Over the years I’ve had people tell me that the difference between their style and Wado Ryu is that our stances are shorter and we block jodan for shuto uke. Really, that’s decades of development and progress by the original founder to be distilled down to two main visual points. Is that the best that people can offer?

Do those two things even matter? Bad karate is bad karate whatever you do. Everything has to be underpinned by a core of principles, which in many cases are common or not dissimilar. I can see good Goju Ryu, good Shito Ryu, good Shotokan and so on. Not that I am skilled in any other art, but I can see whether someone is unbalanced, whether their timing is out, and whether the execution seems at sorts. I can see people who have room for improvement and I can see people who are just plain bad.

One of the things I see when people make up for shoddy technique and ability, is that they raise the noise levels to distract. Lots of nose snorting, contorted facial expressions, stamping feet, overly long and embarrassingly long kiai when everything that led up to that point has been so disappointing.

Let’s just get on with good karate, whatever style you do. Enable more to happen with your body, don’t stifle yourself, and you are kidding no one with all that huffing and puffing.