Wadokai
Wadokai ('"会) is a
karate style or better: organization, that started out as
Wadoryu. It is said that it was founded by
Eiichi Eriguchi sensei in 1981, but in fact Eriguchi was a student of
Hironori Ohtsuka sensei, who taught him the karatestyle that he founded in 1938,
Wadoryu and changed in 1967 into
Wadokai. After a conflict inside the Wadokai organization, Hironori Ohtsuka stepped down as the head of Wadokai and Eiichi Eriguchi took over his job. Hironori Ohtsuka then started a new organization and called this
Wadoryu Karatedo Renmei, shortly after that continued by his son,
Jiro Ohtsuka.
The term Wadokai can be broken into three parts: Wa, do and kai.
Wa can be read to mean 'harmony'.
Do is a Japanese term for 'way' (as in
karate-do). So
Wado means 'the way of harmony'.
Kai simply means 'association'.
Wa shouldn't be interpreted as '
pacifism' in any way. It is merely the acknowledgment that yielding is sometimes more effective than brute strength.
In
1938 Hironori Ohtsuka registers his style of karate with the
Dai-Nippon-Butoku-Kai, originally under the name of "Shinshu Wadoryu Karate-Jujutsu". Not much later this was shortened (simplified) to
Wadoryu ('"流).
In
1952 a Wadoryu Honbu (=headquarter) is established in the
Meiji University dojo in
Tokyo, Japan.
In
1964 the
Japan Karatedo Federation (
JKF) is established as a general organization for all karate styles. Wado joins this organization as a major group.
On 5 June
1967, the Wado organization changes the name into
Wadokai.
In
1980 as the result of a conflict between Hironori Ohtsuka and the Wadokai organization, Ohtsuka steps down as head of Wadokai.
Eiichi Eriguchi takes over his place within Wadokai.
On 1 April
1981 Hironori Ohtsuka founds
Wadoryu Karatedo Renmei. After only a few months Hironori Otsuka retires as head of this organization. His son
Jiro Otsuka takes his place.
Renmei means 'group' or 'federation'.
On 29 Januari
1982 Hironori Ohtsuka passes away. He was 89 years old.
In
1983 Jiro Ohtsuka becomes grandmaster of Wado Ryu and changes his name to Hironori Ohtsuka, in honor of his father. He is now often referred to as Hironori Ohtsuka II.
In
1989 Tatsuo Suzuki founds his own organization, the third major Wado organization:
Wado Kokusai.
Kokusai means 'international'.
The full name of
Wadokai in English is
Japan Karatedo Federation Wadokai. In Japanese it is
Zen Nihon Karatedo Renmei Wadokai.
Nowadays the full name of
Wadoryu is
Wadoryu Karatedo Renmei.
The full name of
Wado Kokusai is
Wado Kokusai Karatedo Renmei, also known as
Wado International Karatedo Federation abbreviated as WIKF.
Strictly speaking Hironori Ohtsuka founded and developed
Wado Ryu. The people who trained with him became the Wado group or
Wadokai. So today, the style that is trained within
Wadokai is
Wado Ryu.
* http://www.geocities.com/keikoden/Wado.htm
* http://www.wadoworld.com/index.html
* http://www.art-of-budo.com/ Wado-Ryu technical descriptions and videos of kihon, kumite and kata
* http://www.wadokangorinchem.nl/ Karateschool Wadokan Gorinchem, Netherlands
* http://www.wado-kai-karate.co.uk - High quality kata videos on Downloads page
* http://www.midlandwadokai.com Site for good info on Wado History, and club site for large group in Leicestershire
* http://www.englandwadokai.org - A traditional Wado Kai Karate association based in the UK, includes member forum and gallery
* http://www.skfscotland.co.uk - Largest karate association in Scotland teaching Wado Kai Karate
