Enrolling in Wado Ru coming from Goju Ryu

[majin29]

Not sure what he did but his wife has a wicked reverse jodan mawashi.

Ha ha! Mine has a wicked Furi Zuki :-(

shep

I am convinced my wife comes from samurai lineage because she's scary good with a knife! ;)

[majin29]

May have found a school from the lineage that someone mentioned earlier,.

http://www.mhamenterprises.com/maframe.html

apparently there is a club about 10kms away from me which is cool but they don't advertise on internet. I have contacted the school via email though to see what they are all about.

Looks like there are actually more Wado schools than I thought- they just dont' advertise as much as the Shotokan and Goju schools. A good sign perhaps?

EDIT- a link to one of the instructors. Looks like he knew Suzuki Sensei

http://www.mhamenterprises.com/maframe.html

[oneya]

.
Michael Ham is a well respected member of the wado kokusai karate do renmei. The ten kilometres to his dojo should whet the appetite.

oneya

[majin29]

.
Michael Ham is a well respected member of the wado kokusai karate do renmei. The ten kilometres to his dojo should whet the appetite.

oneya

Upon re-reading Sensei Lam actually teaches about 50kms from where I live. Too far to go and train for my current circumstances. He does have approved instructors that teach Wado at a local community centre though.

[oneya]

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Wow.! I drive about 50 kilometres each way to the dojo..

oneya

[majin29]

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Wow.! I drive about 50 kilometres each way to the dojo..

oneya

Yes but you appear to live in Australia where inclimate weather conditions don't exist for 7-8 months out of every year (snow). Canada gets lots!

Anyhow, I'm glad that there are more opportunities around to study Wado than I originally thought. :)

Thanks to everyone who chimed in on thus thread! Your knowledge is invaluable!

[steveig]

Hi Majin29, the training begins when you decide to leave the fireside and go to the dojo.

Steve.

[majin29]

Hi Majin29, the training begins when you decide to leave the fireside and go to the dojo.

Steve.

Good point. I'm just trying to be a little more selective of the school I go to. I spent a lot of money on the Goju school only to find out that it wasn't really all that good. I kept training in earnest but kept getting pressured to renew my membership to the point where I just couldn't stand going to that dojo. Training took a much removed backseat to the business and while I understand dojos just like any place of business need to make money, the entire environment was money making schemes and not a lot of karate/martial arts which is what I signed up for in the first place. A few former adult karateka also dropped out of the school well before me because they saw the writing on the wall. The few adults that stayed were very nice people but had zero previous martial arts training and as such had no basis of comparison.

The Fall classes for Sensei Lam's Wado Ryu begin in Sept. and while they are held at a local community centre as opposed to an actual dojo, I think it's better for me to subscribe to this Wado as opposed to the other school that appears to be affiliated with Shintani line that most on this thread have warned me against. At this stage of my life, I don't relish spending time going down a wrong path, only to turn around and start again. Until then, I have enough karate experience to work on conditioning by myself. Obviously my kata are based on Goju so that won't help when I start Wado but the fundaments (I believe) are still related. Maybe not but it's still good to keep the conditioning up. In that capacity, I haven't stopped training as I do the basics almost every day.

but, yeah, I'm itching to get back at it....writing these posts actually makes me want to do it more!!

[majin29]

I figured I'd continue this thread rather than starting a new one. I've been studing Wado with sensei Marsha Ham (not Lam- sorry!) since last Sept. I stepped up training a month ago and go to 2 classes per week and train in between at home. I've been working on Pinan Shodan kata and Oyo #1, as well as Sanbon series front kick #5 and #6. My sensei informed me after my last class that I would be grading for Green belt at the end of this curriculum. While I don't pressure myself to learn for mere rank, it was nice to hear that I've acclimated to Wado (through a lot of long hours and hard work mind you) and I will be moving up a belt thereby exposed to more waza and such.

Studying Wado has really been an eye opening experience. It's been a pleasure. It continues to inspire me. I've never had the same compulsion to train harder or work at something as persistently in the area of martial arts as Wado Ryu.