The Karate Way: Discovering the Spirit of Practice [Paperback]

Karate is not just a sport or a hobby—it’s a lifetime study toward perfection of character. Here, Dave Lowry, one of the best-known writers on the Japanese martial arts, illuminates the complete path of karate including practice, philosophy, and culture. He covers myriad subjects of interest to karate practitioners of all ages and levels, including:

   • The relationship between students and teachers
   • Cultivating the correct attitude during practice
   • The differences between karate in the East and West
   • Whether a karate student really needs to study in Japan to perfect the art
   • The meaning of rank and the black belt
   • Detailed descriptions of kicks, punches, evasions, and techniques and the philosophical concepts that they manifest
   • What practice means and looks like as one ages
   • How the practice of karate aims toward cultivating character and spiritual development


After forty years studying karate and the budo arts, Lowry is an informative and reliable guide, highlighting aspects of the karate path that will surprise, entertain, and enlighten.

Dave Lowry is an accomplished martial artist, calligrapher, and writer. He is the restaurant critic forSt. Louis Magazineand writes regularly for a number of magazines on a wide variety of subjects, many of them related to Japan and the Japanese martial arts. He is the author of numerous books including Autumn Lightning: The Education of an American Samurai,Sword & Brush: The Spirit of the Martial Arts,Clouds in the West: Lessons from the Martial Arts of Japan, andThe Connoisseur's Guide to Sushi.