Title: Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts
Author: Donn F. Draeger and Robert W. Smith
Publisher: Kodansha USA
Publication Date: 1980; originally published as Asian Fighting Arts in 1969
Format: Paperback
Pages: 208, 10.1 in x 7.2 in
Cover Price: $22; out-of-print, but available on the secondary market
ISBN: 978-0870114366
Content
Authors Donn Draeger and Robert W. Smith are well-known names in the martial arts scholarship community. The back cover of the book notes that Mr. Draeger “was recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on fighting arts. He was more than proficient in several martial arts and was also a prolific author whose books have become the standard works on many aspects of the martial arts.” It also says that Mr. Smith, a “well-known teacher and widely published author, is one of the world’s leading experts on Chinese fighting forms and techniques, though his interests extend to fighting arts of all Asian countries.” We will return to titles by Mr. Smith in future reviews, but for now we’re focusing on this work, originally published in 1969 as a survey of Asian martial arts.
The book contains chapters on the martial arts practices and history of the following regions: China, Okinawa, Korea, Japan, India-Pakistan, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. In this respect, it is a broad survey of the topic, which attracted my attention as I sought a single volume introduction to martial arts history for practitioners and the general reader.
Pros
This book was a landmark work. In 1969, no one was really writing books on the martial arts that were backed by a decent bibliography. The authors tried to build narratives upon historical evidence rather than stories told by instructors. They had experience in this respect. For example, Mr. Smith’s bibliography of judo, published in 1958, was one of the first English-language attempts to list sources for researching Japanese martial arts, and this book contains an addendum of sorts with Chinese sources.
The book succeeds when it relies upon two principles. The first is devotion to identifying and describing historical resources, like written documents. The second is suspicion concerning every source, whether written or from a spoken tradition. For example, on page 50 in a section titled “the fatuous and the fantastic,” the authors list a number of “supernatural feats available to anyone who will invest the necessary years of practice.” These “tricks” include techniques like “sand palm,” “one finger,” dragon claw,” and the like. The authors are at their best when they debunk what they recognize as ludicrous or highly suspicious claims or training methods.
Cons
I have a few concerns with this book. The content definitely shows its 50+ year age. I am sympathetic to the authors, having also written several books that now seem dated. Newer scholarship, especially dating from the late 1990s through the present, plus an explosion of research by reputable bloggers, cast into doubt some of what Draeger and Smith cover.
For example, they repeat (or originate?) the myth that the tonfa, what they call the “tui-fa,” is a wooden handle used to grind grain via a millstone. Research by bloggers such as Noah Legel for his Karate Obsession blog shows that the handle for a millstone would not work as a tonfa. Furthermore, there are multiple tonfa weapons found outside Okinawa that are the likely origin of the weapon, making the millstone handle explanation unnecessary.
Conclusion
I give this book 4 out of 5 ninja stars.
I enjoyed reading this book, as it is a seminal work in the field. However, I would not recommend reading it without a solid grounding in recent research. Books that I will review shortly for this site will offer better options for those searching for history based on sound evidence and sourced research.
I also take exception to a statement found in the very beginning of the book: “in no other part of the world did they [the fighting arts] develop to the heights that they did in Asia.” This statement does not make much sense, as the countries which developed these arts did not rely on them when fighting in two world wars in the 20th century. In those conflicts, combat with firearms, tanks, ships, and aircraft dominated over any hand-to-hand or traditional weapon combat. This sentiment also ignores the martial arts of Europe, resurrected during the last few decades as Historical European Martial Arts, or those of Africa, currently being resurrected as Historical African Martial Arts.
- Book Review: Worth Defending - November 25, 2020
- Book Review: See You on the Mat - November 24, 2020
- Book Review: Flashing Steel, 25th Anniversary Edition - November 23, 2020
Leave a Reply