A Note about Bruce Tegner

[HanshiClayton]

Bruce Tegner was an American who held multiple black belts. He had a special gift of being able to explain technique clearly using text and photographs. He was one of the most prolific martial-arts writers of all time, having published over 80 books on Judo, Jiu Jitsu, Karate, Savate, Yawara, Aikido, and various versions of self-defense.

Very early in my career (1970) I was fortunate to acquire a copy of Bruce Tegner's Complete Book of Self-Defense, originally published by Stein and Day in 1963. (Note that Tegner published more than one "complete book of self-defense," and publishers have reprinted the books over and over with different covers. They are not all the same book. Look for the Bantam Book version with the blue photo of Tegner demonstrating teisho uchi on somebody's chin. The cover mentions the "21-day Home-Study Course" with "Over 400 Photographs!")

Do you know how much effort it takes to produce 400 publishable photographs of martial techniques? Shotokan's Secret contains only 130, and it took months.

I thought the book was remarkable, and forty years later I still have a copy on my desk. It is the best-written self-defense book I have ever seen, assembled by a man with credentials in many arts. The teaching is clear, the techniques well-chosen, the advice sound. I particularly like the fact that he incorporated vital-point strikes from the very first day. The clarity of presentation was remarkable as was the message: You don't have to be black belt to use the martial arts. Anyone can learn these techniques.

He was an American who demystified the martial arts and made the techniques accessible to everyone. You would think his name would be a household word in our circles. Most of my friends have never heard of him.

Some people take years to climb the mountain. A few like Tegner just step over the mountain as if it were not there.

[milmascaras2]

Hello Dr. Clayton,
I'll bet of particular interest was his rendition of the five pinan in the sport karate section of his book. I've always wondered whose version it was, would you agree that it seems to be the Mo Duk Kwan/Tang Soo Do (korean) version?
Saludos!

[HanshiClayton]

I have not seen Tegner's Pinans! Which of his many books did you see them in? Thanks. BDC

[milmascaras2]

Hello Dr. Clayton,
Sorry for the late response, I have a copy of Mr. Tegners' book called 'Complete Book of Karate; beginner to black belt, sport and self defense' 2nd revised edition 1970 Thor Publishing Co. ISBN 0-87407-502-5. In it,the second half of the book is dedicated to sport karate, Mr. Tegner shows, several two man forms (ippon kumite?) and also several kata (14) intended for sport competition the first four are for purple belt advancement and are somewhat similar to taikyoku (?) the following 5 are for brown belt advancement, and are his rendition of the ping an kata, the distinctive postures (i.e. ping an shodan upper block/middle block) are all there with a few extra kick thrown in for good measure, as he states that the intent is to impress judges and score points with high kicks! The final set of kata are for black belt advancement and I really haven't decided what to equate them to, someone with your experience will probably recognize them. Please let me know if you're interested in looking at them, and I can either scan or photo the pages. Thank You for your response.
Saludos!

[HanshiClayton]

I have ordered the book, thanks.

[milmascaras2]

Hello Dr. Clayton,
No need to purchase, give me an address and I'll Fed-Ex my copy (hardback). Please let me know.
Thanks

[HanshiClayton]

I have been studying Tegner's karate book.

I think he creating his own style, which you can see from his remarks about "which is the best style." He apparently didn't have much patience with Japanese instructors.

I can say that the Pinan katas in this book are almost certainly drawn from Wado Ryu. Wado's Master Otsuka learned the Heians and various other Shotokan katas from Funakoshi, and therefore the Wado Pinans contain shotoisms like the side-snap kick. You can see Tegner doing side-snap kicks in the Pinans in the book. There's a jump in Pinan Godan, too, which is another shotoism. The katas have the H-shaped floor plan, which is yet another shotoism.

Second, and more telling, Master Otsuka apparently had arthritic knees because Wado katas are performed standing upright with straight legs. There isn't a deep stance anywhere in Tegner's book. This is a link to a video of a Wado kata.

Third, Wado style does forearm and knife-hand blocks with the arm pointing straight up at the ceiling instead of the 45-degree angle of Shotokan. That posture is everywhere in Tegner's book.

Finally, Wado employs a variety of one-man and two-man drills, like mini-katas. I don't know Wado's drills well enough to match them precisely with Tegner's book, but the outline of study is very similar.

If you take a good look at Wado, it might seem eerily familiar...