great difficulty in finding any but a handful of people who knew anything about weapons. For many years I was only able to acquire little bits of weapons training
from various teachers here and there. I tried to learn all that I could from books, but found that the number of books on weapons is almost as short in supply as the
number of instructors with a knowledge of weapons. I also found that most of the books about weapons were written by the same man and were incomplete in their
depth, for no books were available on the tonfa or the yawara, and only a few were available on the staff, the bo, and the knife. There seemed to be numerous books
on the nunchaku, most poorly done, and a few books on the sai; but all in all the books available for the martial art student who was interested in weapons were few
and far between.
So I decided to write my own book. I spent the last four years doing research and training with weapons, learning their use and applications. I was able to achieve
a fourth degree black belt in weapons (kubojitsu), I had already written four other books and a movie script, "The Leopard," so I was familiar with what was
necessary to write a good book. I wanted my book to have techniques that a beginner could learn, but that a teacher could also benefit from. I wanted to make the
book easy to follow by avoiding any overuse of photos or confusing text. I wanted to include a basic practice Kata for each weapon, as well as techniques for the
weapon's offensive and defensive use. Finally, I wanted to write a book that would serve as a manual on weapons for years to come-a
book that a student or a teacher would be proud to own and would refer to whenever they had a question on weapons or
wanted a new technique.
I feel that I have accomplished all of these goals in this book, The Complete Book of Karate Weapons. It is a book that I
am proud of and one that you can be proud to have in your library. If you will read this book with an open mind and follow
the techniques and exercises described herein, you can make yourself one of the few experts with weapons in the world
today.
I could never have written this book without the help of many friends and fellow martial artists who appear with me in
the instructional photos, both as technique partners and tech- nical advisers. These men, some of the most outstanding
black belts in the South, include:
Keith Yates: fourth degree black belt. Winner of many kata championships and weapons kata championships at the
top tournaments of the South. A master artist who also designed the cover of the book.
James Toney: fifth degree black belt. Teacher extraordinaire and tournament champion for many years. One of the
most respected teachers in Texas.
Barry Guimbellot: third degree black belt. Probably the most successful teacher
in Dallas, an outstanding example of character and leadership in karate.
Steve Weiss: second degree black belt. A modern jiu-jitsu expert who is also an expert in karate.
Ross Comerski: first degree black belt. A giant of a man and a giant of a teacher.
Finally, I must thank all of my teachers through my years of training for their help and knowledge, such great men as:
Soke R. Sacharnoski, Soke A. Church, Soke K. Marx, Master HeYoung Kimm, Shihan B. Pearson, Dr. J. Marler, and
Sensi B. Hathorn. These great men and excellent teachers gave the knowledge and training that enabled me to get to where
I am today. I am forever grateful to them and their arts.
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