The Hand is My Sword: A Karate Handbook Book

KARATE MEANS "empty-hand," but the man who masters this book will never be emptyhanded. In fact, he will be a master of the ultimate in self-defense, for here are the fundamentals, the basic katas and techniques as taught by Robert Trias, holder of the eighth degree Black Belt.

These movements and techniques are vividly brought to life by more than six hundred striking illustrations, many of them picturing Master Trias and his aides and pupils. Along with the imposing illustrations are important charts not usually found in works of this kind. The charts show the fatal and disabling points of the body and the nerve centers-for karate can be a deadly game, and those who practice it must know well the significance of the term "killer karate."

But karate, as the author ably illustrates, is more than an effective form of self-defense it is a healthful physical art and an exciting sport. It provides excellent all-around exercise, developing coordination, agility and poise. Many schools are promoting karate and, in tune with the times, it has sprung up in the Women's Lib movement. For every action, Trias explains, there is an opposite and equal reaction, and the success of any karate movement is based upon the on centration of strength at the proper time and place. Mental attitude plays an important part, Trias says, and in many cases the psychologically stronger person vanquishes his physically superior opponent.

For student and instructor alike, this important manual will open new dimensions, new horizons, and in the give-and-take of life will teach the properly oriented how to give much more than he takes. It will give him a new interest, a new zest for living, with the confidence that he can move mountains. Above all, it will teach him that to master others, he must first learn to master himself.