The book is divided into sections for each martial art, or a particular style within each martial art tradition. Each starts with history of the art or style and some philosophy to go with it. Next is basic etiquette and equipment. Third is common warm ups followed by basic techniques and then advanced techniques.
I found all of these sections educational, helpful, and interesting. Etiquette is often as important for the martial art as the techniques, and receives as much attention. Both have full-color pictures showing each step, and they even include close-ups on some techniques involving grips. The back of the book lists the names, styles and rank of the people in the photographs, and they are all experts, including the author, Fay Goodman herself. So you can be sure that what you see is correct.
This book provides a greater breadth of general martial art information than anything I've come across. However, it doesn't have depth.
The book is a good sample platter, so to speak, to get the gist of the martial art in question. This is only to wet your appetite. If you want to learn more about a specific martial art then you'll need to look elsewhere. This means either finding a book dedicated to the specific martial art or finding a teacher or otherwise an expert who can tell you more about it. Indeed, most of the pages on technique include the refrain "Only practice this under the supervision of an expert" or something to that effect.
Also, some of the sections are shorter than others. The section on Tae Known Do, for instance, is smaller than the ones for Karate and Kung Fu, so the Tae Known Do section has even less depth than some of the others.
It is overall a good resource.
Trickster Eric Novels gives ""The Ultimate Book of Martial Arts" a B+
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Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration). His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.
