ST. MARTINS JUNIOR KARATE CLUB,

          LANCASTER

+

3+

KARATE HISTORY

On the first day of July in 1892, the founder of Wado Ryu Karate, Hironori Ohtsuka, was born in Japan.

In 1898 Ohtsuka began training in Jiu-jitsu under his father at the age of just 6years old. Although most styles of Jiu-jitsu specialised in throwing and grappling techniques, the style that Ohtsuka studied also emphasised striking and kicking techniques. This was a big influence of the style of Karate he was to found later in his life.

Ohtsuka entered a major Japanese University in 1911 to study business administration. It was there he was introduced to Kempo and continued his studies of Jiu-jitsu. Unfortunately Ohtsuka's father died 2 years later which meant Ohtsuka had to withdraw, and went onto work in a bank, never returning to complete his final year.

On his 29th Birthday, 1st July 1921, Ohtsuka had progressed far in his Jiu-jitsu, taking charge of the style he had been training in since he was 6. Although it was around this time the style changed and became less traditional, as Ohtsuka began developing his own style. His original Jiu-jitsu is no longer practised in any wide spread areas. The closest version is Tenjin Shinyo Ryu Jiu-jitsu.

In 1992, there was an article in a newspaper. The article said that Crown Prince Hiroshito had visited Okinawa were he was entertained by dancing and a demonstration of Shuri-te style Tode (not yet known as Karate). The article also mentioned Funakoshi Gichin, who was to demonstrate the local martial art in Tokyo.

It was only four years later when Ohtsuka became Gichin's assistant instructor, travelling together spreading Karate through Japan. Disaster struck Japan in 1923 in the form of an earthquake, many changes followed. One such change was that the old schools of Jiu-jitsu became less popular and new style martial arts such as Judo, Aikido and Karate began to gather more and more interest from the public. At this stage Ohtsuka all but gave up on his Jiu-jitsu roots and concentrated on helping Gichin spread Karate.

In 1924 Ohtsuka was recognised by Gichin, and was given his black belt in Karate, making one of the first Japanese to achieve this award.

1927 was a pivotal point in Ohtsuka's life. He stopped working in the bank, and started studying traditional medicine, with an emphasis on martial arts injuries. This enabled him to also concentrate on Karate. He continued training and two years later he organised his first school at Tokyo University. But more importantly he started introducing free style fighting into competitive matches.

Ohtsuka was a student of Gichin's for over ten years but after 1930 Ohtsuka was more and more by himself. Faced with the fact that Kata was not working in sparring, Ohtsuka started to blend Jiu-jitsu with karate to find techniques to work, he often worked by himself or with other for 6 or more hours a day.

Gichin and Ohtsuka were drifting apart due to Ohtsuka's bright new way of teaching and his introduction of pre arranged fighting techniques and sparring. Gichin believed that the traditional basics and Kata were enough. It is here that many believe the modern day competitions can be traced back to.

From here Ohtsuka developed his own style: Wado Ryu.