Books by Bruce Tegnér

(Various publishers, 1959–1985)

Review by Christopher Dow

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No survey of martial arts literature in America—or anywhere else—would be complete without a look at Bruce Tegnér. In fact, the ads for Tegnér’s books that appeared in the back pages of comic books and men’s magazines throughout the 1960s and 1970s were probably the first introduction many Americans had to the Asian martial arts. When a martial arts compatriot of mine was a teenager during that time and was being bullied at school, his dad gave him a Bruce Tegnér book, though he neglected to impart to my friend any personal training. Apparently he thought the book alone was sufficient instruction.

Tegnér wasn’t just a pioneer martial arts author at a time when there probably weren’t more than a handful of writers in English on the martial arts, each producing only one, or maybe few, books. Tegnér personally wrote an entire martial arts library between 1959 and 1985, though the exact number of original titles is a little hard to calculate. A list of Tegnér books compiled from Amazon numbers almost exactly 100. That includes the contents of two boxed sets: The Martial Arts: Boxed Set containing five volumes (1974) and the Corgi Library of Oriental Martial Arts, co-authored by martial arts writer Michael Minick, containing four volumes (1975). Apparently, most, if not all the volumes in these two sets are reissues of previous books.

Tegnér’s full catalog includes earlier books either retitled—perhaps with some added material—or two books combined into a single volume. You’d have to buy copies of each and every one and then compare and contrast them all to be sure of exactly how many unique books he produced. What, for example, are the differences between Self-defense for Boys & Men: A Physical Education Course, Self-defense for Boys & Men: A Secondary School and College Manual, Self-defense You Can Teach Your Boy: A Confidence-building Course, and Teach Your Boy Self-defense and Self-Confidence? And is the material essentially the same—except for photos—as that in Self-defense for Girls and Women: A Physical Education Course, Self-defense for Girls: A Secondary School and College Manual, Self-defense and Assault Prevention for Girls and Women, and Self-defense for Your Child? I certainly don’t have the time to discover that, nor the funds. Some of the better, rarer, or first-edition Bruce Tegnér books go for as much as $350, and many of the rest are in the $20–$50 range.

Obviously, Tegnér had a penchant for repackaging the same material in different forms under different covers and slightly different titles. Examine the accompanying list of Tegnér books, below, and you’ll see what I mean. But if he often repackaged and repurposed his material, he also wrote books on topics not covered by other writers until years later. Perhaps the most succinct enumeration of Tegnér’s books can be found on the OpenLibrary page about his principal publisher: Thor Publishing Company. (1) OpenLibrary numbers forty-two book titles and eleven e-books published by Thor between 1959 and 1999. Tegnér’s personal output began in 1959 and continued to 1985, which was the year of his death. Most of the Thor books listed are by Tegnér or by Tegnér and a co-author (usually his wife, Alice McGrath), though a few are by McGrath alone or by other authors.

Over the years, Tegnér has suffered criticism in several regards. First, he often produced books on martial arts styles he did not know well, such as Tai Chi and other kung fu forms. And some karate exponents question the depth of his knowledge in that art. In discussing a video clip on YouTube of Tegnér teaching Ricky Nelson karate in an episode of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet in 1961, Dan Djurdjevic had this to say about Tegnér’s movement: “It’s really quite stunning in its oddness, matching and exceeding the awkward, book-learned movements hinted in the photos. Yet there is something irresistibly admirable about it at the same time. I can’t help but feel sincere respect for Tegnér. He might not have known a lot about karate, but there is a sort of ‘alpha male,’ pugnacious authenticity, toughness and diligence to his movement that makes you want to meet him, shake his hand and say: ‘Well done, mate.’” (2)

Tegnér might not have been a classical stylist, but he did possess legitimate expertise in his core arts: Judo, Jujutsu, and Aikido, which he melded into Jukado. Many other writers point out that what Tegnér did forty years ago would be considered cutting-edge today in that he was one of the first to openly mix various styles of martial arts then hone the result into a direct and efficient system of self-defense that emphasized over-all physical fitness and skill rather than strength.

Bruce Tegnér was born October 28 or 29, 1929, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents—Jon and June—were both professional-grade practitioners of Judo and Jujutsu, and his mother also studied Kodakan. In fact, she was the first Caucasian woman to earn the rank of 3rd dan in Judo. Bruce’s parents started him off on the same path when he was two years old. According to his one-page bio in his first book, Karate: The Open Hand and Foot Fighting, his nursery was furnished like a dojo, with mats lining the walls, and his judo instruction took place daily. He also studied with several experts in various martial arts, including fighting champion T. Shozo Kuwashima. At age seventeen, Tegnér won California’s state Judo title, and by the time he was twenty-one, he was the youngest 2nd dan judo black belt in the U.S. (3, 4) He continued to practice the martial arts throughout his lifetime, studying Judo, Jujutsu, Aikido, karate, Japanese sword and stick fighting, Savate, Tai Chi, and several Chinese kung fu forms.

Tegnér’s traditionalist background eventually gave way, as happened with Bruce Lee, and he began to coalesce his knowledge into a unified system that was direct and simple to learn. The result was Jukado, which combined Judo, Jujutsu, karate, and Aikido. As with Lee, Tegnér took a lot of flak for loosening the bonds of traditionalism in favor of direct and modernized applications. (5)

Tegnér’s books detail three different training routes: training for sport martial arts, training for classical martial arts, and training for self-defense. (3) During his career, he taught military self-defense instructors, created self-defense courses for law enforcement officers, devised fight scenes for movie and TV studios, instructed a number of Hollywood actors and operated several dojos over the years. (5) Some of Tegnér’s students can be found commenting favorably about him on web articles devoted to him and his life.

Tegnér wasn’t the only martial arts writer to successively study various martial arts, become relatively proficient in them, and then produce a string of books. Leo Fong quickly comes to mind. But Tegnér came before all of them. He produced, as I said earlier, an entire martial arts library, and he did so at a time when books in English on the martial arts were practically non-existent.

Tegnér died of a heart attack at age fifty-five on August 28, 1985, in Ventura, California. He was survived by his spouse and frequent co-author, Alice McGrath, who died in 2009. McGrath is fascinating in her own right. You can check out the Wikipedia page about her Here. (6) As a measure of just how underrated Tegnér is, there isn't a Wikipedia page devoted to him, and the only mention of him on the site is an aside in McGrath's bio. Since Tegnér’s death, the mixed martial arts, which he helped pioneer, have risen to the fore, often eclipsing the classical styles in the minds of many people. Tegnér, though, has only rarely received recognition for his contributions to this aspect of the martial arts, and following his death, he was largely forgotten by the martial arts community.

But not totally. According to Bradley J. Steiner, 10th degree black belt and instructor at American Combato in Seattle, Washington, “Tegnér…was a much-maligned and far underappreciated teacher of practical self-defense…. There is great value in what Bruce Tegnér wrote and taught.” Steiner lists six of Tegnér’s books that he feels are particularly strong: The Bruce Tegnér Method of Self-defense, Stick Fighting for Self-defense, Instant Self-defense, Bruce Tegnér’s Complete Book of Self-defense, Jukado, and Judo and Karate for Law Enforcement Officers. (7)

Bob Rosenbaum, who was a student under Tegnér, had this to say: “For many years, there have been those who take great joy in putting Bruce down. Unfortunately, they have no knowledge of Bruce outside of his books. The books he wrote were for people with no knowledge or very little knowledge of martial arts. None of his books were meant to make experts out of the readers, but to allow those with limited athletic ability to learn to defend themselves from the average attacker.” (4)

In this review we’ll look at only three of Tegnér’s books because these are the ones in my martial arts library. I did not purchase these at the time of their release but later, when I was scouring used-book stores for martial arts titles in the days before the Internet made such books easier to find—though passing time has generally made them more expensive. The first book we’ll look at, I’m happy to say, is Karate: The Open Hand and Foot Fighting (Thor Publishing Co., 1959, 106 pages) which was Tegnér’s first release. Incidentally, my copy is a first edition.

In a sense, a review of Karate is a review of all—or at least most—of Tegnér’s titles. Since I haven’t seen all of his books, I can’t say that he didn’t break the mold with some of them, but the vast majority of his books are Category I, giving basic background information on the art or style in question, followed by instruction in forms, katas, and applications. “This is a text book,” Tegnér writes in his foreword. “My intention is to instruct—not discuss.” Even so, Tegnér does go on to discuss his motivations for teaching karate strictly as a sport and for self-defense, divorced from any Eastern religious foundations. He also discusses the need for personal discipline in developing one’s skill, no matter what level of achievement one aspires to.

A one-page bio of Tegnér appears next, and this is followed by the beginning of the instruction section. As with most such sections in martial arts manuals, Tegnér’s instruction includes both text and photos. He opens with a twenty-six page catalog of “Karate Striking Methods,” which include just about any way one can strike, jab, or rake with the hands (open or closed), arms (from wrist to shoulder), head, legs, and feet. Except for the two pages detailing high kicks, these are all demonstrated in clear-enough photos in which Tegnér is seen striking a straw-padded post. The high kicks are demonstrated against a partner.

Twelve pages of charts and text descriptions detail a great number of nerve centers and pressure points broken into several categories: “temporary disabling,” “stunning or very painful,” and “temporary paralysis or unconsciousness.” Several pages of basic stances follow, then it’s on to a section on blocking techniques to defend against various strikes from the arms and legs. In these photos, Tegnér faces an opponent. Each attack shows both a block and a response, and all are thoroughly described in the text facing each page of photos.

The next section shows karate defenses against attacks ranging from “simple or annoying” to “deadly.” Again, Tegnér faces an opponent. Most of the defenses are against bare-hand attacks, but Tegnér also shows defenses against attacks employing a club, knife, and gun. Are these realistic and practical? Some are, some maybe not so much so.

The final chapter of the book discusses breath control and other training and conditioning requirements. First, Tegnér writes about “ki-ya,” the method of expelling the breath in a vocal cry that helps one focus energy in strikes and kicks. He then goes on to discuss yogic breath control, showing how this can help develop the ki-ya, and he gives several exercises that do just that. Last comes a brief look at such issues as diet, endurance, and patience.

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