Enrolling in Wado Ru coming from Goju Ryu

[kyudo]

It states quite clearly that "Mr. Onoda is the leader of Wado-kai Karate Canada Federation(WKCF) which - if we track back far enough would be the Shintani legacy and as you know many people doubt its authenticity. However, if Shiomitsu Masafumi sensei of the Wado ryu Academy is involved then I think any new students can sleep soundly at night.

Shintani? Ouch!
In that case, Shiomitsu sensei probably has quite a bit of work cut out for him. I wasn't aware he was busy straightening out former Shintani people...

[oneya]

As I said: I don't see any mention of Shiomitsu sensei, what they actually say is: "Ultimate Karate and Fitness Kickboxing deals with the strict discipline of traditional karate and wado-ryu karate." but the traditional karate inferrence is that they do something other than wado ryu - and the Wado-kai Karate Canada Federation(WKCF) earmarks that something as Shintani.

oneya

[kyudo]

As I said: I don't see any mention of Shiomitsu sensei, what they actually say is: "Ultimate Karate and Fitness Kickboxing deals with the strict discipline of traditional karate and wado-ryu karate." but the traditional karate inferrence is that they do something other than wado ryu - and the Wado-kai Karate Canada Federation(WKCF) earmarks that something as Shintani.

Your're right. My bad.
I googled 'Wado-kai Karate Canada Federation' and the Academy affiliated wadoryu.ca showed up first. But it's not the same.

So that's bad news for you, Majin. I don't think many people on this forum endorse the Shintani interpretation of wado. If you want to know why, I suggest you do a search on this or other wado forums.
Nuff said.

[Gusei21]

So that's bad news for you, Majin. I don't think many people on this forum endorse the Shintani interpretation of wado. If you want to know why, I suggest you do a search on this or other wado forums.
Nuff said.

I'd sign up. Especially for the fitness kickboxing class led by Leslie Wiggins.
Seriously, I wouldn't worry about it. Just go have fun. If you were really serious about it then there is a way to find a qualified instructor.
Just send an email to Ken Corrigan or Alex Waithe or Norma Foster and they will direct you to a good Wado school in your area. All 3 are Wado instructors in Canada representing the 3 main Wado groups in the world. Do a goggle search and you can find their contact info. Canada is a large country. Good Wado instructors are few and far between so if you truly want to do Wado then it will involve long distance traveling.

As for your inner ear issue, check this out.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =103463398

Good luck with the transition. If your Goju is more like GoGO then the transition will be tough...Goju is very difficult in my opinion. There is no Go in Wado except at impact and even then it is Go for only a split second and under the covers....

The 'secret handshake' of Wado if we have one consists of the following: Nagashizuki, Kihon Kumite and competition karate. If they say they don't do competition karate because they do traditional karate then walk away.. All of us who do real Wado competed at one time or another. It is inherent in the system and Otsuka Sensei our founder had a big hand in creating competition karate. Competition is the only way to learn speed, distance, timing. When I say competition I am referring to WKF/JKF style competition not the other stuff I see on the open circuit like Naska or other stuff.

It is easier for me to teach a top level competitor Wado than someone who never competed at a high level. The speed, timing, distance just isn't there. Nagashizuki is our most important kihon. If Nagashizuki is not in the instructor's vocabulary then there is no Wado going on.
If they do not do kihon kumite then they are not doing Wado. Wado is not self defense. Wado is offense. Different mindset.

So if those elements are missing then it is probably better to enroll in a fitness kickboxing class.
There are plenty of good martial arts instructors in Canada. Unfortunately there aren't many good Wado instructors in Canada so email the gang of 3 i mentioned earlier if you want to find a real Wado school in your area.

[kyudo]

As for your inner ear issue, check this out.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =103463398

Which explains why I started getting nauseated when I quit headbanging.
;-)

If they say they don't do competition karate because they do traditional karate then walk away.. All of us who do real Wado competed at one time or another. It is inherent in the system and Otsuka Sensei our founder had a big hand in creating competition karate. Competition is the only way to learn speed, distance, timing. When I say competition I am referring to WKF/JKF style competition not the other stuff I see on the open circuit like Naska or other stuff.

Interesting. I actually don't do competition. Not because I do 'traditional' karate (I don't know what that is, exactly). But because I find it boring. Just as boring as looking at a bunch of grownups running after a ball and trying to get it into a net before the other does.
As a matter of fact, I once became second or third (don't remember) at a national MA championship. Only because my sensei insisted I'd participate. Two weeks later my ass got kicked so bad in a streetfight that I couldn't walk properly for a while. So much for competition.
I see your point about speed, timing and distance. But I think you overlook some of the drawbacks of competition. There are other ways to train ma-ai. I'd even go further and state that competition messes up a proper feeling of distance. And don't get me started on the silly dance that most competitors perform. It's actually fun playing with competition guys and disturb them by using 'wrong' distance. Or refusing to play ball by not trying to score 'points'. It annoys the hell out of them. :-)
In my dojo, if people want to do competition, I wish them good luck and tell them to go out and find another sensei who's more interested. I'm more into wado as a craft. I gave up on competition decades ago and never looked back.

BTW, how many competitions did Ohtsuka meijin participate in? Or the late Suzuki sensei?

For me, competition in MA is a marketing gimmick. Ohtsuka meijin was a brilliant marketeer...

[Gusei21]

Kyudo,

Don't get me started.
Your karate would be much better had you competed in my world.
What is with you and Arnold? You both say the same thing.
My only conclusion to that is you guys have a different perception of what we call competition karate.
You must have been exposed to the other sort of competition.
I'm serious. It would improve both of your karate.
And when does competition have anything to do with fighting in the streets?
Geez.
Wait til I see you next....we are not talking about the same thing or you don't understand what I am talking about.
Competition and Wado go hand in hand whether it be the Wadokai, WIKF or Wadoryu. It is a part of what we do and Otsuka Sensei fully endorsed it.
There are learnings to be had in that world and you need to explore it or you will never get as good as you can get.
What is it with you Dutch guys..(sorry AJ..not talking to you.)

[kyudo]

What is it with you Dutch guys..

Well you know....
We're Dutch. We were born with it. We can't help ourselves.
;-)

[kyudo]

Wait til I see you next....

I might make a last minute appearance in Hungary. But I'm not sure yet...

[shep]

I used to compete many years ago and I loved it but these days in my late 40's and a prolapsed disc I just do it for the love of the art. Is that ok? :-)

shep

[kyudo]

I used to compete many years ago and I loved it but these days in my late 40's and a prolapsed disc I just do it for the love of the art. Is that ok? :-)

You heard the man. You'll miss out on the secret handshake...
;-)