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What is Wadō-Ryū?
At Red Eagle Martial Arts we practise and learn the karate style Wadō-ryū (和道流). This is one of the four major karate styles and was founded by Hironori Ohtsuka (1892–1982) in 1938.
The four major karate styles are Shotokan, Wadō-Ryū, Shito-Ryu, and Goju-Ryū. On the surface Wadō-Ryū looks very similar, especially to Shotokan, however there are important differences.
Wadō-Ryū places emphasis not only on striking, but Tai sabaki (体捌き) (loosely translates into body management), joint locks and throws. It is often argued that Wadō-Ryū is a Jujutsu style rather than Okinawan Karate because of the Tai sabaki emphasis.
A bit of history
Hinonori Ohtsuka was inspired by both Okinawa karate and Jujutsu. He learnt from and trained with several Okinawan masters, Funakoshi (founder of Shotokan), Mabuni (founder of Shito-Ryū) and Motobu (founder of Motobu-Ryū).
He was interested by the findings of Yoshitoki Akiyama, a 17th century Japanese physician, who whilst living in China learnt healing methods as well as their fighting techniques, before returning to Japan. One day, gazing at a willow tree on a snowy day, it occurred to him that the snow on the willow tree branches didn’t break them like other trees. They simply yielded and the snow fell off. From this Akiyama developed 303 techniques which become known as Yoshin Ryū Jujutsu, or Willow Heart Style.
From these learnings Ohtsuka merged Shino Yoshin Ryū with Okinawan Karate, and his first style was registered as ‘Shinshu Wadoryu Karate-Jujutsu’.
What does Wadō-Ryū mean?
The name Wadō-Ryū has three parts.
Wa means “harmony” dō means “way” Ryū means “school or style”
Translating into “Way of Peace” or “Way of Harmony”
One of the key principles is “Yielding is more effective than strength”. This is not to say that we give way, or give in, it means we move along rather than move against. Using harmony rather than brute strength.
The Wadō-Ryū emblem is a fist within a dove, representing the "Way of Peace"
What are the key principles of Wadō Ryū?
The underlying principles we use are derived from Sindo Yoshin Ryū, so we execute techniques from a completely different perspective to other karate styles.
Yielding is more effective than strength
For example, a Shotokan practitioner is likely to force an incoming fist out of the line of attack. Whilst in Wadō Ryu we move ourselves out of the line of attack (tai sabaki), taking up a position that places us in a position that provides us advantage over our opponent, whilst deflecting the technique, resulting in us avoiding or minimizing an opponent’s attack.
Both ways will look very similar to the untrained eye, but are executed and applied completely differently.
The defender’s body is positioned to take advantage of the attacker’s weakness,
whilst presents few openings or weakness of their own
We practise shorter stances, these enable us to be more fluid in movement and strikes. Think of the Pinan kata’s we practise, changing from or into Nego Ashi Dachi (cat stance), seamlessly using our whole body movement to generate power and energy into the movement.
The use of angles we practise in kata, again enabling us to position ourselves in a position of strength effectively and efficiently.
Next time you’re training
Consider all of what has been mentioned here. Are you moving your body or just your limbs? If your limbs you’ll find that the technique doesn’t work very well, and you’ll have to apply brute strength. Think about your body as a whole, your limbs move because of your body movement, not your body moving from your limb movement.
I look forward to exploring this further with you during your training!
If you've enjoyed reading this blog please click here to read 'Why we should all practise kata'