Rating: 
Summary: If it makes people think it is right on the mark
Review: Over all I was impressed with this book. Dr. Schmeisser has obviously put a lot of time and effort into developing this bunkai for three admittedly hard to decipher kata. He moves away from the standard and somewhat basic block/punch applications and begins us on the road to actually thinking about the movements. He does a great job of both explaining his interpretation of the techniques through both photographs and text. However, I do feel that people may overlook his first few and very valuable comments he makes early on in the book, in that people may suddenly think that these are the only interpretations of these kata. They are but a starting point and this must be remembered. Kanazawa Sensei reminds us that all kata movements have at least ten different applications and we must be mindful of this.
Rating: 
Summary: See what you missed when chose Shotokan...
Review: See what you missed when chose Shotokan over Okinawan styles. This book reinvents the meanings of kata movements. In traditional Okinawan styles (such as Jundokan Goju Ryu, Seibukan Shorin Ryu, etc.) the meanings of kata movements a.k.a. bunkai were never forgotten. They are actively trained in all traditional dojos. But when competitions and commercialism were added to many styles, the meanings of kata movements were forgotten (in those styles that chose the new approach). Now this book reinvents the wheel by going through the kata and figures out the application. If kata bunkai is what you are interested in, all you should have done is go to different school, where these things are actively trained and sparred with from square one. But if you already are deep in the modern mud of Shotokan and similar schools, you may want to read this book to see what you are missing.
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