactive activities. For parents and teachers, the book includes articles by some of the ASKA’s top instructors on everything from why karate is good for children and why children drop out to martial arts training for girls. It includes must-read chapters on how to motivate children, understanding and teaching students with special needs, how to help your child in his or her karate training, and frequently asked questions by parents about their children’s karate training. Finally, Little Dragons and Tigers includes information on how the ASKA ranks youth students, what their requirements are for different levels, and a training diary intended to be used as an interactive tool with the child’s instructor to track progress. | |
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Nyumonsha: A Handbook for ASKA Students from Beginner to Purple Belt (118 pages), 2nd Edition. $9.95Nyumonsha is the essential handbook and reference tool for all ASKA students between beginner and purple belt, in other words for the first year or so of the student’s training. It includes all the requirements for grades from 10th kyu to 7th kyu, including detailed explanations of what instructors are looking for in students of a particular rank. In addition, each chapter contains an explanation of the drills required for that rank, an explanation of the meaning and history of the forms (kata) the student learns at that level, and an historical profile of the seminal figures in the foundation and development of Okinawan Shorin-ryu karate. The book also includes an introduction to the etiquette observed in martial arts schools, the reason for studying forms (kata), and a number of illuminating “Sensei’s notes” that cover such issues as free sparring, how to prepare for testing, and an explanation of the different branches of Shorin-ryu. |
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Seito: A Handbook for ASKA Students from 5th kyu to 1st kyu (128 pages), 2nd Edition. $12.95Seito is the follow-on volume to Nyumonsha. It covers all essential information for the ASKA student from green belt to the threshold of black belt, including all requirements, the meaning and background of each kata, biographical profiles of more than a half-dozen important figures from the history of Okinawan karate, self-defense, sweeps and take-downs, and information of starting training in Okinawan weaponry. It is essential reading for all ASKA students from 7th kyu to black belt. |
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Sensei: A Handbook for ASKA Instructors and Their Students (168 pages). $9.95Sensei is a goldmine of information divided into five sections. The first, “Mind and Body,” contains perspectives on the relationship of Zen to the martial arts, the physics of karate, and the art of centering oneself. Section Two is a complete description of the ASKA grading system for instructors, from SWAT Team to Senior Instructor. Section Three gives four perspectives on teaching in the ASKA, ranging from the art of teaching children and teaching women self-defense to the ASKA internship program. Section four is composed of seven in-depth articles by senior ASKA instructors who have pursued advanced training in sparring, judo, grappling, Tai Chi, weaponry and swordsmanship, and pressure-point fighting. The final section contains thoughts on what it means to be a “sensei,” or teacher of the martial arts, by instructors and students of all ranks, ages, and abilities. |
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Yudansha: A Handbook for ASKA Black Belts (335 pages). $22.95This is the master hand-book for ASKA black belts of all ranks. Chapters on each rank from first degree black belt to master-level include descriptions and explanations of all requirements, the distinguishing characteristics of progress at each grade, the history and meaning of each kata learned at that grade, information on the basics of each of five major weapons, a detailed profile of a “sister” style of Okinawan karate, and a biographical sketch of important but little-known figures from the history of Okinawan karate. Yudansha also contains sections on the Chinese ancestry of Okinawan martial arts and chapters on advanced kata application (bunkai), what is “traditional” karate, and the ASKA’s system for ranking youth black belts. Yudansha has numerous illustrations. |
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Kobudo: A Handbook for ASKA Weaponry Students (384 pages). $29.95This lavishly illustrated volume is really two books in one. The first section of the book is devoted to the history of Okinawan kobudo. This is arguably the most complete, comprehensive, and accurate such history available, including descriptions of all the major lineages of kobudo and biographical profiles of current and past masters. This historical section contains a number of stories called “Kobudo Legends and Lore” which relate famous stories of the prowess of past masters. The second half of the volume is devoted to the ASKA ranking system and extensive information on the five major weapons and more than a dozen minor weapons of Okinawan kobudo. The chapter on each weapon includes how to select a good weapon of that type, how to handle the weapon, warm-up exercises with the weapon, how to avoid hurting yourself with the weapon while learning how to use it, basic techniques, drills, kata, and sparring with the weapon. Each chapter includes a comprehensive chart of all major traditional kata with the weapon, and an extensive resource list of books and videos available about the weapon. Each chapter also contains one or more “ASKA Legends and Lore,” stories of the exploits, experiences, and miscues of ASKA seniors during their kobudo training. |
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Climbing the Mountain – In Search of the Soul of Karate (42 pages). $7.50This booklet emerged from the experiences of two ASKA camps during which students were assigned either to write a haiku poem or create a drawing related to the camp. One of the camps was dedicated to the memory of the great Japanese karate master, Masutatsu Oyama, who had recently passed away. Climbing the Mountain includes a biographical sketch of Oyama and reproductions of four letters Oyama personally wrote to the author between 1966 and 1970. These have never before been published. The book contains dozens of haiku poems and illustrations linked to the kata practiced in the ASKA, including a number of original Japanese brush drawings by the author. It has a beautiful full-color cover. |
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Kamikaze! The Divine Wind and the Spirit of the Martial Arts (68 pages). $6.95Kamikaze is the story of two wars: during the Mongol invasion of Japan in the late 1200’s, the badly out-matched Japanese were saved from defeat by a fortuitous typhoon which wrecked the Mongol fleet and caused them to withdraw. The grateful Japanese called this storm the kamikaze, or divine wind. Japanese soldiers were to revive that name during the waning days of World War II, when they embarked on a last-ditch effort to use suicide attacks to stave off defeat. In addition to historical narratives of both wars, Kamikaze includes rare Japanese woodblock prints of samurai, several maps, and actual combat photos of American ships under attack by kamikaze suicide pilots. It contains excerpts from letters sent home by kamikaze pilots just before they embarked on their final missions and an extensive list for further reading. |
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Samurai, Scoundrels and Saints – Stories from the Martial Arts (165 pages) $19.95Asian history is replete with stories of combat, heroism, self-sacrifice, valor, strategy, and compassion. This book includes more than three dozen such stories, ranging from the famous woman warrior, Tomoe Gozen, to how the renowned samurai, Miyamoto Musashi was almost killed in the bath tub, from the monk who defied the Mongols to the supernatural creatures that reputedly taught the famous warrior Yoshitsune how to fight. It includes tales of daring rescues, narrow escapes, treachery, and Zen enlightenment. The final tale tells the story of the “last samurai’ who remained in the jungle of Guam from the time of the Japanese surrender in 1945 until he was finally convinced the war was over and he could surrender in 1972. Samurai, Scoundrels and Saints is illustrated with a number of rare Japanese woodblock prints and has a beautiful full-color cover. |
| Warriors and Wisemen: More Stories from the Martial Arts (121 pages). $19.95A second volume of entertaining and inspirational stories from the Asian martial arts, includes several dozen more stories of heroism and cowardice, honor and treachery, victory and defeat, and the search for meaning in life. It includes charts and a beautiful full-color cover. | |
| American Shorin-ryu Karate Association: A Manual for Students and Instructors (195 pages). $39.00We have only a very limited number of this 1989 edition of our training manual. It includes all requirements in effect at the time, extensive historical information, explanations of kata and drills, aspects of progress, and a comprehensive bibliography of martial arts publications. It is full of charts and photos, and has a beautiful full-color cover. | |
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Honorary Samurai: Tales of Courage, Honor, Fortitude, and Strategy (216 pages). $12.95The Asians have no monopoly on either good stories or the characteristics of courage, fortitude, compassion, strategy, honor or the other traits that inspire us. After exploring “what is a samurai?” and why we would want to make someone an “honorary” one, Honorary Samurai tells 15 inspirational stories of such qualities from times and places as varied as ancient Rome, medieval Scotland, the US Civil War, Tibet’s struggle for freedom in the 1950s, World War I, the American expansion westward, and World War II. The final chapter tells the story of a modern American hero, Lt. Cdr. Otis Kight, who during his three decades in the US Navy survived everything from his ship sinking to being shot down in an airplane, to fighting the two worst fires in modern US Navy history. His full story has never been told before. Honorary Samurai is chock full of photos and other illustrations and has a beautiful full-color cover. |
| I Remember When: Six Decades of Training in the ASKA (124 pages). $12.95The ASKA is proud to make available to its member this unique book of reminiscences by a number of the Association’s most senior instructors on what training was like in the “old days.” I Remember When includes Papa Paul Keller’s memories of beginning training at 12 years old in a dojo where one of the goals was to see how many students could be chased away. Papa Chris Clarke’s recollections of training with his brother before he ever entered a dojo. Shihan Dai Jim True’s reminiscences on his first encounter with Papa Paul. Dai Sempai Jayne Butram’s account of what training was like for women in the 1970s. Sensei Jo McCulty’s memories of training with Papa Paul at Ohio State University. Accounts by Sensei Fran Heidlage and Sensei Sue Theise on why they left other styles to join the ASKA. Dai Sempai Mike Pepe’s story of his growing involvement in grappling. Papa Chris’s recollections of his 1972 trip to Okinawa and his encounter with Hanshi Nakazato Shugoro, 10th dan. And much more, including numerous old and rare photographs of the authors and a full color cover. | |
| Fledgling Sparrows: An Activity Book for Young ASKA Students. Volume 1. $6.95This beautiful 8 1/2 x 11 activity book is chock full of such activitiesas coloring, matching, mazes, and other age-appropriate and fun activities
for children 3 years old or older. The activities all relate to the martial arts and/or the Asian cultures from which they came. Full of karateka, samurai, sumo wrestlers, animals, and Asian art, the kids are sure to learn from as well as enjoy this book. It features both male and female figures, including karate students of both genders. Fledgling Sparrows has a beautiful, full-color front and back cover. The center pages, on extra-heavy stock, pull out. On one side is a mask that the children can cut out, color, and wear. On the other side are memory cards with the faces of many of the ASKA’s top instructors. |
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| Monks, Madmen, and Martial Masters $16.45More stories for the martial artist! Monks, Madmen, and Martial Mastersis the third in the ASKA’s series of publications of inspiring stories of
courage, strategy, honor, and resourcefulness in the long history of the warrior cultures of East Asia. In this book you will find:
In addition to the book’s beautiful full-color front and back cover, Monks, Madmen, and Martial Masters is packed with hard-to-find illustrations that relate directly to the stories. As an added bonus, Monks, Madmen, and Martial Masters has two extra, full-color pages, beautiful plates of Japanese warrior art. |
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Publications
A man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action.
-Lao Tzu
