The Tonfa

Reference Martial Arts Young Adult Nonfiction Self-Defense Fitness Collectibles 1990s Nostalgia

The Tonfa: Police-Baton and Karate-Jo Kata by Clifford C. Crandall is the vintage 1996 paperback martial-arts students still hunt for on eBay and AbeBooks. At just 84 photo-rich pages it distills everything a young adult or adult practitioner needs to turn the often-overlooked side-handle baton into a precise, flowing extension of the body. Crandall—long-time sensei and certified police-defensive-tactics instructor—breaks the weapon’s history, grips, strikes, blocks, locks and two classical kata into bite-size lessons that fit after-work practice sessions. Every movement is illustrated with clear line drawings so you can check stance, angle and weight shift without pausing a video.

What makes this 1990s first edition special is that it is the only English-language text that pairs traditional Okinawan tonfa kata with modern law-enforcement baton drills. You learn the same circular deflections and low-line attacks taught to officers in the 1990s, then flow directly into the elegant Shorin-ryu kata “Tonfa no Ichi” and “Tonfa no Ni,” complete with bunkai explanations. The result is a self-contained course that boosts coordination, timing and self-esteem while giving fitness-minded readers a low-impact cardio workout that doesn’t require a dojo or partner.

Collectors value the book because later printings dropped several vintage photographs and the original publisher, Tonfa Master, went out of print years ago. This copy shows honest shelf wear—light edge scuffs and a few page corner micro-scuffs—but no writing, ex-library stamps, or dog-ears, and the binding is still square and tight. It’s an affordable, search-engine-friendly addition to any martial-arts, police-tactics or self-improvement library that rarely stays listed for more than a week.

Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.

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