shep wrote:There is a school of thought that Wado should let go of its karate chains and accept its purest background which is Koryu Jujutsu, and if progress is to be made it is here the journey begins (is that topic drift and maybe a new thread required?)
shep
I have been branded a 'purist' before Shep but I haven't come across this particular 'school of thought' - I don't know that I can agree with it. Ohtsuka obviously didn't think so..!
It may well need a new thread to shake out a few wrinkles..?
oneya
I agree 100% with Oneya here. As much as I might poke fun at it from time to time at the end of the day we are doing karate, not jujitsu and certainly not koryu jujitsu!
Otsuka Sensei left the world of koryu jujitsu and entered the world of karate (with his koryu jujitsu baggage but nevertheless) so why would we want to go backwards?
Otsuka Sensei never claimed to be teaching jujitsu. He was teaching his brand of karate.
shep wrote:There is a school of thought that Wado should let go of its karate chains and accept its purest background which is Koryu Jujutsu, and if progress is to be made it is here the journey begins (is that topic drift and maybe a new thread required?)
shep
I have been branded a 'purist' before Shep but I haven't come across this particular 'school of thought' - I don't know that I can agree with it. Ohtsuka obviously didn't think so..!
It may well need a new thread to shake out a few wrinkles..?
oneya
I agree 100% with Oneya here. As much as I might poke fun at it from time to time at the end of the day we are doing karate, not jujitsu and certainly not koryu jujitsu!
Otsuka Sensei left the world of koryu jujitsu and entered the world of karate (with his koryu jujitsu baggage but nevertheless) so why would we want to go backwards?
Otsuka Sensei never claimed to be teaching jujitsu. He was teaching his brand of karate.
I must admit to playing a bit of the devils advocate here. Im not necessarily expressing my opinion but they were words taken from another website and I thought it was an interesting and different point of view. At a guess (I dont know the sensei personally) the person who wrote them would seem to feel strongly about the issue. I thought it would be interesting to throw it in the mix. Personally I think Wado Ryu should be taught and learnt in its entirerity. You will never find all the answers in just one part of the art. When I was a kid I responded to a bill board advert stating 'Learn Karate' to me thats what Im learning. All that said I intend to visit this sensei at some point in the future to find out more of where he's coming from seeing as I aslso enjoy the koryu aspect of wado.
There seems to be absolutely zero information on the site. Who are they? Where are they? I can't even glean anything useful from the photographs, except that somebody is not too hot at roofing (Dojo pictures). Didn't see anything much in the photographs relating to kata.
Shep, do you know these people, are they near you? What lineage?
No, they are nowhere near me, and I've never heard of them. Dont Know the lineage or anything about them (the dojo is in Sussex). But I've got a mini break booked near there later in the year and I contacted them just as a place to train while I'm away (I didnt realise at the time it is a private dojo) but I've got an invite.
I would be a bit concerned with the reluctance to cite lineage although the Ohyo kumite and Suzuki mention tends to suggest a linkage there is nothing to say this is so. A couple of hackle raisers for me would be citing the Gracie ju jutsu as an example of Shu Ha Ri and the notion of 36 kumite gata as part of their curriculum
The links show a grading for students including the contact for 'namido wado kenpo' John Clift and his daughter Amelia who have just been graded to 2nd and 1st dan Iaido, respectively, by Sensei Dave Waters. John teaches iaido in Hastings .... http://www.ryusui-ryu.org/
There are also a number of statements on the website that are not factually correct:
"Wado is one of the only styles of Karate that is a Bujutsu.(a complete system of fighting from the samurai)
Wado Ryu includes solo Kata, two man Kata, Knife defence, sword defence and much more".
Complete martial systems (or sogo bujutsu) in the context referred to here, are schools that incorporate Jujutsu, along with weaponry (Kenjustu, Iai-jutsu etc., etc.).
Tanto-dori and Shinken Tachi-dori do not represent weapons training in this respect.
Don't know what style of Iai they practice, but the point is, most sogo bujutsu have a connectivity between the various different disciplines they teach - the core principles span all of them.
Trying to bolt on some Muso Shinden ryu for example, to your Wado training does not make it comprehensive.