Company: E/B Productions
Tape Name: Heian Kata 1 - 5
Tape Cost: $49.95
Length of Tape/Time: 90 minutes
Number of Moves/Techniques: approximately 100
Return Policy: 10 Day Money Back Guarantee
Experiences in dealing with this company: Great
The Instructor: Joel Ertl and Anita Bendickson
Company's Address: 762 E. 7th St., St. Paul, MN., 55106
Company's Phone Number: 800-772-7912
Web Page: http://www.karatevid.com
E-Mail: ebprod@skypoint.com

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Primary Grading Criteria:

1. Production/Tape Quality: 9
2. Instructors demonstrated skill level: 10
3. Comprehension Score/Immediate Understanding: 9
4. Degree to which this will make someone a better Martial Artist: 8
5. Score on delivery vs hype: 10
6. Degree to which we would recommend this product: 9
7. Wasted Time ( The higher the number, the less " fluff" /repetition ): 8
8. Playback Score/Watching if over-and-over again: 9
9. Would I purchase more of this company's products:9
10. Overall grade based on cost vs. Value: 9

Grand Total: 90 %

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Secondary Grading Criteria:

1. Beginners benefit: Good
2. Intermediate benefit: Good
3. Advanced benefit: Good
4. Time to benefit: Immediate for most of the material
5. The need to buy additional tapes to understand this one: None

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Written Summary:

This video is a thorough breakdown of five Heian katas as taught by a traditional Japanese karate system. The format used in this video instruction is very organized and logical. All of the katas are shown up to seven times with each viewing designed to impart a specific body knowledge to the viewer. We are first shown each kata at normal speed with a voice over describing what the important points that this particular kata is demonstrating. My favorite viewing was the second viewing of each kata with a graphical " T " (for lack of a better word ) shown on the screen as the kata was being performed. This allows the viewer to see the direction of moves within each kata. On subsequent viewings, we are shown the breakdown of movements within each kata, the kata again at normal speed, the self defense applications, and the kata shown at a faster speed than in the previous demonstrations. The katas performed on this video are Heian Shodan, Heian Nidan, Heian Sandan, Heian Yodan, and Heian Godan.

All martial artists seem to have strong opinions on katas, both pro and con. It is not the purpose of this review to promote either view. If you are a martial artist who feels that kata training is useful to you, then you will most likely find this video highly informative and a great aid to your training. As you can see from the above review, there is large amount of information contained in this video, and you should be able to gain alot from it, if you are persistent enough to train diligently.