| History of Wado | | Print | |
A Brief History of Wado-RyuHironori Ohtsuka founded Wado Ryu karate around 1931, and registered it with the Dai-Nippon-Butoku-Kai in 1938. Before training in karate Ohtsuka became renowned in Shindo Yoshin Ryu Jujitsu. He then trained under Sensei Gichin Funakoshi, the late great father of modern karate, in the Shotokan style. In 1931 he formed a style of karate called Wado-Ryu, meaning the way of peace and harmony. With emphasis on speed and evasion, the karate style was well suited as a tournament style of karate.Eventually, Ohtsuka Sensei's top student 'Tatsuo Suzuki' moved to the U.K. to teach karate. Wado-Ryu Karate maintained solidarity until just before Hironori Ohtsuka Sensei passed away in 1982. Suzuki Sensei insisted that the title of Grand Master pass to Ohtsuka's son Jiro, and not to him. This eventually led to the political divisions which exist today. With differing interpretations and changes taking place on a regular basis, Wado Ryu became a split entity. Three main divisions exist today: Wado Ryu Renmi, which is headed by (Hironori son) Jiro Ohtsuka, and is located in Japan. Wado International Karate-do Federation, which is headed by Suzuki Sensei and is founded in the U.K. And the Japan Karate Federation -- Wadokai, which is headed by a Technical committee made up of most of the original Students of the Grandmaster. Our dojo is a member of the Japan Karate Federation - Wadokai. From these three main branches many more clubs and students have since broken off and formed their own schools. Most are still loyal to the Karate as taught by Ohtsuka Sr. A fantastic history of Wado Ryu Karate can be found on a website hosted by Shingo Ohgami Sensei. It is available at http://www.wadokai.se/karate/index.htm |