NEW FORMAT FROM ISSUE 13
The next issue of Classical Fighting Arts magazine will be printed, for the first time, in full color with a perfect bound spine. The number of pages will remain the same, but the glossy paper will be slightly lighter to minimize the cost of airmail to our many overseas subscribers. While the new CFA will look more commercial, it's contents will remain exactly the same. High quality, well-researched articles about genuine martial arts and martial artists.

Issue No. 12 of Classical Fighting Arts
magazine includes the following excellent articles:

•The Evolution of Karate Kata by Harry Cook Part 2
“Many modern systems of sport combat almost totally ignore kata, while others merely pay lip service to the classical ideal, producing kata of great visual appeal but of little combat value. This is most clearly seen when the practitioners of these kata try to explain the application of the techniques they use; either the explanations are fatuous in the extreme, depending on totally unreal attacks or defences, or the kata have to be changed out of all recognition to make them combat effective.'”

• The Karate Odyssey of Pat Nakata by Graham Noble & Charles Goodin.
“Pat Nakata began his study of karate in 1957 with Hawaiin pioneer Walter Nishioka, and would go on to study with instructors as well known as Hironori Otsuka (Wado Ryu) and Gogen Yamaguchi (Goju Kai).
His quest for knowledge would eventually lead him to Chosin Chibana, one of the last of the great Okinawan masters of Shorin Ryu Karate.”


•Aikido Memoirs by Alan Ruddock
"I am very glad that I made the effort to travel to Japan to study aikido. In the midst of the entire Japanese culture shock it soon became very clear what was essentially aikido, and what was actually purely Japanese.
Of course, when in Rome, do as the Romans. Respect other people and their traditions…but remember, respect is a two way street. It is actually disturbing to see the manner in which some students are accustomed to being misused, and worse, their impression that whatever the sensei does must be right. They have switched off two buttons in their brain called common sense and self respect.
O-Sensei, although a deeply religious man, never insisted that we adopt a Shinto, Zen, or any other path as a means to understand aikido. In fact, the idea of aikido as a kind of religion is totally alien to me, and I suspect to anyone else who was actually there at the time O-Sensei was alive. He was putting over universal principles about harmony and respect for others. He never gave any inkling of wanting to impose any religious system on students.."

• The Imaginary World of Buddhism & East Aian Martial Arts by Stanley Henning
“The time to lay bare misperceptions of the relationship between East Asian martial arts and Buddhism is long overdue as we wander into the 21st century, still apparently blind to the fiction in East Asian martial arts history. To begin with, the competitive Judo, karate, taekwondo, and “kung fu” that we are familiar with are martial sports, not martial arts in the strictest sense. And, while they all have their antecedents in Chinese martial arts, what we have been familiar with to date has been effectively shrouded in myth to the point where some even otherwise seemingly scholarly practitioners unquestioningly recite chapter and verse of the Bodhidharma story of the origins of Chinese boxing and its relationship to Chan (Zen) Buddhism. "

•How to Pose as a Strong Man by E. Barton-Wright with Harry Cook.
"It may seem strange to include an article about tricks of leverage in the context of the martial arts, but Barton-Wright’s article is of great interest as it sheds light on similar tricks performed today by martial artists who claim to possess mysterious powers, or be able to control unusual forms of energy."

• Samurai & Their Guns by Akihiro Omi
"On 25 August 1543, as the result of a typhoon, a Portuguese merchant ship (actually a Chinese vessel) carrying 100 sailors and crew, drifted ashore on the island of Tanegashima, off the coast of Japan’s southernmost island of Kyushu. Lord Tokitaka Tanegashima, who was the governor of the island at that time, purchased two matchlock guns from the merchants for a large sum of money, and helped them repair their ship, at which point they sailed away to return in their own vessel a year later."

Bruce Lee & The Jing Wu Association
“Chen (played by Bruce Lee):
“Tell me the truth. No more lies. If I turn myself over to you, will you leave the Jing Wu School alone? The truth!” Inspector: “You have my word on it. Don’t worry, on my word of honor.”
Chen: “Now you hear this! I will accept punishment for the lives I took. You just leave this school alone!
Japanese consulate: “Yes, of course! Of course!”
Seconds later, in the final scene of the movie Bruce Lee “flips out” and bursts through the front doors of the Jing Wu School out into the street. He does a flying sidekick with his usual cat scream of “aiiiii” as he is gunned down by a hail of foreign machine gun fire. Then the final credits start to roll. Thus ends the iconic 1972 movie known in the west as Fists of Fury. That movie, with its portrayal of the Jing Wu Association’s martial arts program has set the modern day western image of the Jing Wu Association..”

Toyama (Oyadomari) Kanken Different Styles of Karate ?
Born in Shuri, Okinawa, with the family name Oyadomari Toyama Kanken graduated from the Okinawa Teacher’s College and was a student of Itarashiki Peichin, one of Matsumura’s best students. In Taiwan while working as a teacher, Toyama studied Chinese chuan’fa under Sho Seiko (Japanese reading). In 1935 he traveled to Tokyo and founded the Shudokan dojo and began instructing students. He was particularly skilled at Koryu Useishi (Gojushiho) kata.

Martial Arts Legends-Taizaburo Nakamura
Soke, Nakamura Ryu Battodo
Senior Master, Toyama Ryu Iaido
Battodo: Hanshi, 10th dan (International Martial Arts Federation)
Jukendo: Hanshi, 8th dan (All Japan Bayonet Federation)
Tankendo: Hanshi, 8th dan (All Japan Bayonet Federation)
Kendo: Hanshi, 8th dan (International Martial Arts Federation)
Kendo: Kyoshi, 7th dan (All Japan Kendo Federation)
Kyudo: 4th dan (pre-war Kyudo Federation)
Judo: 3rd dan (pre-war Judo Association)
Calligraphy: Hanshi.

•Classical Fighting Arts
is America's fastest growing martial arts publication because of the quality of its writers and its content. It does not have lurid headlines, nor does it make make sensational claims. If you are really " in to" martial arts, this publication is your natural choice.
• Traditional but Progressive -
While Classical Fighting Arts is principally dedicated to the martial arts of Japan, China, and the Okinawan Archipelago, we are open- minded to the extent that we often publish articles on related subjects from outside our area of specialization. From time to time therefore you will find within our covers material on Boxe Francaise-Savate, Thai Boxing, English Prize Fighting, European Fencing, and other legitimate martial arts.

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