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Wado-Ryu

Hironori Otsuka, founder of Wado Ryu Karate, was born in 1892 in Shimodate City, Ibaraji, Japan. His mother's uncle, Chojiro Ebashi, was a samurai warrior who kept young Otsuka spellbound with his true tales of exciting samurai adventures. At six years old, Hironori began practicing Shindo Yoshin Ryu Jiujitsu under the tutelage of his father. Whereas most Jiujitsu styles specialized in throwing and ground techniques, Shindo Yoshin Ryu Jiujitsu stressed striking and kicking. As a teenager, Otsuka began studying Shindo Yoshin Ryu Jiujitsu under Tatsusaburo Nakayama, who was also a skilled Kendo instructor. Otsuka also trained in Kempo and in other Jujitsu styles.

In 1922, while the 30 year old Otsuka was working as a bank clerk, he saw a newspaper article on Crown Prince Hirohito’s visit to Okinawa, where he had been entertained with a demonstration of Shuri-te style Tode (not yet known as Karate). The article mentioned that an Okinawan named Gichin Funakoshi had arrived in Japan and was planning to terach the martial art in Tokyo. Otsuka promptly went to Tokyo and began intensive training in karate under Funakoshi.

Within four years, Funakoshi awarded Otsuka a black belt in karate, making him one of the first Japanese to be promoted in this art. Otsuka became Fuakoshi's assistant instructor, but he was always thinking about how to incorporate his Shindo Yoshin Ryu Jiujitsu training into karate.

In 1927, Otsuka quit working at the bank to practice traditional medicine specializing in the treatment of martial-arts injuries. Otsuka studied under Funakoshi for over ten years and became one of Funakoshi's senior students. After 1930, Otsuka increasingly went on his own, establishing karate clubs at various universities in Tokyo.

Otsuka saw that many of the blocks and techniques that were taught in traditional Okinawan kata did not work in sparring, so he began to blend the practical fighting methods of Jujitsu with Karate. The relationship between Otsuka and Funakoshi became strained because of Otsuka's new approach to teaching. Otsuka stressed kumite over kata, in sharp contrast to Funakoshi, and developed many pre-arranged kumite techniques much to the dismay of Funakoshi who believed that basics and kata were enough. Also, Otsuka began using began full contact free-sparring with students wearing protective equipment.

In 1934, Otsuka officially founded his own unique style of karate, naming it Shinshu Wado Jujutsu. The term wa means "peace" or "harmony", but it also represents Japan as a shortened form of Showa, which was the name for the era of Emperor Hirohito. Do means "the way." Together,  Wado means the way of peace and/or harmony. Originally, the style was referred to as Wado Kai but it later became Wado-Ryu.

Wado rejects hardening certain parts of the body, such as callusing the knuckles of the hand, and ineffective techniques. It uses different kinds of body shifting techniques, a more upright stance for mobility, fast movements, and reliance on evasion and counter techniques. Wado emphasizes technique as opposed to strength and its traditional Okinawan karate maneuvers give it softness, and it uses throws and joint locks. The aim of Wado is perfection of technique while being able to react intuitively to any situation.

Attacking is also considered defense, since offense and defense are part of the same movement. A blocking movement is often transformed into an attacking movement in one continuous motion. When one kind of attack is blocked, the attack instantly shifts to another type of attack aimed at a different target. Wado uses side-stepping to avoid attacks and simultaneous blocking and countering.

In 1981, a group led by Otsuka's son Jiro, split from the Wado Kai to form a private organization known as the Wado Ryu Renmei. Otsuka died in 1982 at the age of 90. In 1989, after continued attempts to reunite Wado into one organization, Tatsuo Suzuki, Otsuka's senior student, left the Wado Kai and formed his own organization, the Wado Kokusai Karate Do Renmei. These three organizations, along with many other smaller, independent organizations, continue to promote Wado Karate around the world.

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