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Breaking Through: The Secrets of Bassai Dai Kata
Breaking Through: The Secrets of Bassai Dai Kata is a groundbreaking exploration of martial arts application and pedagogy by Master Colin Wee. With over 200 full-color photographs and twelve progressive combative lessons, this award-winning book reveals the tactical logic hidden within Bassai Dai kata—a form practiced across Karate, Taekwondo, and traditional martial arts systems.
Wee’s approach blends hard-style strikes with soft-style adaptability, uncovering traps, angles, takedowns, and transitions often overlooked in modern training. Each technique is designed to address attacks from both sides and to respond when initiative is lost—because real combat demands more than rote choreography.
Born from four years of deep kata study and refined over two decades of teaching, Breaking Through challenges assumptions baked into pattern training and offers a practical framework for instructors and students seeking deeper understanding. Whether you're refining your own practice or guiding others, this book equips you to explore structure, mechanics, and the logic of application—bringing tradition to life under pressure.
Launched at the American Karate and Taekwondo Organization’s Annual Seminar Event in Dallas, Texas, Breaking Through won the 2023 Best Indie Book Award in the Non-Fiction: Martial Arts category and was named a Finalist in Sports at the 2023 International Book Awards.
Wee’s approach blends hard-style strikes with soft-style adaptability, uncovering traps, angles, takedowns, and transitions often overlooked in modern training. Each technique is designed to address attacks from both sides and to respond when initiative is lost—because real combat demands more than rote choreography.
Born from four years of deep kata study and refined over two decades of teaching, Breaking Through challenges assumptions baked into pattern training and offers a practical framework for instructors and students seeking deeper understanding. Whether you're refining your own practice or guiding others, this book equips you to explore structure, mechanics, and the logic of application—bringing tradition to life under pressure.
Launched at the American Karate and Taekwondo Organization’s Annual Seminar Event in Dallas, Texas, Breaking Through won the 2023 Best Indie Book Award in the Non-Fiction: Martial Arts category and was named a Finalist in Sports at the 2023 International Book Awards.
160 pages, Paperback
Published March 23, 2023
3 people want to read
About the author
Colin Wee
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Colin Wee is a martial art master instructor, author, and Australasian Martial Arts Hall of Famer. He was a Finalist in the International Book Awards 2023 for Sport, and a Winner of the Best Indie Book Award 2023 for Non-Fiction: Sport.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 1, 2025
“Finally, a book that tells me I’ve been doing kata not-quite-right for 30 years.”
—Colin Wee, author, critic, and occasional martial arts heretic
I approached Breaking Through with the cautious optimism of someone who’s spent decades teaching hard-style karate and secretly wondering if we’ve all been missing the point. Turns out… we have.
This book doesn’t just challenge conventional bunkai—it politely sets it on fire, offers it tea, and then rebuilds it from the ashes using logic, pressure testing, and a healthy dose of “what if your opponent actually fights back?”
The JDK Method, buried near the end like a hidden treasure map, should probably be tattooed on every serious practitioner’s forearm. (Note to self: move it to the front in the second edition.)
Highlights include:
- Applications that make you question your life choices (in a good way)
- A refusal to dumb things down for the sake of tradition
- A tone that’s equal parts tactician, teacher, and slightly exasperated realist
If you’re looking for a book that confirms your biases, this isn’t it. If you’re ready to rethink everything you thought you knew about Bassai Dai, welcome to the rabbit hole.
Would recommend to:
- Martial artists with a masochistic love for training
- Senior practitioners wanting more than choreographed entertainment
- Anyone who’s ever asked, “But what if he doesn’t just stand there?”
—Colin Wee, author, critic, and occasional martial arts heretic
I approached Breaking Through with the cautious optimism of someone who’s spent decades teaching hard-style karate and secretly wondering if we’ve all been missing the point. Turns out… we have.
This book doesn’t just challenge conventional bunkai—it politely sets it on fire, offers it tea, and then rebuilds it from the ashes using logic, pressure testing, and a healthy dose of “what if your opponent actually fights back?”
The JDK Method, buried near the end like a hidden treasure map, should probably be tattooed on every serious practitioner’s forearm. (Note to self: move it to the front in the second edition.)
Highlights include:
- Applications that make you question your life choices (in a good way)
- A refusal to dumb things down for the sake of tradition
- A tone that’s equal parts tactician, teacher, and slightly exasperated realist
If you’re looking for a book that confirms your biases, this isn’t it. If you’re ready to rethink everything you thought you knew about Bassai Dai, welcome to the rabbit hole.
Would recommend to:
- Martial artists with a masochistic love for training
- Senior practitioners wanting more than choreographed entertainment
- Anyone who’s ever asked, “But what if he doesn’t just stand there?”
Displaying 1 of 1 review