wouldbemaster

Sorry can't resist it what are peoples thoughts and theories on how he died or what killed him, or is he still alive somewhere? No-one can take away the impact on generating peoples interest in becomingmartial artists that Bruce Lee had on the world he was the Jimi Hendrix of the martial arts world. The mystery continues...........

I suspect if I'm right the combination of blood stained gi and your user name on this forum written on your belt might have emphasised the run any reaction.

I am not doubting our masters martial arts knowledge far from it and agree that perhaps part of his journey was to maximise the interest in karate at the time. Just to clarify I used the term maverick which I agree could on reflection be taken out of context. I feel he was definitely open minded and a visionary, willing to question and explore ut not the side of maverick where you might do this in a reckless way. You may notice from other posts I have placed on this site that I actively encourage all to get a solid grounding in their base art (3rd dan) before thinking of looking in any level of substance at other arts in order to not water down their own art. I still reserve the right to feel that like kata mneeding to be a constant flow so must the martrial artist mind in terms of exploration. I totally agree that all arts have plenty to keep you busy when studying them but think the odd why question and reflection can be healthy. I like to eat a healthy diet but the odd burger is good for the soul, the key is to not eat to much and get fat and to never forget wat food is good for you. B

If you really don't want to fight then tai chi is an excellant suggestion. The real questions is why martial arts in the first place and why just kata and no kumite, it cant be done it is meanless training. Tai chi would give you the grace and movement etc if that is what you want and a pretty hot martial art style if you are interest in that side as well later.

Seems different styles also have a different number of dan grade levels any comments?

You can buy anything from the internet including a red and white belt, and could get them embroided with any thing you like on them. Whether it is the right thing to do I leave to you to decide. Brian

Frayed belts for all grades just need to make sure that they do not move and show their lack of martial ability. Just wear it and don't move then everyone looks the part. Quick photo opportunity quick ego fix for all. No substitute for hard work unfortunately, the ones that have been forced to look worn look forced and silly. Perhaps we need to look at pre-worn/frayed belt with a preprinted senior dan grade certificate in new martial art (yet to be named or developed) to go with it as a job lot we could just take a minimal charge give that neither would be worth anything. Any takers, I have a PC and could soon knock something up.

I understand your desire to live the Wado path to its fullest and strive to also maintain the legacy of our masters principles in my training. I respect your wish to be true to Wado and focus on what has been should before and wish you all the look in the world. If I may make one final observation/comment before moving on it would be that the journey that Otsuka took in developing Wado involved being a maverick, analysing others arts rather than purely focusing on his jujitsu legacy that he had been entrusted to continue the message on back his master. In someways in not asking difficult or probing questions, in not exploring the why and the what as well as the how we can never learn what he learnt but instead just try and understand the thinking/place on his journey up to the day that he died. I do appreciate that he will have passed on many words of wisdom to his son, but with the best will in the world his son, however good a wado master, did not walk the same journey his father did. It could be said that in focusing on the end message Otsuka has helped us get to that point in our journey quicker through the benefit of his learning. However if we are to truly understand we need to where possible I think ask the why question to ensure we try and see what he saw and discover what he discovered. Like life whilst our parents pass on their wisdom and experience to help define our morals and principles there will always be some learning that needs to be experiential and that we need to learn for ourselves and in doing so make us better than before. I am commited to maintaining the legacy and keeping the flame alive, just suggesting for some the process of questioning and trying can help you better understand why Otsuka potentially thought the way he did. My humble opinion for what it is worth, good luck.

It has been very interesting to read about the various kata/forms that people study and your idea's on the purpose of kata. When examining kata it is interesting to see what the various kata teach you, what their main focus is. It becomes obvious that they are not purely a repeat of a fight that took place, what would be the point in remembering this as fights are different, but instead helping you to remember key principles, or focus in on one or two principles or movement and power etc the Pinan katas are a classic example in the context of power and stance with Nidan strongly about utilising and moving into a forward stance, Shodan about reverse movement of hips in shuto for example and the use of half facing cat stance and Sandan about absorbing through the use of front facing cat stance. What have others found regarding fundamentals. Why study a particular kata what does each kata tell us/teach us/get us to focus on?

up to chinto as base, next 6 as fun to learn that is more than enough. As someone who has been through the learning experience of tryting to develop a kata as an experiment and as someone who's day job in in learning and development within business I can only express how useful I found the process in helping to consolidation my own learning and understanding of kata. If you asked me to demonstrate it now I would struggle to remember it, we are talking about 5 years ago and I have purposely remained truthful to practicing and studying the core kata. As an experiment try freeing up perhaps one training session to try it, think through key principles and different angles etc and give it a go. Promise you will find it an interesting experience, after all if no-one had done the same thing in the past we would have not kata in which to remind us of core principles. Yours in Wado Brian

I totally agree that kata provides a great base for getting principles and focusing your training and it is interesting to look at what the kata teach you in terms of movement and in particular stance transition and its impact on technique and power generation etc. We do study kata for this very reason but more interested in quality rather than quantity so tend to stick to Pinan Nidan through to Wanshu not in the school of thought that knowing extra kata makes you a better martial artist. Am interested in bunkai but not to the detrement of the real reason for kata within wado. I wonder if you have tried generating your own kata. Given that kata is fundamentally a process to explain principles through a combined form a bit like explaining principles through movement and without speaking. Not kata as in kihon kumite but a full form. It was an interesting process that, whilst it did not produce a new Kushanku or Bassai did help to open my eyes wider to the potential meaning and principles of the kata's we study in wado. Providing people develop their kata with the projection and education of core principles in mind, leave their ego at home and once complete to forget your kata and focus with a new mind on the origional kata I highly recommend the process from a learning perspective. It is principle that is important not individual technique. To train with a fixed technique for a fixed attack or situation just IMO get you hurt. Learn the principles and adapt your training to ensure you are free from the constraints of fixed techniques and you will be more flexible and adaptable should the time come, open your mind to the possibilities but never forget the path. Stick to the principles like good morals and don't lose yourself to the darkside. Brian

Thank you again for the display of your superior knowledge of the japanese language. For me the path of wa is in the name wado and the martial technical application is in the jitsu. Whilst the finite meaning of the words can mean different things to different people and cultures but this meaning is what defines my training principles. Hopefully my lack of pure understanding of Japanese has not had too adverse on my martial path or ability.

Like it! Could always not wear a black belt saying that it is to much about ego (obviously this could be seen as super ego by default - me thinks they protest too much).

Everything is in threes in martial arts and the real growth sperts happen at these relevant grades hence I think the 3 white, 3 green etc. Whilst I undertand the need for people to train between grades I am not a big fan of fixed grading times when someone is ready they are ready whether that takes 2 months or 12 months between grades.

I was always told that one starts to learn when you get your black belt and kind of agree, you learn from the first training session but the learning so that you can replicate technique in a controlled way - 1st Dan (bit like passing driving test) but then you need to consoldate your learning and start to understand it which takes you to 3rd dan and then you really start to understanding it when you stop thinking about and just do it automatically and catch yourself suddenly feeling different 6th dan for example. Different schools have different criteria for black belts and different drivers. Typically 3 to 5 years for 1st dan says to me training everyday seriously and learning from it, in my club 1st dan is typically a 10 year journey. Just to say that my sensei said you only start to learn at 1st dan, he then said when I got my 2nd dan that it was 2nd dan when you start to learn, when I got my 3rd dan he shared a moment of wisdom that it is 3rd dan when you start to learn and then again at 4th dan. I think it is safe to say that you constantly starting to learn and just when you think you know it is really when you have lost your way. As a point to note I got my first black belt at the age of four, it was leather and it held my pants up a treat! Keep smiling Brian

Well done it takes a lot of dedication to get where you are. Just goes to prove that the only limitation to potential is the individuals willingness to put the work in.

Based upon your origional post am I right in thinking that you are obviously highly graded and felt you are now in an appropriate position to develop your own style of martial art i.e. bear minimum 3rd dan in one art and then say 1st or 2nd dan in another to be able to appropriate more than just the obvious in all arts you are connecting, and that because you are linking to another federation you are wanting to go through each dan grade to prove your worth? If this is true then with the level of knowledge you have you should not need to go through such a process but I take my hat off to you. If you have linked two or three arts and are taking a nidan grade in one then I complement you on your decision to consolidate your learning in each art rather than water down many and become a jack of all trades and master of none. If you are shodan taking your nidan in a single art then you are, humble opinion, not in a position to developyour own art/style. If you have trained in one art and when you mean the way you teach i.e. combinations you teach etc providing the principles are the same hen it is the school approach not a new martial art that you have developed. 10 out of 10 for asking the why question and for thinking up newq ways of getting the message across but please be careful not to loose the legacy of previous masters learning on the way. Either way good luck. I too found my Nidan easier not because it was any less tiring or technical purely I think because I thought I already have a black belt so must be doing something right and because I trained myself to death in preparation. Felt after I got it that I must be worthing of 1st Dan if I have 2nd. Sorry if post comes across negative, not beoing personal just typing quickly etc etc. Brian

Just wondering if anyone had thought about the potential business opportunity of making pre-warn black belts!!

Just my thoughts. Often when in a more junior grade all the training can go out of the window in the fight because you are subconsciously worried about being hit or loosing. I dont mean this is a cowardly way just you can think too much. If you look at martial arts there are lots of threes or combinations of threes for what its worth here are two things that you can try that I do with my students: Combinations of three - often people concentrate on tryiong to get the winning strike only to get a first strike in which stuns the apponant but not follow up quick enough, almost standing there with a mix of pleasure and surprise that you have got a technique through. Famous fight boxing (showing my age now sorry) frank bruno against mike tyson, tyson was expected to walk it, frank through a punch which got through and then just stood there instead of carrying on not sure whether he had shocked himself. Doing techniques in threes teaches you to keep going but not to just attack without thinking. Try it turst me it works. Also three heights. try three different heights tap to the legs the one the the head one to the body etc. Really good at confusing the opponant. If you just attack the head their hands are already there and they know whats coming for example. try different combinations of heights perhaps get a friend to shout out different combinations of heights so you have to use your brain. head head body, body head legs, legs body head, head legs head etc. again try it it works for me and my students. you could practice only being defending against your partner attacking or only attacking whilst they defend which can help with the confidence as this provides a safe environment to warm you skills up. The key is to relax as many have said. Hope this helps, good luck and happy training. Brian

Yes many fantastic karate masters around in Toru's day like Peter Spanton who I feel have not lost their way. Others of the same time and from also liked to my origional home club of the Budokan club in Middlesbrough such as Cliff Richmond and Norman Wall also keep the faith as it were and very much alive and kicking with Norman still teaching and training in middlesbrough with a small but serious quality of senior karateka some of which started their own training in the Budokan when it was still in Basil Street, are the memories come flooding back. With regards your comments of Jujitsu as in wado jujitsu I agree that the focus on jujitsu without the background knowledge needed can lead to a watering down of the karate. There are only so many hours in the day etc. Having said that it is important to recognise the jujitsu principles that distiguish wado from other karate styles. You will not that I did not use jujitsu in my early post but instead just jitsu as in 'martial' when talking about practical martial application of wado rather than sport. I also agree regarding the need to fight and test yourself and your art. Otsuka himself stressed this, I did say that free fighting is important I suppose the main disappointment I have felt in watching the evolution of wado in the last thirty years is the increasing focus on free fighting often it feels at the expense of the martial art. Sport karate rather than a martial art, after all the really effective techniques in martial arts are often the ones that you are not allowed to use in competition etc. All in favour of testing and building application of technique work just not pure sport for sports sake. WNM you come across as a very knowledgable wado exponant with lots of history in terms of who you have trained with, we may have even met and training together in the past. There are lots of names for wado with three main federations but many others who train under the banner of wado some of which strive to keep the flame alive and some I am sad to say who have lost the wado path, still great martial artists but not training in wado but instead their own evolution. Keep smiling and for those who are contemplating studying wado, as someone who as spent his life in martial arts for me (and for what its worth) I do think that wado will give you the best introduction to martial arts with its true mix of techniques so go for it. Keep smiling. Brian

Thanks to WNM for his help in identifying the three main wado groups. I personally am not links to either. From the Toru Takamizawa Tera Karate Kai camp with main sensei my father who was lucky enough to get his 1st and 2nd dans from H Otsuka Senior himself prior to his untimely death, we became like main disappointed with the in style politicals and instead have focused on maintaining the principles we were taught admitedly testing the art on a regular basis and still training with the likes of suzuki and shionara when have the chance. Probably seen as unclean now by members of the three groups mentioned early. With regards the use of wado ryu karate jitsu I agree it does provide a more visual link to the ju jitsu side of wado and that yes it is all wado it is also a conscious effort to emphasis the focu on practical martial art rather than a more current focus on wado as a sport. don't get me wrong I like to free fight and test my abilities in this way, but more interested in focusing in on practical self defence/martial art and developing as a person than gaining medals and potentially developing inappropriate muscle memory. Oops even more unclean! For the record have been training in martial arts since aged 6 and now 44 and whilst I a not perfect and always learning I feel I have travelled more new journies than repeated trips due to not learning properly. Started with judo, do aikido, kendo, wing chun, tai chi chuan but wado is my home and my inspiration. Based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Keep smiling, I off for a shower!

Personally quite happy with a frayed belt if it is honestly earned i.e. not through washing (no no no) or bashing etc. Did reccently train at a shukokai club where they insisted on a plain white gi with not badges etc on it and a plain new black belt with no wear showing something to do with not wanting to encourage an ego. Lucky for me I always wear a white belt when training in other styles don't think they would approve of my frayed belt which is on its last legs, still I have a new one on order.

I am interested to find out who, how many etc fellow students and instructors of Wado there might be on the forum and your location in the world, whether Wado Kai, Wado Ryu, Wado Ryu Karate Jitsu etc. Thanks Brian

Think it is important to remember that we are all on the same journey, admittedly some people go around in circles at times just because in a more senior rank you are someone who has gone before on the journey that does not/should not mean that they are less of a person i.e. more senior more grown up etc.

I am humbled by your knowledge of japanese.