No comments about Wado Ryu Karate Kata Part 2 Pinan Godan - Kushanku - Naihanchi (Tsunami) [VHS].

1 comments about Wado Ryu Karate Vol. 2.

1. If you buy one martial art video, this should definitely be it. I love Karate and learning new techniques, so when I got this video I was glad to find out that it was so full of great kata and technique. The instructor is a behemoth and clearly knows what he is talking about.

No comments about Tekki Shodan, Kata and Introduction to Bunkai by Vince Morris.

5 comments about Wado Ryu Karate Vol 1 - The Way of Peace & Harmony (Tsunami) [VHS].

1. I first saw a review for this video in a French magazine (for the French language edition) and assumed therefore that it had been made in France. Wrong! It was made in the US then exported all over the place and translated into different languages including, would you believe, Japanese. The reason is that, apart from being beautifully made, the video is unique because it includes about 20 minutes of professionally made film of the man who started this style of karate performing his own creation. Rather like watching Wolfgang Mozart, play Mozart! The film was taken at Berkeley University in 1965 and had been in a private collection ever since. Its discovery was a landmark event as no high quality record of this long dead karate master had been available previously, but now we could study every movement at normal and slow speed and rewind to our heart's content. The show is sensitively and very professionally presented with traditional flute and koto background music and really nice old photos of the master in his youth. Obviously the people who put it together loved the subject because every small part of the production is done with real style and the show, even after many, many viewings still looks really polished to my eye. I bought part 2 when it came out and will buy the same two shows on DVD when it is released



2. This was an interesting high level overview of Wado style Karate as taught by Yoshiaki Ajari (Wado-kai?). The highlight of this tape is film footage transferred to video of Hironori Otsuka, the founder of Wado-ryu Karate. Between Otsuka and Ajari there are examples of kihon, kumite, and kata Pinan 1 to 5, Kushanku, Naihanchi, and Seishan. As a student of Shotokan style karate, I found it interesting to compare what we learn in the Dojo to what Otsuka and Ajari were demonstrating.



3. Wado Ryu was evolved by Hironori Otsuka who became disatisfiedwith Shotokan karate and used his extensive knowledge of Jujutsu tocreate an effective hybrid system. The results can be seen in this video demonstrated by the Founder himself on some recently dicovered, very high quality film footage shot by Berkeley University in 1965. The quality of this video is extremely high, a famous Japanese musician performs the sound track, and the production values are impressive. Interestingly we see Mr. Ajari demonstrating with his teacher in the 1965 footage and then more than thirty years later with his own students. I enjoyed it, found it immensely useful, and view it as one of the most important videos in my collection. Clearly I am not alone. According to "Ceinture Noir" it's currently on sale in seventeen countries including Japan, in three languages. Wado Ryu is subtle, complex, efefctive, and not as "obvious" as simpler styles. Just like this video in fact!



4. I used to be a Kobayashi Shorin-ryu karate-do "purist" in that I thought the kata were holy script, not to be altered. (Of course this was before I learned that there is no single authoritative version of a kata-that all the teachers put their own spin on them.) However, after practicing kata as demonstrated by Otsuka-sensei, I can see that he made some very intelligent and useful modifications. The most important change, I feel, is that he made the moves of the kata more closely related to how one would perform the techniques in self-defense.

   For example, in the Pinan kata, I noticed that he never does a formal "front stance," or as I like to call it, the "please kick me in the groin stance," with feet wide apart and the center of gravity pushed so far forward that you are perpetually on the verge of falling over.

   All his forward movements are done in-line, like a fencer; even his in-line blocks are done with the back straight, not leaning over ridiculously, as is emphasized in most Shorin-ryu kata training.

   Of course, for the first two years of karate-do practice I was told to do the half-crescent step over and over, but when sparring I noticed neither the advanced students nor the teacher moved this way. I find practicing a movement different than what you will actually do to be a waste of time, and am glad to have this confirmed by so credible a source.

   No commentary is as valuable as seeing the author's own work. A first-rate video.

   I only hope I can move that well when I am 73.




5. The film footage of Master Otsuka doing basics, kata, and kumite is excellent. Technically speaking, the tape was quite revealing. It demonstrated the differences between how Master Otsuka practised his Wado karate and how Master Ajari practises his Wado karate. This is important to show that although Master Otsuka is dead, Wado karate can still evolve.

2 comments about Wado Ryu Karate - Vol 2 (Tsunami) [VHS].

1. This second volume of "Wado Ryu Karate" by TSUNAMI Productions continues in the tradition of the first... an interesting high level overview of Wado style karate by Yoshiaki Ajari with old (1965-ish) film footage of Hironori Otsuka, the founder of Wado-ryu karate. There are demonstrations of kata Chinto, Niseishi, Rohai, Wanshu and Jitte. There are also discussions of the Wado versions of the concepts of Inasu, Noru and Nagasu with bunkai-oyo. It was an interesting comparison tape -- after I turned down the audio and ignored the funky narration.



2. this video is one of the must have for the wado practitioner. you will see H. Ohtsuka perfoming a variety of advanced kata. There is a nice japanese melody on the backgrond. You won't hear any sound performed by ohtsuka, so kiai will not be noticeable. the rest of the video is quite interesting for mudansha people (he who doesn't hava a dan-degree). when you have reached a dan-degree and become yudansha, the rest of this video is not very much extra knowlegde. Be careful not to study only from video, form might have been changed and training much without an instructor will only serve a negative purpose. please consider ANY video as back-up material and not as a study guide. I have given the 4 stars because this footage of ohtsuka is very rare and it is always interesting to see the great master perform. I also give these 4 stars to the very good quality of the video.

No comments about Essential Bunkai of the Heian Kata, double DVD by Vince Morris.

No comments about Wado-Ryu Karate Vol 05 [VHS].

No comments about Wado Ryu Karate Master Ajari - 3 DVD Set.

5 comments about The Best of Wado Ryu Karate.

1. Unfortunately this DVD is just a rip off.
   The video was recorded from VHS tape & poorly formatted.
   There are no chapters or any other features that you would expect from a DVD.
   I was hoping to supplement my Wado Ryu training with the aid of the examples on this DVD, but there is absolutely nothing to gain from this piece of junk!
   For a great series on Wado Ryu that shows the katas in detail, I highly recommend David Deaton's "Wado Ryu Karate" series produced by Panther Productions.



2. Just watched it for the first time and WOW! What can I say, except, I really
   learned a lot from this DVD. It showed me how to perform every kata exactly
   how it should be done.



3. I don't know where these people found this footage but it was awesome! To see the master at work was a real treat. And the information was beyond belief. Excellent!



4. If you want to see really high quality footage of the Founder of Wado Ryu Karate performins kata that was filmed by Berkley University (California) in 1965 see Wado Ryu The Way of Peace and Harmony Volumes 1 & 2. Unlike the above, they are professionally produced films from a Southern Californian studio, that you will be proud to own.



5. You can really learn alot from this great video!! I highly recommend this dvd!!!

1 comments about Wado Ryu Karate Vol. 1.

1. If you buy one martial art video, this should definitely be it. I love Karate and learning new techniques, so when I got this video I was glad to find out that it was so full of great kata and technique. The instructor is a behemoth and clearly knows what he is talking about.