Colin Wee is the author of Best Indie Book Award 2023 winner Breaking Through: The Secrets of Bassai Dai Kata, uncovering the combative depth of one of karate’s most famous forms. His upcoming historical fiction novel explores Ryūkyū under Japanese rule, and the conditions which created a new martial system that survived this kingdom’s collapse.
Breaking Through Book
Dive into the heart of a living, breathing, traditional martial art with Colin Wee’s award-winning book Breaking Through: The Secrets of Bassai Dai Kata.
If you’ve ever felt like your training was missing something: some logic, some tactical clarity, some aspect of kinetic power, this book might be the missing piece.
Breaking Through is a martial arts application book that goes beyond choreography. It’s a deep dive into the combative principles encoded in Bassai Dai kata, offering instructors and students a practical framework for understanding how these techniques work under pressure.
Inside, you’ll find:
- 12 combative lessons, with their applications broken down with step-by-step clarity
- 200+ annotated photographs showing traps, angles, takedowns, and transitions
- A blend of hard-style efficiency and soft-style adaptability
- Tactical insights that challenge assumptions baked into modern training
When instructors and students link the martial arts applications from Breaking Through to how I and my Black Belts got there and how it addresses dynamic situations, you will be able to fill in the gaps often created by modern hard-style training.
While this book centres on Bassai Dai, you will find it isn’t Karate-centric. This irony was not lost on my martial arts friend and historian Author Ørjan Nilsen from Traditional Taekwondo Ramblings who calls this “the best Bassai book ever written” and recommends it to his own Taekwondo students.
Whether you’re refining your own practice or guiding students through the logic of application, Breaking Through equips you with the tools to bridge tradition and acquire real-world combat readiness.
Awards and Recognition
Winner – 2023 Best Indie Book Awards (Non-fiction Martial Arts)
Finalist – 2023 International Book Awards (Sports Category)
Book Details
Title: Breaking Through: The Secrets of Bassai Dai Kata
Author: Colin Wee
Publisher: Moosul Publishing, LLC., 2023 Website
ISBN: 0996264051, 9780996264051
Length: 160 pages
Originally published: 23 March 2023
Buy the book: purchase link
Join the Conversation
Have a question about the book? Want to explore how these martial arts applications fit into your system?
- Leave a Review on Amazon
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What other martial artists say
“Breaking Through … is jammed-packed with essential tactical applications, biomechanical principles, and self-study probing questions …”
Chris Hanson
Karate Unity
“Wee takes the traditional practice of patterns found in the striking arts … and repurposes them … as intrinsic components in the study of combat. “
GM Mike Swope
World Chun Kuhn Taekwondo Federation
“In a world where so many rush to criticize and divide, Master Wee stands tall as a leader who seeks to celebrate and connect. “
Sensei Ando
Happy Life Martial Arts