The Official Martial Arts Handbook by David Mitchell

The Official Martial Arts Handbook (Collectible 1984 Illustrated Martial Arts Guide)

A Illustrated Survey of More Than Twenty Martial Arts, Produced with the Martial Arts Commission of Great Britain

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: The Official Martial Arts Handbook
• Author: David Mitchell
• Publisher: Sphere Books Limited, London
• Publication Date: 1984
• ISBN-13: 9780722161210
• ISBN-10: 0722161212
• Edition Details: Sphere Books paperback edition, first published in Great Britain by Sphere Books Ltd in 1984.
• Binding: Publisher's pictorial paperback (perfect bound) with black laminated covers.
• Physical Format: Medium softcover, approximately 200 x 130 mm, 192 pages. Illustrated throughout with line drawings by James MacDonald.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Good (G)
• Exterior / Wraps: Black laminated pictorial wrappers with a photographic cover image. The spine shows some creasing and light wear, with slight whitening at the head and tail. Light wear to the lower front corner and edges, and light edge wear to the back cover. The page edges are toned and browned, with some marks along the fore-edge.
• Interior: The text block is tight and the book opens flat. The pages are cream and evenly toned, and clean throughout the sections examined. There is a faint show-through of an illustration on the reverse of page 31. No writing, stamps or ex-library marks are evident.
• The Dust Jacket: Not Applicable (As Issued)

Synopsis & Historical Value

Published in London by Sphere Books in 1984, The Official Martial Arts Handbook is a practical guide to more than twenty martial arts, ranging from karate, kendo, kung fu and judo to less common disciplines such as aikido, hapkido and Thai boxing.

For each art the book sets out its history, techniques and weapons, supported by line drawings by James MacDonald. It also lists clubs, organisations and teachers for readers wishing to take up a martial art, and was produced with the Martial Arts Commission of Great Britain.

As a snapshot of how the martial arts were presented to a British readership in the early 1980s, it will interest collectors of martial arts literature and those studying the growth of these disciplines in the West.

Author Profile: David Mitchell

David Mitchell was a British martial arts administrator and writer. He served as chairman of the Welsh Karate Board and the British Karate Control Commission, and sat on the Directing Committee of the European and World Karate Organisations. A karate black belt, he wrote regularly for martial arts magazines.

His other titles include The Official Self Defence Handbook (1985), Official Karate (1986), Official WTF Taekwondo (1986), The Overlook Martial Arts Handbook (1988) and The Complete Book of Martial Arts (1989).

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