cover image Martial Arts Complete

Martial Arts Complete

Michael Finn. Overlook Press, $14.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-87951-335-1

Although there is some useful information (``the misleading term `kung-fu' is in fact a Cantonese word meaning `an acquired skill.' It can refer equally to knitting or cookery as it can to the martial arts.'') in this disjointed mishmash of definitions and historical anecdotes, Finn ( Police Arrest Techniques ) has attempted to cover too much material in too little space. A repetitive, disorganized text offers the reader a superficial military and philosophic history of China and Japan, an examination of the evolution of Eastern weaponry and an introduction to a number of ``styles'' of martial artsjujutsu, karate, judo, aikido, etc. There are also chapters on the code and significance of the samurai, the ``giants of sumo,'' the arsenal of the ninja and the martial traditions of other Eastern countriesa paragraph each on the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Korea and, in tenuous comparison, ``the proud Zulu race,'' whose defeat Finn likens to that of the Boxer rebels. The photographs are of poor quality and do not always relate to the text. (Feb.)