Functional Karate DVD by Takayuki Kubota

Author Takayuki Kubota is a veteran of police departments on both sides of the Pacific, a former diplomatic bodyguard, instructor to the FBI and DEA as well as other less public government departments. He is credited with the development of the side-handled police baton and the Kubotanﾮ keychain as well as a host of restraint, handcuffing, and fingerprinting techniques that are approved for use by police forces across the U.S.

His aptly named, professionally produced new program is packed with the practical techniques that have made him a legend in law-enforcement and karate circles. It is fast moving, easy to follow, visually appealing and shows very graphically the extent of his mastery of timing, fighting distance, and joint manipulation. Kubota sensei demonstrates the brutally effective control, restraint, and defensive techniques that are his forte, and he does so in great detail. With a partner he first breaks down the technique into a logical sequence. Then he performs it smoothly as a single movement, and then at full speed as his extensive experience dictates it would happen -on the street.

The techniques he shows are practical responses to armed and unarmed attacks and include counters, blocks, throws, locks, choke-holds, take-downs and combinations of the above. They are by necessity brutal: there are no second chances in Kubota's world; multi-faceted: keep attacking any way you can until you win, and conservative: donﾒt give your opponent a chance to respond.

Two words come to mind when one speaks of this teacher: pain compliance and attitude adjustment. Both concepts are demonstrated here by this consummate master of mayhem.