Best Time?

Here’s something to get your teeth into, maybe.

Given that there are so many knowledgeable people on this forum with a broad experience of the development of Wado since its inception, what do people think would probably have been the most interesting time in Wado history to have been a witness to and why?

Scaramouche

I'm sure it would be anytime from mid 60's - late 70's. When Ohtsuka was head and Wado was unified. Big national Championships at Crystal Palace, always well attended from what I remember. As a youngster I guess I didnt really appreciate it as much as I should or could have done.

Shep

Ooh. Good question.

Well I cannot claim to know much about the 60's - 70's but in my mind the best time is now. There has never been such a time as when training and instruction has been so transparent and open to interrogation. If you have have the intelligence and can be bothered to put the pieces back together you can gain access to many of the real answers to wado questions.

My understanding is that this depth of knowledge and technique was not accessible before and I would guess that in 20 years time the real information could become too watered down.]

I stake my claim in the present.

Ashley B

I wish I was there when Motobu, Mabuni, Konishi and Otsuka were showing and exchanging information.

my thoughts exactly

Yes, studying the past helps to get a better handle on the future and that's the period that leaves me wondering if the interchange between Motobu, Mabuni, Konishi and Otsuka could have predicted the Wado we have now.

There is no doubt the sporting aspect is still running at full throttle but I like to think this 'what's in it for me' aspect is in tandem with some deeper considerations for the preservation of the past.

oneya

I also think that the collision between these indivdual martial artists would indeed have been an interesting time, and would love to have been there, but this was Wado in its embryonic stage, so yes it was an 'interesting' time, but I'm not so sure it would fall into what I was thinking of as the 'best' time. (desperatly trying to avoid the phrase 'golden age' because I don't think that the baggage that comes with this phrase helps anyone.).

Scaramouche

Ah, that particular era - I wouldn’t categorise it as ‘the golden age’ either - but it was certainly a time of great learning. Not only the introduction to Wado ryu as a fighting art but also its philosophy and a stream of Japanese practitioners – mostly Nichi Dai – yet all very different in character and style. It was also a great time to observe human nature and the human body at its most efficient and the human mind which was able to withdraw and re-sheath the fangs without rancour. Having been a seafarer for ten years I seen and participated in a few scrapes but this was an awakening to an almost clinical aspect of human behaviour I had not experience before. It wasn’t long before the down-side raised its dumb head in thinking this was a quick study in how to make a quid and polish an ego with a raised leg.

Except for the karaoke - part of the ‘best times’ for me were the periodical Japan pilgrimages and realizing the vast spectrum of wisdom that lay at the conception of wado ryu beyond the tournament scene.

oneya

Here’s my take on it;

I’ll concur with Ashley, I reckon that the most interesting time is now.

Why do I come to that particular conclusion?

I’d have to start by looking at the negative aspects that have lead to the current situation.

Obviously our greatest deficit is the absence of the man himself. It was Ohtsuka Sensei’s ideas, knowledge and experience that got the whole ball rolling in the first place. Although he was clearly mercurial in his nature, a man whose cup runneth over with a wealth of ideas many of which we are still struggling to fathom, he was the helmsman and without him we are distinctly much the worse.

Historical and current political infighting and poor managemental and personal skills from all sides, both eastern and western, have revealed how very ‘human’ and flawed we can all be and still continues to cast dark shadows.

Over the last thirty years the curtain was torn into various fragments, but from this rending of the fabric new opportunities came forth, fresh light was shed upon the structure and nature of Wado. It was almost as if by the beans being spilled upon the carpet (mixing my metaphors I know) things that normally would not have seen the light of day, buried beneath layers of cosy complacency or unwieldy hierarchical formality, suddenly became exposed and open to scrutiny and study. On top of this groups were forced to declare their credentials and put themselves on the line, this in itself is a good thing. For one thing it actually forces people to have to confront exactly what Wado is to them and what they aspire to, and what Wado, indeed Budo aspires to.

Another very positive aspect of this is that it exposes those who are out there whose sales pitch so obviously falls short, particularly those who hang their hat upon a version of Wado that is supposed to be carved in stone, immovable. I’m not so sure this is exactly what the late master Ohtsuka would have wanted, certainly doesn’t follow from what he wrote or what he taught.

Another reason why Now is a good time, is because in those earlier days expertise was in very short supply, it resided in the hands of very few people who could only spread themselves really thinly. And what about the material these pioneers had to work with? Raw beginners, undoubtedly lots of them! But raw beginners all the same, well intention, madly enthusiastic raw beginners, loaded with potential. I think we are currently very fortunate in that the expertise is now much more abundant and for those more discerning students looking for what authentic Wado has to offer there are some very able and knowledgeable people out there. But, buyer beware; there are also an awful lot of sheep in wolf’s clothing, people who look good on paper but have been resting on fat laurels for an awfully long time.

Scaramouche

Hi Scaramouche,

I can't say I am as enthusiastic as yourself and Ashley over the present state of wado ryu and whilst I realise I could well be in the minority, there's just a comment or two I'd make on your paragraph:

“Over the last thirty years the curtain was torn into various fragments, but from this rending of the fabric new opportunities came forth, fresh light was shed upon the structure and nature of Wado. It was almost as if by the beans being spilled upon the carpet (mixing my metaphors I know) things that normally would not have seen the light of day, buried beneath layers of cosy complacency or unwieldy hierarchical formality, suddenly became exposed and open to scrutiny and study. On top of this groups were forced to declare their credentials and put themselves on the line, this in itself is a good thing. For one thing it actually forces people to have to confront exactly what Wado is to them and what they aspire to, and what Wado, indeed Budo aspires to.”


I love the picture but I am struggling also with the beans buried in cozy comfort neath layers of hierarchical formality because we cannot possibly know for certain that the ‘beans’ would not have seen the light of day. Especially when the structure and nature for wado ryu’s blossoming into the beanstalk as intended is well catered for in the Japanese Shu Ha Ri philosophy.
What is certain is that the pivotal ‘shu’ tenet - whereby the foundation for all learning and transition becomes its own conduit for its legacy and transmission – did suffer from being displaced when transplanted in, what proved to be, a western desert of multi- cultural understanding by Japanese sensei who were struggling with the local lingo so maybe this was never ever explained fully anyway. All too often it was barely more than a piece of that ‘torn curtain with a decorative kanji’ on the dojo wall that nobody could read anyway. Indeed that early stream of Nichi Dai practitioners I spoke of who displayed their amazing - but easily misunderstood - idiosyncratic wado beyond the fundamentals was surely evidence enough that wado was hardly cast in stone for anyone who cared to look. Ido kihon, never being a woody match for mawashigeri jodan or its back door offspring ushiro mawashigeri jodan, was a great relief from the Marquis of Queensberry restrictions that forbade a good clogging and brought enthusiastic smiles from the more agile and consenting adults so the legacy’s key stones were often not cemented in place as firmly as the ‘shu’ aspect required. All evidence that I could see pointed to wado’s facility as distinctly malleable enough for any individual’s requirements, shape or capability.

Like you I do grieve at the sad loss of the old fella cutting off the original Mother lode but I would note, if not argue, there is ample evidence that a vein of freedom of thought and the safeguard of the research and development kaisetsu bulwark is running all through Ohtsuka’s writings. However despite this, what we were – and still are - left with is precisely the same hierarchical machinations that resonated throughout the developmental times of Goju ryu – Goju-kai or Shotokan – Shoto ryu and other ryu when past masters shuffled off their mortal coil, so perhaps it is not just a wado ryu affliction. It may very well be – evolution always seemingly being in short supply as it is – just the human condition...

There is always the vanity quotient that runs through human behaviour so the right and wrong of wado will always be an issue with the ‘golden agers’ but what should become increasingly obvious for them that walk in that shadow is; It is largely their limiting contribution that has brought us to this very place where what we have today is more a market place for the cash cow and snake oil advertising dangling the lure of a kuro obi in six months or the tin cup tournament persona accelerated into prominence with a sport bag that is more than half empty when it comes to wado ryu principles and practice. A quick look at any squeezed and massaged budo magazine is chock full of smiling ankle biters and laden with medals and awards for being involved in violence and 9 year old black belts toting championship cups.

I am left wondering if ‘when the beans were spilled upon the carpet’ anyone actually knew what type of beans they were looking at and what shape the beanstalk was intended to become. I am wondering if what we have is what they (people?) aspire to because it doesn’t seem to be what ‘budo’ aspires to..

oneya

Hi Oneya,

That was an excellent and well thought out reply.

Regarding what you said above; I think you are right. In those very early days there was a lot of Boot Camp going on, and the westerners really warmed to the discipline and asceticism, it all built a terrific esprit de corps and the development of the tournament circuit and the successes that came along with it, particularly for the Wado guys, in some way acted as a compass to follow. The problem was, as I think you alluded to, that the chase for gongs and titles became almost the sole objective. What is interesting is that unlike other sports people karate doesn’t end when you hang up your competition mitts, but for some people I can think of it did.

Some split away from their Wado training very early and took the ‘boot camp’ mentality to be the measure of their approach. Techniques that they didn’t understand were dropped from their syllabus, or subsumed by cobbled together fanciful pieces of choreography. A shame really.

As in previous posts your explanations of the rationale behind how things evolved in the early days of Wado in the west make perfect sense to me, but I notice that you have shied clear of naming those times as ‘the best of times’.

Last thing I would want to do is bait you on this, I reckon I'd lose more than my arm if a poked a stick through the bars on that one

Scaramouche

Hi Scaramouche ,

Ah yes of course, ’the best of times’ I hadn’t forgotten but it is difficult because your post tends to set one to thinking of a journey back to the centre of the wado ryu onion and passing through layer after layer as I know it. I guess I’ve avoided placing a personal 'Good, Better, Best' flag anywhere in that world within a world because throughout the journey – and you’ll hate this – it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

oneya

Speaking for myself. there is nothing interesting about what is going on in the present.
God forbid what is going to pass for Wado 10 years from now.

I've only met 3 people who can teach me anything worth learning about Wado. One of them is here on this forum. And all those guys are all advancing in their years. Sometimes I think we should just throw it all away before we follow what happened to Shindo Jinen Ryu with Konishi Sensei. Today Shindo Jinen Ryu is a shadow of what Konishi created. Generic karate is just much easier to teach and do. Wado is following the same fate in my opinion. It is much too hard I think for it to continue much longer.

Perhaps I need to go take my medication. Is it really important for Wado to continue as an art form? Obviously it will continue as an organization but that is not the same thing.

Tenshin Shodan Katori Shinto Ryu is a Japanese cultural heritage. It is said that those techniques/kata have not been changed since 1387.

. did it really not change? - considering Hatakeyama, Sugino and Otake sensei's movements
. if so, how was that accomplished?


"change is inevitable"

I don’t think this is the same martial art AJ. Tenshin Shodan Katori Shinto Ryu is a cultural heritage and transmission would be carefully guarded but as we know with Wado ryu since its introduction to the western world . transmission can be very haphazard at times.

In this case, Shindo Jinen Ryu - which was Yasuhiro KonishI contribution to karate do - breathed its first breath around the same time as Ohtsuka sensei put Wado on the map in the 1930s.. Konishi was another Shindo Yoshin Ryu fella who trained with much the same people – Funakoshi, Mabuni and Motobu – he also trained with Miyagi of Goju style.

oneya