Training at Nihon Univ

[Tim49]

In what I saw; in fact if anything I was heartened and delighted by a number of aspects, namely that within that situation K. Ohtsuka was willing to muck in, stand in the line along with everyone else and sweat.

Doing what?Playing who is going to touch the other first?

I also liked to see father and son working alongside each other

They can do that too if they practice Wado as martial art and train hard against real life attacks and how to handle them for example and not with the way we see here...
I don’t know you expect for some people lets say of that caliber to see and practice Wado not as everybody else in the world (WKF sport ) but as something else. And if you see them play around with points etc for me its really sad...

I think you have made a huge leap in imagination with your caricaturisation of ‘sports kids’ and matching this against your perception of what you thought Wado was like in the days of the late master Ohtsuka

Its not my perception, if you speak with Suzuki Sensei for example you will find out how the train was back then...

Fair enough, I think we have a perception gap here. I see it one way, you see it another.

But I think like many of us here on this board we practice a broad range of activities within our Dojos and within our various organisations. Personally I practice and engage in Shiai alongside other types of engagement, like free form open technique or limited to certain techniques, anything that shifts and varies the emphasis to produce well rounded martial artists. But of course all of this is fed by the core techniques of Wado.

If you want to go all fundamentalist and purist that is your prerogative but I personally don’t see the choices of forms of practice within a small snapshot on a piece of video film as diminishing or demeaning the status or ability of K. Ohtsuka. He is a well rounded practitioner of Wado in all its forms.

Yes, I have also heard the reminiscences of Suzuki Sensei and I am sure they fitted in to their time. If you tried that today you’d be moving in to the realms of Tyler Durden.

Many years ago Suzuki Sensei did a couple of ‘closed door’ training sessions where you had to be a certain level of competence to take part, these were to show the types of techniques and strategies engaged in during these ‘exchange training sessions’ of old, these were very interesting but some of them you couldn’t possibly use in a ‘safe’ way. Maybe you were there?

Tim

[wadoka]

From what I have seen I don't think Kazutaka Ohtsuka is not afraid to get stuck in, with regards to the way he teaches and learns from engaging with people.

He is very much in the firing line, as seen by the comments, so whether he is in the lines when someone like Shiomitsu sensei is teaching, or even correcting him in front of everyone, or pairing up with different people. Everyone will have an opinion or make one.

[Peggers]

Kazutaka Ohtsuka and his son play around with sport karate...
Ok that’s really sad.......
You expect for them practicing Wado as martial art not as sport for kids...

I'll take a small nibble of the dangled carrot......
I was at that Nihon University session on the film. The fact that Kazutaka Sensei actually turned up was impressive, given he had major responsibilities for the Wado Ryu world championships three days later. That event no doubt had influence on what was taught that day, but plenty of people participated who weren't going to compete. It was just training.
Putting his gi on, lining up and joining in is typical of him and surely should be seen as a positive? Some instructors wouldn't do that for sure.
Have you trained with at one of his sessions? They aren't remotely sport orientated in my experience and his ability to explain and develop body movement is superb.
Rgds
Corin
http://www.surreykarate.co.uk

[claas]

acer,

It seems you think that limitations in the technique arsenal or amount of contact in some of the training implies limitation everywhere. Am I correct? If not, then what is your point?

If you really think that way then I guess Wadokas should be doing full-contact jiyu kumite 24/7, and there would not even be time for Kihon kumite for example. Of course this would normally be very ugly strawman argumentation and I'm sorry for that, but I have huge problems understanding your point any other way.

[Gusei21]

Kazutaka Ohtsuka and his son play around with sport karate...
Ok that’s really sad.......
You expect for them practicing Wado as martial art not as sport for kids...

Acer,

You are hardcore..lol.
I think that perhaps your particular background is coloring your perception of what you are seeing.
What makes you think Otsuka Sensei engaged in the type of kumite that Suzuki Sensei did in his youth?
He may have sat back and watched in amusement but..
Otsuka Sensei was one of the people who helped create kumite competition as we know it today which is different from the hardcore kumite training that Suzuki Sensei engaged in.

Does anyone know when the first children's division was included in kumite competition in Japan?

Did you ever attend Nishimura's kumite seminar? Nishimura is an advocate of sports karate. Try being on the receiving end of his techniques for an afternoon...you'll be having to visit the medical clinic afterwards if he is feeling the love that day.

Perhaps the kumite competition in your neck of the woods is different from what most of us here grew up doing?
I realize that sports karate is done differently in many parts of any given country so you might be trying to compare apples to oranges perhaps?

[oneya]

Kazutaka Ohtsuka and his son play around with sport karate...
Ok that’s really sad.......
You expect for them practicing Wado as martial art not as sport for kids...

As I remember his Grandfather (and Junior's great grandfather) devised Wado ryu as a 'new' Japanese martial art with the sporting shiai aspect very much a part of an ethos that would meet the needs of an emerging Japan. Very much a visionary Ohtsuka meijin would probably look kindly and not without some pride in his family's continuing to understand his vision. Of course you'd need to take an overview to see this as its greater direction.

oneya