This area will develop into a place for members of our club.

Club members can also join in the Unofficial Wado Academy Members Forum at wado.karateforum.com. This is an internet portal specifically to cater for the needs of the UK and European members of the Wado Academy.

Kata: It is widely accepted that the Pinan kata were devised and introduced by Anko Itosu (1813-1915) into the karate mainstream after 1902 via the Okinawan School District karate program. It is likely that the 5 pinan kata were derived from his knowledge of Kushanku and Passai. They were primarily devised as a "safer" form of practise for school children and introducing karate as part of the cirriculum. Ohtsuka Sensei's practice of Pinan kata has come from his training with Gichin Funakoshi and Kenwa Mabuni, and now embody his unique Wado principles.

Wado Ryu Kata
Here is a sample walkthrough of a kata : Wado Ryu Pinan Shodan

This is some footage (9.5Mb) of Seishan and Chinto kata taken from the International Wado Ryu Karate championships in Reading. You may download this file but you do not have any permission to host elsewhere. As a performance, there were some mistakes which meant narrowly missing the kata final by one place, so don't take this as instructional at all.

There is an excellent essay on the kata Naihanchi from Tim Shaw's (Chelmsford Wado Ryu) web site. The link is <Wado Ryu Naihanchi kata by Tim Shaw>. It discusses some of the history around the kata and examines the kata and the principles from a Wado Ryu karate perspective.

Wado Ryu Ippon Kumite
These are pre-arranged training drills, performed with a partner, designed to develop co-ordination and your reactions to attacks. They involve important aspects such as body shifting, deflecting attacks, changing the angle of your response to best advantage, unbalancing and controlling the attacker and general awareness of the situation. A sample of Wado Ryu Ippon Kumite number 1 is provided. These specific drills are only practised within the Wado Academy clubs.

Wado Ryu Kumite Gata
Kumite Gata are a set of pre-arranged fighting combinations done with a partner. They build upon the same principles as the ippon kumite but from more of a face to face fighting attitude. The elements of Wado Ryu I feel are total embodied within these kumite routines alongside those of the Kihon Kumite as well. A short demonstration of some of these pairworks can be found on the Kumite Gata demo page.

Other Items
I have also posted an interview with Harry Cook (7th Dan Shotokan/Goju Ryu and karate historian and writer) on karateforum.com in the past which covers a background to his own training and the student karate scene in the 70's and 80's. The article is here: Harry Cook Interview and was carried out back in the 80s.

International Wado Ryu Championships Trailers
These short samples have been taken from the championships that were held during September 2005 in Reading. This was an excellent tournament which celebrated Sensei Shiomitsu's 40 years of teaching karate in Europe.

Wado Ryu Kata Trailer (.wmv file 7Mb approx)
Kumite Trailer (.mwv file 3.5Mb approx)