T. Kimura wrote:Wado Ryu Karate by Hironori Otsuka comes to mind.
A very badly translated book - about a very complex subject...?
I love it don't get me wrong - but, save the fact that it was written by Otsuka sensei, it would not be at the top of the list of reading I would give one of my students.
I've asked in the dojo and was recommended the kata book for gradings by another student but the club/ facebook line seems to be that the ascoiation dvds are all we need. Fair enough really but i like to get a little more depth and read around it. I think whether the club is sports orientated or not seems to vary depending on which dojo you go to. The one I've been to doesn't seem to concentrate too much on it but then again I am converting from a different style so maybe I'm not comapring like with like. They train hard and the techniques are sound so I'm sure I can learn and grow. I'm happy with that!
I was taught in the past that there are no bad styles or dojos, just bad instructors!
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization.[1] It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers. Although it generally refers to religious beliefs that are accepted without reason or evidence, they can refer to acceptable opinions of philosophers or philosophical schools, public decrees, or issued decisions of political authorities.[2] The term derives from Greek δόγμα "that which seems to one, opinion or belief"[3] and that from δοκέω (dokeo), "to think, to suppose, to imagine".[4] Dogma came to signify laws or ordinances adjudged and imposed upon others by the First Century. The plural is either dogmas or dogmata, from Greek δόγματα. Today, It is sometimes used as a synonym for systematic theology. source wikipedia.
nope. i would say the opposite. i'm not arrogant enough to believe i know better but i'm old enough to not waste my time with doing something because it just is.
I have to disagree further Damon, It is not simply arrogance to know there are many bad dojo teaching bad, inferior or dangerous styles of karate, it is simply wider experience to know that there are often good men with good intentions that teach ineffective or harmful practices in a dojo. Unenlightened sensei are not necessarily bad they may well be wrong but not intentionally bad because they just don't know.
To assume at a young age that some nonsense or dogma that that one has been taught is the truth is to close one's mind to other truths or greater truths.Quoting wikipedia is no substitute for knowledge, quoting wikipedia only proves that you can read. Quoting anyone only proves that you have heard. Your information says you have practiced other styles and moved on so I wonder why you insist on bringing stunted mind teachings with you. If one's mind becomes fixed then one's journey through a wado ryu life is already wasted.
Fair enough. I stand corrected. The point I was making about dogma not purely in relation to martial arts is sometimes intelligent well meaning people sometimes leave reason at the door and what is patently wrong or untrue is accepted as fact because a senior says it's so. That is dogma at it's worst and has been the cause of some of mankinds greatest disasters. I actually like starting off on a new road and I've already cast off much of what I've been taught thus far to enable me to see things from a fresh perspective. It's exciting and I hope something that will improve my life immeasurably for the future.
T. Kimura wrote:Wado Ryu Karate by Hironori Otsuka comes to mind.
A very badly translated book - about a very complex subject...?
I love it don't get me wrong - but, save the fact that it was written by Otsuka sensei, it would not be at the top of the list of reading I would give one of my students.
Gary
That is true. It is a very uneven read. I have heard however that Otsuka sensei was not a terribly articulate speaker or writer; maybe his ideas are hard to express in words. That quality would be especially hard on a translator--anyway, the pictures are really valuable. I suppose those pictures are mid to late 1960's. I wish we had early 1940s pictures of wadoryu.
Correspondingly, in Shotokan, Mr. Oshima's translation of Karate do Kyohan is excellent, but he opted to re-pose all the photographs following the first edition; I wonder if he should have at least reproduced those of Master Funakoshi along with the new clearer pictures of himself? We have so little (visual) information about karate in Japan between 1925 and 1940 and thus we are missing much data about the evolution of both wado ryu and Shotokan.
Normanski wrote:Fair enough. I stand corrected. The point I was making about dogma not purely in relation to martial arts is sometimes intelligent well meaning people sometimes leave reason at the door and what is patently wrong or untrue is accepted as fact because a senior says it's so. That is dogma at it's worst and has been the cause of some of mankinds greatest disasters. I actually like starting off on a new road and I've already cast off much of what I've been taught thus far to enable me to see things from a fresh perspective. It's exciting and I hope something that will improve my life immeasurably for the future.
Good reasoning Damon, and perhaps you will find a few dojo claiming to be wado ryu that can be like that but I think you’ll find what is usually the case with this forum is the well seasoned old bones that litter the place are the first to state that wado ryu is a process with all its practitioners being the work in progress. If there is any one thing that is certain it is that Wado Ryu – being principle based wado movement – is a process of discovery.
On Shotokan Karate from the early days; there was a reissue of Karate Do Kyohan that used the original images by Neptune Publishing. However, it was limited print and I am not sure how easy it would be to get your hands on a copy. I also believe there was a reissue of Funakoshi's first work Karate-Jutsu but again I would not be sure of availability or cost. I think you can get the earlier version of Karate-Jutsu; To-Te Jutsu, as a reprint much easier and for far cheaper. I must say; not a worthwhile purchase for any technical guidance, however it is an interesting historic read and an absorbing one at that.
A book I have enjoyed from a historical point of view has been Karate-My Art; the books by Motobu Choki (Watashi No Karate-Jutsu and Okinawan Kenpo Karate-Jutsu) compiled into one. I would not suggest it as a technical guide, however it is an interesting read and makes one think about the nature of karate training in a number of ways. Especially some of the similarities of what Motobu states and what we see in Wado Ryu.
Another book of interest in terms of historic interest is "Karate Kempo: The art of self-defense by" by Mabuni Kenwa. Although in terms of technical knowledge it focuses primarily on the Shorei/Naha half of of Mabuni's knowledge, it does give a further glimpse into the Karate that Ohtsuka Meijin was exposed to before he founded Wado Ryu. On that point it is an interesting read.
There is also ofcourse Wado-Ryu by Ohtsuka Meijin and I must agree with the existing criticisms posted. I have yet to find any use of it aside from as an engaging read, however the knowledge within it comes straight from the font and some of what I can understand I find useful. There is a lot to the text, and I think a lot of understanding it requires experiance on the dojo floor. However, there is no questioning the criticisms made. It could be a far superior text.
Otherwise; I shall finish with a warning. If your association has it's own material for technical aid and guidance, stick to that alone for now. I made the mistake of not doing so, and got confused about a number of things early in my training. However, I might just be an idiot but even idiots have insight into their own idiocy sometimes. Beside that; anything by Sazuki Shihan is a worth while buy. Though, I'd wait until you are being left more to your own training before eventuring into new sources of knowledge.
On the subject of reading matter I have to think that anything on Shotokan, or Okinawan karate in general, needs to be seen as a point of departure if we are seeking the further depths of wado ryu. It is one thing to seek some overview of the karate phenomenon in general but one should be very aware of the need for a mindful (personal) security system (perhaps like Norton Internet Security et al for computers) when reading in general and weighing any writers’ motives and general influences. Instance: generally Shotokan is offered as the style that Ohtsuka meijin practiced prior to his Wado ryu development but history shows the trail is more like the practices of Mabuni, Motobu and early Funakoshi who were all Shurite practitioners, so how does this happen?
Society’s values placed on books and reading matter for educational purposes often presupposes a worth not always in balance with its raison d’être. Simply because writers write doesn’t make them right but they often gather ‘authority’ when the case is not always deserved of proven. Individual preferences also can attribute kudos where none is actually earned or worthy simply because the reader is seeking from what is presumed to be an authoritative source.
My point is: conclusions drawn from any “karate” book should be balanced by history’s evidence that Ohtsuka meijin moved away from his roots to develop his own philosophy and method, and for this to make any sense we need to study Ohtsuka meijin himself not just versions of his work. One should also consider the writer and his motives.