Kodawari Hombu Dojo Ryusei-ha Ryukyu Kempo Karate-jutsu
Kodawari Hombu Dojo
Book Review
書評 – Shohyo
Materia Medica for Martial Artists
Since this is the first (of hopefully many) book reviews that we will be publishing on the Kodawari Hombu Dojo website, we did want to explain the format we are using. Comments and suggestions in this regard are more than welcome (use the comments at the very bottom of this page).
We will lay out for you the full table of contents so you are able to see the full layout of the book. Then, we currently have a total of eight (8) review criteria that we assign a score to and then an overall total. We believe these are the most important areas to review. We then take each of those 8 review criteria and do a bit more of a deep dive into that topic and explain why it was that we gave the score that we did. Lastly, we will follow everything up with (where applicable) purchase or link to options, awards and any other information that may be necessary.
If you are relatively new to the concept of and training in iron palm (鐵掌 – tie zhang) or the Ryusei-ha Omoi Te (龍精派重い手 – Heavy Hand), I would suggest you add the following posts to your reading list as it might help you to understand everything a bit more:
Quality books on Chinese herbology or materia medica3Materia medica is a Latin phrase that literally means “healing materials”. A dictionary definition would be something along the lines of the branch of medical science concerned with the study of drugs used in the treatment of disease: includes pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, and the history and physical and chemical properties of drugs. Common current usage refers specifically to herbs. are typically quite expensive. And, unless it is from a well known author, it can be a mixed bag with regards to the quality of the information you are receiving. Josh Walker is a VERY qualified author and his book is unique in that it is geared directly towards martial artists. No matter if you are looking for information on general dit da jow (跌打酒 – hit fall wine) for common injuries or iron palm dit da jow (鐵掌跌打酒 – tie zhang dit da jow), this dojo Best Choice recommended book will be the one you need to start your library with! Please just remember that while Traditional Chinese Medicine (中药 – Zhongyao) or TCM has more components, this book deals specifically with dit da jow related to Ryusei-ha Omoi Te or iron palm.4The uses of dit da jow can generally be put into three (3) main categories: pain relief, healing (the healing of bruises, sprains, strained muscles/tendons/ligaments, etc. from every day activities or sports participation) and conditioning (including the strengthening of any and all tissues that are affected by different type of impact such as the skin, muscles, various connective tissues, the bones, etc. as you would need in Ryusei-ha Omoi Te or iron palm).
Table of Contents
| Section | Name | Page # |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledgements | vi | |
| Foreword | vii | |
| Disclaimer | ix | |
| Part I | Overview | 1 |
| Section 1 - Antagonisms and Counteractions | 3 | |
| Section 2 - Understanding the Templates | 6 | |
| Part II | HERB TEMPLATES | 13 |
| Chapter 1 | Herbs That Release Exterior Heat | 14 |
Book Review Score
Full Book Review
Rather than just present a book, give it a quick score and then tell you that you should buy it and have it in your martial arts library, we wanted to do a full break down of all of the review criteria and explain why it is that it received the rating that it did.
Physical Quality
The physical quality of Materia Medica for Martial Artists is about what you would expect for a book produced when it was and at the price point it is selling at. It is a soft cover book only. So the individual pages are glued to the spine of the soft cover. While the quality does appear to be there, I would have a slight concern as to how well it will hold up over time when under heavy usage. The paper quality of the individual pages is good. Again, only a slight concern, but this book is designed (for most folks) as a type of textbook. So, at least for me, using different color highlighters throughout the entire book can (and should) be expected. The concern here is that the ink from those might fade through the pages. So, for those considering a purchase, you might want to also look for the “highlighter pencil” types of tools in this case to prevent that.
Formats Available
Unfortunately, Materia Medica for Martial Artists is only available in a physical format as mentioned above (soft cover). In this day and age, with a phone in every hand and a number of different tablet options available, eBook formats such as ePub and Amazon’s formats for the Kindle App, it is great to be able to load ebooks to them. Now, to be fair, Materia Medica for Martial Artists was originally published in 2012. So, things then were not quite the way that they are now. Electronic versions of books were certainly available then, but not in the way they are now (summer of 2022 as I write this).
Uniqueness of Information
The uniqueness of information that Materia Medica for Martial Artists contains is really where it begins to shine! As was said earlier, books concerning Chinese herbalism (and for martial artists in particular) are few and far between.
Ease of Reading
Mat
Author Qualifications
Author Josh Walker
Price Paid
Bang For Your Buck
Intangibles
It’s one thing for me to tell you that YOU should spend your hard earned dollars on a product. But, how about my moderately hard earned dollars? Am I “practicing what I preach”? Am I, too, spending money on the product I am telling you to spend it on? Whenever possible, I will show you a screen capture of my individual purchase as a means of “proof” for you. You may end up disagreeing with me on the conclusions of my review, but at least you will know I spent the money on the product in question.
In the process of writing this review, I suddenly realized that I had loaned this book (and a few others) to someone and they never returned them. Nor did they ever respond to any of the emails I sent them to get the books back. THIS BOOK, in particular, was one that I had to purchase again to make sure it is in my library. THAT is how much of a must have book I think this is.
Iron Palm Breaking With Rod Morgan and Josh Walker
You can keep scrolling while playing…the video will show on the top right of the screen
In some of the breaks being done by Josh Walker in the video above, you will see him using a ream of printer paper on top of the concrete blocks he is breaking. Since that might stand out a bit to some folks and/or seem a little odd, I did want to explain what was happening there and why he was doing it that way.
When you see the red “Best Choice” icon above in a review for any product, that means that it has received the highest possible rating and recommendation that we can give. Think of it as a “best in breed” type of award or ranking.
Materia Medica for Martial Artists by Josh Walker can be purchased from Amazon via our own store. Since it is an affiliate purchase, the proceeds of all purchases go to help pay the expenses of this website and is much appreciated.
Click Here to Purchase!
Also Consider the Following
(A full book review is coming soon!)
Regardless of what martial art you study or what your particular interest is, Materia Medica for Martial Artists (as well as Excursions in Iron Palm) are, this is material you should be familiar with. Especially if you are a sensei/sifu (or high ranking student) and/or run a dojo. Adding both of these titles (for well less than $100 total) will start the process of expanding your understanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and especially the role that herbal formulas play when related to the martial arts. Additionally, if you are a student of Ruysei-ha Omoi Te or any kind of iron palm or iron body training. These two volumes will help you begin to take your reference library to the next level!
- 1Materia medica is a Latin phrase that literally means “healing materials”. A dictionary definition would be something along the lines of the branch of medical science concerned with the study of drugs used in the treatment of disease: includes pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, and the history and physical and chemical properties of drugs. Common current usage refers specifically to herbs.
- 2The uses of dit da jow can generally be put into three (3) main categories: pain relief, healing (the healing of bruises, sprains, strained muscles/tendons/ligaments, etc. from every day activities or sports participation) and conditioning (including the strengthening of any and all tissues that are affected by different type of impact such as the skin, muscles, various connective tissues, the bones, etc. as you would need in Ryusei-ha Omoi Te or iron palm).
- 3Materia medica is a Latin phrase that literally means “healing materials”. A dictionary definition would be something along the lines of the branch of medical science concerned with the study of drugs used in the treatment of disease: includes pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, and the history and physical and chemical properties of drugs. Common current usage refers specifically to herbs.
- 4The uses of dit da jow can generally be put into three (3) main categories: pain relief, healing (the healing of bruises, sprains, strained muscles/tendons/ligaments, etc. from every day activities or sports participation) and conditioning (including the strengthening of any and all tissues that are affected by different type of impact such as the skin, muscles, various connective tissues, the bones, etc. as you would need in Ryusei-ha Omoi Te or iron palm).
- 1Materia medica is a Latin phrase that literally means “healing materials”. A dictionary definition would be something along the lines of the branch of medical science concerned with the study of drugs used in the treatment of disease: includes pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, and the history and physical and chemical properties of drugs. Common current usage refers specifically to herbs.
- 2The uses of dit da jow can generally be put into three (3) main categories: pain relief, healing (the healing of bruises, sprains, strained muscles/tendons/ligaments, etc. from every day activities or sports participation) and conditioning (including the strengthening of any and all tissues that are affected by different type of impact such as the skin, muscles, various connective tissues, the bones, etc. as you would need in Ryusei-ha Omoi Te or iron palm).
- 3Materia medica is a Latin phrase that literally means “healing materials”. A dictionary definition would be something along the lines of the branch of medical science concerned with the study of drugs used in the treatment of disease: includes pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, and the history and physical and chemical properties of drugs. Common current usage refers specifically to herbs.
- 4The uses of dit da jow can generally be put into three (3) main categories: pain relief, healing (the healing of bruises, sprains, strained muscles/tendons/ligaments, etc. from every day activities or sports participation) and conditioning (including the strengthening of any and all tissues that are affected by different type of impact such as the skin, muscles, various connective tissues, the bones, etc. as you would need in Ryusei-ha Omoi Te or iron palm).
