“Founder of Japanese Wado Ryu Karate” Please check out our web site over 3300 items listed.
Hironori Otsuka 1892 – 1982
“Founder of Japanese Wado
Ryu Karate”
Hironori Ōtsuka was a Japanese master of karate who created the Wadō-ryū style of karate. Grandmaster Otsuka held the rank of 10th Dan Karate.
Otsuka was born in Shimodate, Japan. At the age of five, he began training
in jujitsu under his great-uncle, Chojiro Ibashi (a samurai).Ōtsuka's father took over
his martial arts education in 1897. At the age of 13, Ōtsuka became the student of
Shinzaburo Nakayama in Shindō Yōshin-ryū
jujutsu. In 1911 while at Yaseda
University, Tokyo, he trained in various jujutsu schools. He withdrew from his
studies when his father died.
On June 1, 1921, Ōtsuka received the menkyo kaiden (certificate of mastery and license to teach) in Shindō Yōshin-ryū jujutsu, and became the fourth master of that school. In 1922, he began training in Shotokan karate under Gichin Funakoshi, who was a new arrival in Japan. In 1927, he also established a medical practice specializing in treating martial arts training injuries.
By 1928, Ōtsuka was an assistant instructor in
Funakoshi's school. He also trained under Chōki Motobu and Kenwa Mabuni, and studied kobodu around this
time. Ōtsuka began to have philosophical disagreements with Funakoshi,
and the two men parted ways in the early 1930s.This may have
happened when Motobu emphasized the necessity
of free application, and created a series of two-person kumite called 
yakusoku kumite. Funakoshi
was more interested in kata practice.
On April 1, 1934, Ōtsuka opened his own karate school as the Dai Nippon Karate Shinbu Kai, in Kanda, Tokyo, blending Shotokan
karate with his knowledge of Shindō Yōshin-ryū jujutsu to form Wadō-ryū karate. With recognition of his style as an independent karate style, Ōtsuka became a full-time instructor.
In 1940, his style was registered at the Butokukai, Kyoto, and it has become one of the four major styles of Japanese karate, together with Shotokan, Shito-ryu, and Goju-ryu.
Following World War II,
the practice of martial arts in Japan was banned. After a few years, the ban
was lifted. Through the 1950s, Ōtsuka held various karate
competitions. In 1952 he opened the
Wado-ryu Headquarters Dojo in Tsukji, Tokyo.
In April, 1966, the Emperor of Japan awarded Otsuka The Order of the Rising Sun, Fifth Class. The Emperor later awarded him the Soko Kyokujitsu-Sho medal for his contributions to Karate.
In the next few years, Otsuka wrote two books on Karate: Karate Do-Vol. 1 focussed on kata, Vol 2 focussed on kumite. In 1969, he became the 1st Vice-Chair of the Japan Karatedo Federation. On October 9, 1972 the International Martial Arts Federation awarded him the title of Shodai Karate-do Meijin Judan (1st generation Karate Master 10th Dan), the first time this honour had been bestowed on a karate practitioner.
Ōtsuka continued to teach and lead Wadō-ryū karate into the 1980s. He died on January 29, 1982. “The karateka should always hold true three vital elements: the heart, spirit and physical strength.”