Wado Articles
1. TWO FACES OF WADO 
It's been now more than several years since I know my dear friend Ben Haryo from Indonesia. At first, our Internet communication was initiated by our common interest in Jujutsu. However, as time went by, we have discussed many other topics related to Japanese martial arts, including the two forms in which the Wado Ryu today appears. I must admit these talks were quite informative for me, and I learned a lot from these exchanges. One of the things that struck me the most of all was the depth of Ben's knowledge in Jujutsu aspects of Hironori Otsuka's Wado Ryu. That knowledge made me think again about the common budo classifications that we in here (and in most parts of the world) have. 
Back in mid 1980's, Yugoslavian Karate Federation was shifting from ITKF karate membership to WUKO membership. This process was long and painful, and caused lots of turmoil on our sports scene. It suddenly came to the surface that many previously won international medals were not so 'bright" as they looked before. With all due respect, it looked also as the ITKF was a bad solution for all non-shotokan stylists and it was rather small organization when compared to the multistyle WUKO (today: WKF). There was a huge difference in being member of one - practically - semi-private traditional and non-expanding organization such as ITKF, and being a member in the pro-olympic large organization such as WUKO. 
So, very soon, the "reformists' sort of won, and the national team of Yugoslavian karateka soon started competing in the WUKO tournaments. (Of course, like it always happens, traditionalist loyal to ITKF split and formed their own national team - but that is a separate story, worthy of several books). One of the most interesting results of this change was the promotion of some previously "unknown" styles of karate. It must be emphasized that prior to these events, Shotokan karate under Taiji Kaze and Okazaki as JKA representatives was absolutely predominant and almost the single competitive karate in whole region of Balkan. Only a handful of Uechi Ryu and Shorin Ryu karate clubs existed beside Shotokan. Readers may imagine what a surprise for all in here was the news that the new president of reformed Yugoslavian karate Federation is actually a shihan (master) of Wado Ryu karate! Wado Ryu? every one asked. And then, within following several years Goju Ryu Karate appeared as well. It was starting to look quite messy. 
But, one thing "helped" in bringing the order to this new fair. That thing is actually the true topic of this article. Only a year or two after the presentation of "new" styles in Yugoslavia, people stopped even talking of any styles. Why? Because of misrepresented Wado, misrepresented Goju and, generally, misrepresented karate! 
What was new in Wado Ryu Karate for an ordinary observer used to look at Shotokan Karate fighters? A bit softer performance of few kata which were 80 or 90% the same like in Shotokan - but with few "errors" (read as: few stylish differences). Or, a bit more relaxing stance of fighters during kumite. That was all! No wonder our karate 'experts" even today say "there is only one karate". In reality, anyone who would know what were the origins of Wado system, would expect to see plenty of jujutsu in Wado performance, would expect to see not only competitive WUKO-oriented Wado Ryu clubs, but also self-defense oriented Wado schools. Unfortunately, this has never happened. It is not in my knowledge that any demonstration of fine jujutsu/karatejutsu art of Otsuka's Wado was ever presented on any public display in my country. Not even from people who claim ranks as high as 8th Dan. Like I said, until recent few years, Wado was even for me nothing but a variant of Shotokan. 
...And how wrong I was! It is Ben Haryo and his teachers who helped me realize that what we have and see in 90% of all Wado Ryu karate clubs out there in the world is basically a crippled misinterpretation. Today's Wado Ryu Karateka are sport-focused practitioners of WKF kumite and they are adapting their kata performance and bunkai so that it fits the WKF rules. They don't practice any of Jujutsu techniques preserved in teachings of Otsuka sensei, and it is a sad fact that so very soon after the death of this grandmaster, his legacy seems already forgotten. People walking around with their "Wado Ryu" labels over their karate jackets are mostly doing just another form of a "no-style" and "all-style" WKF competitive karate. True Wado Ryu lies in the shadows of rare committed dojo. 
Dr. Ivica Zdravkovic 
Menyo Okuden Jujutsu, 
Menkyo Chuden Kenjutsu, 
Shotokan karate instructor

2. PRINCIPLES OF WADO-RYU

By Yoshihiko Iwasaki, Wado-ryu Renmei Nanadan-Shihan

"One of the most important principles of Wado-Ryu is to `disconnect your muscular power'. It is essential to take off your muscular power before the technique is completed. That is why Wado Kata has real power; it is not just a dance like some Kata competitors make it today. In Wado, you do not hold on to the Kime. This is called `Nuki', and it is very difficult to master. You must not have any tension at all. You can see it in other Japanese Martial-Arts such as Kendo and Jujutsu, even in Aikido which has very sophisticated Tai-Sabaki techniques even though many western practitioners make `Mudana-Ugoki' too which means they continue to hold on to power too long after it is necessary! This is what makes Wado so very different from Shotokan or Goju or any other Karate style. They hold their muscular tension much longer than in our style. 

When Wado is not understood, you think it looks weak, but an experienced eye can see what it is. You should withdraw all power from your techniques before they are complete. The technique must move from power to no power very quickly. That's why older people's Kendo or the Grandmaster's Karate is so special to see. But it is not really possible to master until about 5th dan. Watch western boxing, they do not hold on to any power at all! Unfortunately, some Wado teachers did not understand this principle and so went their own way. It looks like Wado on the outside but inside it is not Wado principle. 

In Japanese Martial Arts, there is never any unnecessary tension. In Wado-Ryu, the method of attacking the opponent is that of Karate. We have a saying, it is like this: in Wado-Ryu you bite and then chew Karate. Then it enters your stomach where it is digested when it is then turned into Jujutsu. In Wado-Ryu we practice Kata differently to others. Yes we do blocks and other Karate-type movements in the Kata but that is only basic Wado and mainly for using in attack. Wado-Ryu defence is really Jujutsu, using the principles of Nagashi, Inasu and Noru, which are principles in common with Kenjutsu. Of course you cannot really understand how to defend unless you first learn to attack. That is the Karate section of the Wado syllabus, and then you learn Tai-Sabaki and how to defend which is basically from Yoshinryu Jujutsu. Finally, you learn the principle of `Ai-Nuki', which means that you do not `crash' with your opponent, but naturally move to a good position to defeat him using his own power. Physically you never get hurt-mentally you never have arguments. This is the meaning of the `Wa' in Wado. Harmony inside and outside yourself through `Ai- Nuki'. 

Wado-Ryu comes from Yoshinryu Jujutsu as well as comes from Shinkage Ryu Kenjutsu sword school. The original masters of Yoshinryu Jujutsu as well as Ohtsuka Sensei first and second as well and some of the other Japanese masters today including myself know and practice Kenjutsu sword techniques. Jujutsu-Ka and Wado-ka should understand the principles of Kenjutsu and be able to use a sword effectively. The style of Yoshinryu Jujutsu is more than 1,000 years old! It originally came from China and was developed by the Samurai to suit battle Japanese style so that you could use it in close fighting when you lost your long sword and you only had a short sword or a knife so it is a close-in fighting style. 

You can easily see if the many supposed Jujutsu schools are authentic ones because if their teachers do not practice the sword or do not understand and teach the sword principles through either the sword itself or through training such as Jo, then they are not really what they say they are. Proper teachers can also be identified because they will understand and demonstrate excellent Tai-sabaki techniques such as Nagashi, Inasu and Noru. However, regarding Jujutsu, there are few real Jujutsu schools in Japan anymore. Most of the masters died out since long ago. I say that with the exception of maybe one or two masters and of course Ohtsuka Jiro Sensei who's main study is real Wado-Ryu Jujutsu Kempo. Ohtsuka Sensei says that if Wado Karate was a soup, then the Karate part of Wado would just be like a pinch of salt!" 

Y. Iwasaki, August 2001

This article taken from www.wadoworld.org