Wado Ryu

Discussion in 'Karate' started by TonyMc, Nov 21, 2011.

  1. TonyMc

    TonyMc Valued Member

    My mate does Wado Ryu (although he seems more preoccupied with trying to learn Kenpo of late) and I have done Shotokan and Goju Ryu in the past. Is Wado a kind of blend of both of these styles that has all the tools for all ranges of self defence? Or is it just another style that tends to do well in competition? The reason I ask is just because I have never heard much about this style.
     
  2. Moosey

    Moosey invariably, a moose Supporter

    Nah, it's not a blend of shotokan and goju. I'll leave it to a wado person to describe what it is. To the best of my knowledge it's supposed to be a blend of karate and Japanese jiujutsu.
     
  3. Mike Flanagan

    Mike Flanagan Valued Member

    Moosey is along the right lines.

    Ohtsuka, the founder of Wado Ryu was a senior practitioner of Ju-jitsu before he even began studying karate under (I think) firstly Gichin Funakoshi then Kenwa Mabuni and others. Ohtsuka was no slouch.

    I'll leave it to GaryWado to give a more detailed description. Suffice to say that traditional Wado is recognisably quite distinct from either Shotokan or Goju. Of the two its closer to Shotokan but uses somewhat higher stances and places more emphasis on evasion, simultaneous attack and defence, and generating power by combining these 2 ideas.

    I suspect that modern sport Wado is virtually indistinguishable from other sport karate styles.

    Mike
     
  4. robertmap

    robertmap Valued Member

    You are sooooo totally wrong....





    They have different badges on their Gi's




    :) :) :) :) :)
     
  5. GaryWado

    GaryWado Tired

    Cheers Mike but tbh I'm not sure I can be arsed.

    Despite the fact that I am probably not the best informed person to answer the question - I don't think the OP would be interested in my answer anyway.

    Gary
     
  6. TonyMc

    TonyMc Valued Member

    As a matter of fact I would..
     
  7. Mike Flanagan

    Mike Flanagan Valued Member

    Robert - well you spotted the flaw in my argument:(

    Gary - I'm surprised, feeling a bit nihilistic? Would it help if I jibed you by saying Wado's for pussies?:woo:

    Mike
     
  8. GaryWado

    GaryWado Tired

    Right!!!

    Just you wait... :mad:
     
  9. Ives

    Ives Mokuteki o motte hajimeru

    @ OP:
    Try wikipedia and/or google

    @ robertmap:
    There are even three different organisations, so there'll be even different patches among wado-practicioners. Things are gtentig cnosinfug!!!
     
  10. TonyMc

    TonyMc Valued Member

    Higashi Wado. Is that diferent to others?
     
  11. Mike Flanagan

    Mike Flanagan Valued Member

    Just another of many variations on the same theme, although I believe Higashi has been around for some years now (20?, 30? maybe more).

    I watched a few Higashi videos on youtube. I don't know if its just me, but I often feel a bit disappointed when watching Wado. A lot of people look like they're manifesting the outward shape of the techniques but appear to be missing the 'feel' of it, and hence lacking power and stability. There's something about it that creates an uncomfortable sense of dissonance in me. I know its not Wado itself that's the issue, because I don't get that feel watching say, Tatsuo Suzuki.

    Gary, is it just me?

    Mike
     
  12. GaryWado

    GaryWado Tired

    Imo the Wikipedia explanation as rather flawed.

    Higashi is Peter Spanton’s group.

    Mr Spanton was one of Suzuki sensei's first (UK) black belts and as I understand it, a very tough cookie.

    He left the Wado camp to do his own thing many years ago (20 -30 years ago as Mike alludes to). Personally, I wouldn't say that Higashi was Wado. I would recognise that it was Wado based, but imo once you change something - it ceases to be what it was in the first place.

    Let's put it this way, their karate is (or at least appears to be) very different from mine.

    That's not to say it isn't good karate btw.

    Mike, it's not just you.

    As someone once said... on the surface, Wado is easy to learn, but in reality it is very difficult to master.

    If you don't hone the detail, it will just be a shell, that is, just a bunch of movements with nothing behind it.

    These are just my thoughts, but personally I feel that many Wado groups overlook the detail bit (because it's hard and you need extensive knowledge) and fill in the gaps by adding kata (often from other styles) / kumite - exotic bunkai etc. Now all that's fine but in the time you spend practicing these - you are not practicing Wado.

    Suzuki sensei knew this, and certainly the sensei that I have been lucky enough to train with like Arakawa, Ohgami and Hakoishi etc., have all had been stunningly "powerful" karateka - because they understand what goes on under the bonnet.

    @ TonyMC - my apologies, after re-reading my posts, I think I came over rather aloof - it wasn't my intention, I have just been mad busy at work these last few months.

    I have attached an essay by an excellent Wado Karate sensei called Tim Shaw. It's a bit of a lengthy read but will give you a better insight into Wado and its origins.

    http://www.wadoryu.org.uk/jujutsu.html

    Gary
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2011
  13. Kuto

    Kuto Vacuumed Member

    Well I may be wrong but is this not the case for all martial arts? As I understand it you could also say this about dancing or gymnastics.
    Take kata, that's just a bunch of movements, as long as you start to train the seperate movements like sequences for self defence or something.
    It's the intention that makes a thrust an attack, but in all styles that is.

    But I'm sure you are fully aware of that fact, I was just a little confused that you took this definition for the issue that is just under discussion.
     
  14. GaryWado

    GaryWado Tired

    Yes, the devil is in the detail in all martial arts - if they were easy then they wouldn't be what they are.

    My point about Wado being simple though was in response to Mike's post about how it is often perceived as "lacking" something and there could be a reason for it...

    Unlike many other styles of Karate, Wado has only a handful of techniques that are practiced in Kihon. We also have only 9 kata (compared to, I think, 20+ for the Shotokan and 40+ for the likes of the ****o-ryu boys) we don’t practice Bunkai and the fun bits don’t start until you are brown belt and you start to learn the paired Kata stuff.

    So what we have is a very basic set of principles to start with that are easy to see (and therefore do and teach on the surface), but to get those "principles" to work – in a Wado way - takes a long time and only start to be realised after a good few years.

    Gary
     
  15. Kuto

    Kuto Vacuumed Member

    You don't practice bunkai? You mean never? Why that?
     
  16. GaryWado

    GaryWado Tired

    Nope.

    If you read the essay I posted, it will give you a better idea of Wado's background.

    As I understand it, bunkai is a "process" used in many Okinawan karate schools. Wado is not an Okinawan Karate and its "processes" (to achieve the same net result) are probably closer linked to that of Japanese Koryu Bujutsu.

    Gary
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2011
  17. ArthurKing

    ArthurKing Valued Member

    To the op, i do Wado and that includes Bunkai ie the process of making formal techniques (usually extracted from kata) workable in realistic situations. This may not be everyone's idea of bunkai (or even Wado!), but, there you are.
    I did a couple of years of Goju when i was at college, 20 odd years ago and my recollection is that it was smaller, more circular movements than Wado, more upright Sanchin stance, greater emphasis on breathing and conditioning. Wado to me is about 'not getting hit' first, then striking/unbalancing/throwing. People who have come to our club from a Shotokan background say Wado looks weaker and less powerful than Shotokan, because of the emphasis on moving along with your opponent as opposed to attacking the attack/meeting force with force.
    Having said all that, in a real fight, i doubt they'd look much different.
     
  18. Kuto

    Kuto Vacuumed Member

    I would love to, but to be honest I do not quite know which essay you are talking about...
    Mind giving me a hint?
    :rolleyes:
     
  19. Dean Winchester

    Dean Winchester Valued Member

    I assume this is the essay Gary is on about.
     
  20. Kuto

    Kuto Vacuumed Member

    ...
    shame
    ...
    I should have taken more time to read through all this...
    =P
    Thanks Dean!
     

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