The Bible of Karate: Bubishi Paperback – January 1, 1998

If you are serious about the martial arts this is well worth the money.First of all you do not read this book, you study this book. Most I agree with, some I do not.At least 30 or 40 pages I've "ear-marked" for future study, as I hope you will. Some (or most ) are controversial.Long story short this book is well worth the reading & study.Technique, philosophy, history, medicine, rumor, fact. This is NOT a "3-hour one and done book".This is a book that you study/mark-up and next month come back and think about it.And again.......and again.....well you get the point.

There are so many myths surrounding karate, particularly its origins and its relationship to Chinese martial arts. In part it is because there are few true sources of historical information, and in part it is because people want to believe the myths. McCarthy's work cannot fully demystify the past, but at least he has conducted his research and written an authoritative document that the rest of us can use as a starting point. I found him thoroughly credible--a respected martial artist and a detail-oriented researcher. He identified ten possible theories of how the Bubishi was transmitted from China to Okinawa, and rather than try to force any viewpoints along, he states the strengths and weaknesses of each. If any particular style or school is bent on believing one version or the other, they are welcome to, but this book establishes that the history is not so simple.

_The Bible of Karate Bubishi_ is a pleasant book to read. Patrick McCarthy is not the author, but the translator and commentator of a book whose original author & date of origin are unknown."Bubishi" is the name of a document that was read, copied and passed from master to student in the fighting traditions of Okinawa since the mid-1800s. The Chinese ideograms that make up its title can be interpreted as "a manual of military preparation". I cannot do better than Mr. McCarthy's description of Bubishi on page 27 of the book, so I will quote that here:" Okinawa's Bubishi is an anthology of Chinese gongfu, its history, philosophy, and application. Focusing on the White Crane style from Yongchuan village, Fujian Province, this compilation also addresses Shaolin Monk Fist gongfu and reveals its relationship to Okinawa's civil fighting legacy of karate-do."" The contents of this anthology's thirty-two articles include White Crane gongfu history, moral philosophy, advice on etiquette, comparisons of styles, defensive applications, herbal medicines, training mechanics, and Monk Fist Boxing."McCarthy's translation is broken up into four major sections:- History and Philosophy- Chinese Medicine and Herbal Pharmacology- The Vital Points- Fighting TechniquesPart One: History and Philosophy has translations and commentary from the six chapters of Bubishi that dealt with history, philosophy, & etiquette for the martial artist. It also includes McCarthy's notes on possible origins of the Bubishi document in China, different theories on the origin of Karate-do, history of Karate-do from the Meiji era, and Okinawan Karate-do dynasties.Part Two: Chinese Medicine and Herbal Pharmacology is a section that is often vague, but also shows McCarthy's dedication to this project. Ten of the thirty-two articles in the original Bubishi were devoted to medicine & healing. McCarthy spent a number of years consulting with Chinese herbalists to understand what plants were being referred to by the pictures & Chinese ideograms. This was no small task, as many of the ideograms had been miscorrectly copied at one point or another during the past century. McCarthy & the herbalists sometimes had to first figure out what ideograms made no sense, before they could start deciphering what the prescriptions should perhaps have been.McCarthy is very honest about the facts that (1) no instructions for how to administer the herbs were included, so a person would need to take the list to a Chinese herbalist and have them help figure out what plants needed to applied externally, internally, eaten as a powder, drunk as an infusion, etc., and (2) the prescriptions in Bubishi don't match any current prescriptions in Chinese herbalism, so the information is presented to the reader as is, with no guarantees from McCarthy OR the experts who helped him about whether the prescriptions will be of any use at all.In part two, only the plants' scientific names are given, and that is the main reason why I give this book four stars and not five. But I also realize McCarthy may have done that deliberately, to discourage experimentation by those who are not herbalists.Part Three: The Vital Points contains translations of five chapters within Bubishi that deal with vital point striking. McCarthy also includes an introductory section on vital point theory and items of historic note such as the bronze man statues. McCarthy has done a great service to the reader by including both the original diagrams and also more detailed modern anatomical diagrams to show the locations of the striking points.Part Four: Fighting Techniques includes translations of eleven articles in Bubishi on fighting techniques. McCarthy also includes some notes on Gongfu Quan, Qin Na, and short histories of six different Fujian gongfu styles, including Monk Fist Boxing and five variations of Crane gongfu. The Bubishi articles are very interesting, but sadly there are some where accompanying text and commentary was lost long ago, and all we have today are diagrams of stances & strikes. For those articles where accompanying commentary is available, McCarthy translates the original commentary (which is often in poetic language) and then adds his own notes about what is really meant by "Butterfly Fluttering" and "Blue Dragon Going Out To Seize".Overall, _The Bible of Karate Bubishi_ is a book I enjoyed reading and found to be very informative.On a personal note, I am writing this review as someone who typically doesn't read books on martial arts history. There are just too many arts where too much "history" has occurred between different teachers. Consequently figuring out what really happened, even a generation ago, requires reading seven different version told by at least three different people, with allowances made for whether a particular version comes from a personal memoir, a magazine article, or notes from a dojo lecture. And after all that, the reader still won't know if the art is any good, or what its strengths and weaknesses are versus other styles.I read this book at the behest of one of my teachers, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I am very glad he recommended it to me and a number of other students.

The seller worked with me to have the book here before Father's Day, it arrived in excellent condition and in plenty of time. I hid the book in the new messenger bag I got my husband for Father's day and he was SO excited to find the book in his bag - he enjoyed inspecting and marveling over the bag for a minute, then immediately sat down on the couch with his coffee and started reading the book. My husband was a martial artist all his life, and said this book, along with the Tao of Jeet Kun Do and the Three Rings, is part of the 3 most amazing and influential martial arts books of all time. I'm so happy with my purchase! <3

A new and better way of thinking for me. The teaching of this book has introduced a new and stronger mindset with witch I view myself and my relationship to others and my world ( inside and out). I have learned a great deal about desire, commitment, and priorities. PURCHACE THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trying to get some hard to find books for a good price. Mission successful.

Well done by Patrick McCarthy. This book is packed with history, applications and chinese herbal knowledge. Also has many pictures. We require all greenbelts to have read and work to begin understanding what a wealth of knowledge can be found in this book.

Please check the link here:https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R100TYC8BJGQEY/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_btm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1530697824