Fabulous tuition if the disks are viewable
Shotokan apprentice | United Kingdom | 12/22/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Whatever your style of karate, a set of DVDs from Master Kanazawa is a 'must have' item! However, the world-class instruction is poorly let down by the production quality.
The disks are cheaply burned DVD-Rs rather than pressed from a factiory produced glass master. This meant that some portions of my set were unviewable (for me), or jumped and stuttered at best. The sound quality is poor and Kancho's speech is continually 'clipping'.
I feel that Rising Sun Productions has let down Master Kanazawa and his tream badly, making it difficult for the dedicated student to get the maximum from the content provided, which is why I knocked two stars off an otherwise 5-star set.
I'm also suspicious of the positive reviews from 'Colin of Canada' for all the Rising Sun Productions DVDs. He couldn't possibly work for .. no . couldn't be could it?"
4 - star content, 1 - star production quality.
Alex Green | Toronto, Canada | 10/15/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This DVD set is a must-have for any Shotokan Karate practitioner. From basic punches and kicking techniques to advanced kata and kumite, these DVDs cover almost everything there is to know about traditional karate-do.
Having said that, the production quality and content are not perfect:
1) Sound quality is poor.
2) Menu system (scene selection) is poorly done.
3) Sensei Kanazawa goes into great detail while explaining karate techniques, but he does so in English with a thick Japanese accent which is often very hard to understand. Subtitles would be an invaluable asset, but they are not available on these DVDs.
4) Not all Shotokan Kata are included. I recommend getting Kanazawa's tape "All 26 Shotokan Karate Kata" in addition to this set.
Overall, 4 stars for content, 1 star for production quality."
A sad and very public end to an otherwise illustrious career
Dingus | Agoura Hills CA | 10/10/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"As one of the premier Shotokan karate exponents of the 20th century Hirokazu Kanazawa deserved the support of a professional production company to make this series. What he got, clearly, was incompetent amateurs, hell bent on the biggest profit for the smallest possible investment-and it shows. What a sad and very public end to an otherwise illustrious!"