stick fighting: techniques of self-defense (bushido--the way of the warrior)
I'm just a beginner with the hanbo; will use to learn more. Looks straight forward and the pics enable you to see exactly what to do.

Must have item for Bujin Kan practitioners
One of the first English books by Soke.
Basic technics are presented in a clear and simple way.
When followed by a traing from a certified Bujin-Kan instructor, its an important complementary information.
I just love it.

Sticks Break Bones
The value and application of a simple piece of hard wood is unbelievable. Improvised as a club or short-staff for self-defense and combat is exceptional and could help turn the tide of the situation. A man trained to wield a "stick" can destroy the untrained and unarmed opponent in no time. So, any book or manual discussing/teaching authentic stick tactics, techniques and skills is to be part of any true warriors training in combatives.

This book teaches some of the needed stick fighting skills that with practice can be used in combat. In saying that; I do not recommend every technique in this book to be practical for combat. But would say a good 45% is applicable and that is what makes this book important for the combatant. All the fancy and arty stick fighting methods is what I am talking about as useless. The section on the short stick is were you get your moneys worth for this book.

Overall this book has important information of value and is ideal for the novice and advanced pupil of combatives.

Good start
This book is better than some of Hatsumi's other books. It is a good intro to hanbo techniques. The pictures could be a little more clear, but you can figure the techniques out in most cases. One of the big things that takes a little getting used to is the picture sequencing. Sometimes it's right to left, then left to right then diagonal R to L, and L to R.

Many of the techniques are done from low(er) stances, thus you may have to modify the techniques using a higher stance which is more practical for modern combat situations.

Advice from a martial arts instructor
The techniques in this book are efficient and to the point. They work and work well. I have taught them to law enforcement and military police. If you are going to pratice these techniques with a partner I suggest you use a length of PVC pipe of the appropriate length and pad it with foam insulation and go slow, otherwise you will need to find a new partner each time and shortly run out of people to be your partner.

The "SECRET" to this martial art is the same as every martial art: pratice, pratice, pratice.