In 1997 it had been running for 50 years, with less than one hundred people successfully completing it – only four of which had been non-Japanese. In the same year Scott Langley was at the top of his game, a third degree black belt, captain of the British JKS National Team and JKS European and World Champion. He moved to Japan with a secret plan – to be the fifth foreigner to complete the course. This is the true story of Scott’s Journey, spanning five years, chronicling the highs and lows of facing karate’s toughest challenge and how he learnt to survive and never give in.In Autumn 2013 Scott sent this book to his Sensei in Japan for their approval. They responded immediately declaring the book to be full of lies and misrepresentations of Japan and forbade him to publish it. He was suspended for a month and then affectively expelled in January 2014. Suddenly, his 30 year relationship with Japanese karate had abruptly come to an end. This had been major a part of his entire karate life and he had dedicated himself to its values and rules, running a karate organization in Ireland for over ten years. He never wanted to jeopardize his position or damage the reputation of the group. However, unfortunately, the sacrifices he made during this true story are nothing compared to the sacrifices he has had to make to publish it. About the Author Scott Langley began karate in 1985. Showing a rare combination of aptitude, dedication and love of the art, Scott rose through the grades at a steady rate. In 1991 he gained his black belt. However, this was just the beginning. He quickly began winning national competitions and in 1993 was selected for the Japan Karate Shotorenmei national team. While at university he trained daily at his university club and under the guidance of Sadashige Kato 8th Dan. By the time Scott graduated, he was a 3rd Dan and had become one of the youngest people to win the JKS World Championships. But this was just the foundation of what lay ahead. In 1997 Scott moved to Japan to train full time at the World Headquarters. In 2000 he was invited to enter the elusive instructors’ course and after two years of intensive training, graduated, becoming only the fifth westerner to complete the challenge. He moved to Ireland with a mandate to promote the JKS within the British Isles. Within a decade Scott’s group had become the biggest single style association in the UK and Ireland and was as big at the JKS in Japan. He now teaches fulltime at www.hombudojokarate.com

    Here, Dave Lowry, one of the best-known writers on the Japanese martial arts, illuminates the complete path of karate including practice, philosophy, and culture. He covers myriad subjects of interest to karate practitioners of all ages and levels, including:    • The relationship between students and teachers    • Cultivating the correct attitude during practice    • The differences between karate in the East and West    • Whether a karate student really needs to study in Japan to perfect the art    • The meaning of rank and the black belt    • Detailed descriptions of kicks, punches, evasions, and techniques and the philosophical concepts that they manifest    • What practice means and looks like as one ages    • How the practice of karate aims toward cultivating character and spiritual development After forty years studying karate and the budo arts, Lowry is an informative and reliable guide, highlighting aspects of the karate path that will surprise, entertain, and enlighten.

    In The Essence of Karate, Funakoshi creates, in his own words, a narrative of modern karate. He explains the philosophical and spiritual underpinnings and includes memories of his own training, as well as recollections of other karate masters and the history of the martial art. He also discusses the importance of winning without fighting, and the reason why many great martial artists improve with age.The preface has been contributed by Hirokazu Kanazawa, President of the Shotokan Karate-do International Federation (and Funakoshi's disciple). He fondly writes of his memories of Gichin Funakoshi during his youth and what he learned from the master. In the afterword, the founder's great-nephew, Gisho Funakoshi, shares previously unknown personal anecdotes about his "Uncle Funakoshi."

    As well as setting forth the basic rules that must be put into practice when performing kata or applying techniques in kumite, this volume pinpoints the underlying physical and physiological principles of karate: source and concentration of power; stance, form, stability and technique; movement in all directions; basic and comprehensive aspects of training.

    In the remote village of Izumi five high school friends died within the space of a fortnight.The circumstances were never explained. Four years later a British paranormal researcher travels to Izumi in an attempt to unravel the mystery. There he encounters much more than culture shock. He encounters the dark side of Japanese culture – the side they don't talk about in guidebooks. He encounters Reiko.

    After living the double life for over five years she decides to quit the business. Unfortunately, her epiphany may have come too late when she finds herself in a compromising situation. Suddenly the lavish lifestyle didn’t look as glamourous as it once did. She reflects on her life while death may only be a few feet away.

    So when a strange woman turns up with promises of a new life in Liverpool, she is thrilled.Warm-hearted and kind, Phyl is everything she wants in a stepmother. But then Lizzie falls in love with the one man who should have been out of bounds. Should she follow her heart and risk losing it all? From the author of A Sister’s Duty and Lily’s War (Note: previously published as Going Home to Liverpool)

    His mission was to retrieve an important package and get it to a secret military base in northern California. He was hundreds of miles inside alien held territory with no heavy weapons, no support, no Intel on the aliens, and no way to report the mission was a bust. Between him and the secret base stood the Sierra Nevada Mountain, four hundred miles of treacherous road and an unknown number of world destroying aliens. Any transport was immidiately attacked and destroyed, so the only way to get there was to walk. To even think about taking these women on a four hundred mile yomp was crazy at best, and completely insane knowing winter would catch them before they reached their goal. But ever the perennial sheepdog he didn't have a choice. It was either leave them to their fate, or take them with him. The only way to do that was to teach them. Not only survive, but to turn these inexperienced civilians into a snarling, battle hardened 'Wolf Pack', willing and able to take down the assorted bad guys and aliens that stood in their path. In the SAS, he'd done some crazy thing, and if there was a kindly God who looked after little children, fools and village idiots, John ‘Wolfman’ Decker hoped he was paying special attention right about now, because he was the biggest village idiot of them all.Cover Artist: Jesus Condi

     If you are a fan of fast-paced, action-packed thrillers that combine corruption and murder with courtroom drama, then The Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series is for you Book 1 of the Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series, "Predatory Kill," has been called a "wild ride" by critics. In it, Kenneth Eade delivers another solid and intricately plotted financial thriller.A maniacal killer is on the loose. April’s mother is brutally murdered and her father beaten within an inch of his life. Attorney Brent Marks has already paid his dues as a lawyer, having taken his share of divorces and drunk driving cases over his 20 year career, but has finally reached a place in his life where he can take on cases of social importance. What he least expected was for April Marsh's predatory lending case against the big banks for wrongful foreclosure on her parent's home to turn into a murder investigation. As the courtroom drama heats up, the action outside the courtroom spirals out of control. ˃˃˃ Critically acclaimed series "Fans of John Grisham will find equal talent here in Eade's ability to captivate and hold readers with the unexpected, both in character development in nonstop action which lays the foundation for a story that's anything but predictable. The realistic dialogue is - well - simply killer; while action points in one direction, then often takes a 360-degree turn. In a world where plot and outcome are often predictable from the start, this will prove more than satisfying to readers already well versed in the legal thriller format." D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review Book two of the series is "A Patriot's Act," the prequel to "Predatory Kill." This fast-paced, action packed #1 best selling legal and political thriller will challenge everything you believe about justice and freedom. It's all about the delicate balance of power and experience - something gone awry in A Patriot's Act. Death, Law and in that Order at Guantanamo Bay When a naturalized American citizen turns up missing in Iraq, Brent Marks fights the Goliath U.S. Government's Patriot Act. Santa Barbara accountant Ahmed Khury responds to the plea of his brother, Sabeen, a suspected money launderer in Iraq. Before Ahmed realizes what has happened to him, he is sent to Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp as a suspected terrorist, and is subjected to torture to extract information that he doesn't have. "Eade, a lawyer by profession, weaves legal dialogue, corruption and international action to create a pacey read with echoes of Grisham, Baldacci and Clancy nipping at his writing heels. Law issues as well as forensics and police procedures are clearly explained with such authority as to add gritty realism in and out of the courthouse, but it's within the court drama that Eade really packs some punch. With some success with the first book of the series, Predatory Kill, this second saga looks sure to satisfy his growing base of readers." - SPR Review"A Patriot's Act is one hell of a legal thriller that challenges everything we know about justice and freedom."- Markus Book Reviews "An edge-of-your-seat thriller that could easily be transformed into a dramatic film. Simply riveting, start to finish!" InD' Tale Magazine. Book 3: HOA Wire:The president of the Orange Grove Homeowners Association is murdered and there are plenty of suspects - in fact everyone who lives in Orange Grove.

    But a few brave souls struck out into that desolate wilderness, desperate to free themselves from the restrictions of the civilized world…KING OF THE MOUNTAIN: Nathaniel King doesn’t need much incentive to escape the confining, bustling city of New York. When his uncle starts spinning tales of a great treasure hidden in the wilderness, Nathaniel finds the lure of the West impossible to resist. Nathaniel’s trail leads from danger to danger, and into the uninhabited Rocky Mountains. If he can survive, Nathaniel will unearth a treasure far more valuable than he ever imagined.LURE OF THE WILD: Nineteen-year-old Nathaniel King and a rugged mountain man named Shakespeare McNair are headed to a rendezvous of trappers and fur traders in the Rocky Mountains. But hostile Utes and Blackfeet Indians pursue them relentlessly, determined to have their scalps. Despite the protection of a friendly band of Shoshone, Nathaniel and his companion risk the loss of their freedom…and their lives.

    

    This boxed set is being released to celebrate the launch of PRICELESS, which is an Amato Brothers/Rixton Falls crossover! ***All books are standalones with interconnected characters. They can be read in any order.*** ROYAL His name is Royal, but he’s no prince charming. He’s not even a prince - though you could say I loved him once upon a time. He was my older brother’s best friend. Growing up, he sat at our dinner table every Sunday, teased me mercilessly, and pretended I annoyed him. When I was old enough, he took me on my first date. Royal taught me how to drive. Escorted me to my junior prom. Gave me my first kiss…amongst other things. He was my first taste of toe-curling, all-consuming, can’t-sleep love. We had our whole lives ahead of us. There was never anyone else for me but him. And then he disappeared. No letter. No explanation. Not even a goodbye. My sisters and brother never forgave him, and my parents forbade me from speaking his name in our house ever again. For all intents and purposes, we were to pretend Royal Lockhart never existed. I’ve spent the last seven years trying in vain to forget my first love, but just when I think I’ve finally moved on, guess who’s back in town? BACHELOR Derek Rosewood is never going to marry. Ever. Again. Fresh off the heels of a bitter divorce, there are only three things he gives a sh*t about: his daughter, his career, and his bachelorhood. An attorney by trade and happily married to his job, he saves the drama for the courtroom and keeps women at an arm’s length. Their fragile, sequined hearts are safer that way. And besides, he's not in any condition to offer them the love and attention they so foolishly seek from him. Believe him, he's not what they need. Not after what he's been through. It’s not until he's assigned as the financial conservatorship for an aloof, enigmatic heiress that he finds his professional – and personal – boundaries pushed to the wayside. They're all wrong for each other. Emotionally unavailable. Bitter. Jaded. And he's supposed to look out for her best interests. Protect her. But *this* wasn’t supposed to happen. And for that reason, Derek Rosewood pleads the fifth. FILTHY Filthy mouth. Dirty mind. Messy past. I’m no saint, and I hear my reputation precedes me, but you can’t believe everything people say. I’ve made a living playing by the rules only when the clock is ticking, the ball has been snapped, and I’m cleat-deep in AstroTurf. But I screwed up last year. I went too far with the girls and the partying and the benders, and I created a PR sh*t storm for my team in the process. As a result, the team owner sentenced me to live in some gated, Floridian retirement village until I can “calm down.” Football is my life, and I love my team. They’re the only family I’ve got anymore, so I’ll do what I have to do to stay where I am. The rules are clear: no girls, less booze, zero publicity stunts. If I lay low and repair my reputation, I won’t get cut. It’s that simple. Everything was going well. For the first time in my life, I was living by someone else’s rules . . . . . .

    Discovering that Rachel, a sports journalist, had been doing a story on the brutal killing of a foreign tourist, they are puzzled by her interest in such a grisly crime. It emerges that Rachel’s investigation went far beyond a single murder, and their lives are soon under threat too.With a traumatic event from their teenage years coming back to haunt them, the trio realises that the mystery has its roots in their own past. In the midst of battling their personal demons, they make a desperate plan to flush out a sadistic killer in the sylvan setting of their old boarding school in the Himalayan foothills. With the body count rising and long-buried secrets tumbling out, will they succeed?

    maritime industry hit rock bottom starting in the early 1980's, right around the time the author was graduating from the California Maritime Academy. Even in his yearbook it warned about how bad things were—it was a time of cost cutting, reduced wages, desperate shipping companies and a lack of jobs. Eventually he made his way out to sea as both an able-bodied seaman and as a third mate. He saw first-hand what it was like out there; from the crazy captains to the weary sailors, and from the bad food to the dangerous working conditions. This book covers it all, and while the ships he sailed on were all scrapped long ago, the stories of the industry and what it took to make it on them, are remembered. This is his story.

    The fourth novel from bestselling Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlisted author Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, following BACK TO BLACKBRICK, THE APPLE TART OF HOPE and A VERY GOOD CHANCE.Grace knows the difference between what's real and the strange ideas that float around in her little sister's mind. Their parents died - that's real. A secret hotel on the cliff-top where their parents are waiting - definitely NOT real. So when grief strikes again, Grace is determined not to let her sister's outlandish imagination spiral out of control. But the line between truth and fantasy is more complicated than it seems...