CLUB HISTORY
Professor Tatsuo Suzuki was born in Yokohama in 1928 and became interested in Karate at the age of fourteen. He was taught by Professor Hironori Ohtsuka, the founder of the Wado-Ryu Karate. Within six years of beginning his study of Karate, Professor Suzuki was awarded his third Dan. In 1951 he was awarded the then highest grade in Wado-Ryu style Karate - fifth Dan - for his outstanding courage and ability. In addition to his accomplishments in Karate, Professor Suzuki is a 2nd Dan in Tenshin Koryu Bo-Jitsu (stick fighting) and a 1st Dan in Judo. He has also studied Zen doctrine with the high priests, the late Genpo Yamamoto and Soyen Nakagawa. In 1975 he received his eighth Dan, the highest grade ever given by the Federation of All-Japan Karate-Do organisations, Wado-Kai. In that year he also received the highest Japanese martial arts title of 'Hanshi' awarded to him by an uncle of the Emperor Higashikuni. Professor Suzuki is the only living person with this title in Wado-Ryu. The only other person was the late Professor Ohtsuka. Suzuki Hanshi is now the chief director for the Wado International Karate-do Federation with thirty-five member countries.
.jpg)
Professor Tatsuo Suzuki
Sensei Tom Kehoe Studied with Professor Suzuki in London in the mid 1960's before returning to his native Ireland and setting up a series of Wado-Ryu karate clubs in Dublin, Waterford and Carlow. Sensei Kehoe started the Carlow Karate Club in 1973. Early members of the club were Sensei Jimmy Byrne, Sensei Colin Keating, Sensei Brian Whelan, Sensei Patsy Whelan, Sensei Ger Shaw, Ger Farrell, Jimmy Moore, Deirdre Murphy and Maureen (Bolger) Seitz.
Sensei Patsy Whelan being one of the original studensts of Sensei Kehoe was asked to take over the running of the Carlow Karate Club in 1988 when Sensei Kehoe emmigrated from Ireland. A role which Sensei Patsy has honourably discharged with great success. Under his guidance and leadership the club has developped and grown to its present stage. The club has won many national and international achievements and even has a few world medalists in its ranks. The club is growing very quickly with membership numbers increasing rapidily. This is due to the leadership of Sensei Patsy Whelan but also due to the club committee who work behind the scenes. Without this combination the club would not exist.
The Development of Wado Ryu
In the beginning:
The arrival of the learned Indian buddhist monk Bodidharma at the Shaolin Temple marks the beginning of Shaolin Kung Fu. Born in 483 A.D., the third son of a brahman king of the Sardili clan, well educated according to his time, he was proficient in the arts, politics, sutras and warfare. He was not quite thirty when he left the princely comforts to dedicate his life to attaining enlightenment.Having become a reputable monk, he went to China to propagate the teachings of Buddha as had done many of his Indian predecessors during the era of the Three Kingdoms. Welcomed at the Kuan Temple in the province of Guangdong (Canton) toward 527 A.D., the Governor of Guangdzou recommended Bodidharma, alias Tamo, to Emperor Liang Wu. Legend reports that the Emperor did not appreciate Tamo's discourse, making but a brief stay in Nanking. So, he headed for Luoyang, his pilgrimage ending at the Shaolin monastery, a few kilometers away from the capital. As he had taught Chan Buddhism (more commonly known as the Japanese Zen) for several years, Bodidharma established that the very poor health condition the monks were in, would not allow them to raise their consciousness and attain enlightenment. Their life style emphasized meditation at the expense of the physical body. Concerned, he withdrew to a cave and meditated for several years. As legend tells it, these nine years of isolation gave him the inspiration for the three books which are still considered as the most ancient proof of a systematic body of knowledge of the martial arts in China.
In later times, after the teaching of the method originally proposed by Bodidharma spread to many other places, it came to bear the name of its origin and was called Shaolin Kung-fu (or Shorinji Kempo). It was this method that eventually reached the Okinawan Islands, through shipwrecked Chinese sailors and developed into the forerunner of present-day Karate.(Originally the Okinawans called Kara-Te Chinese Hand)
Karate goes to Japan:
Gichin Funakoshi was born in 1868 at the beginning of a period of considerable change throughout Japan. The reigns of power transferred from the Shogun back to the Emperor, modernization and social change became the order of the day. Because Funakoshi reached adulthood during this turbulent era, he had great opportunity to witness changes within society. The clandestine practice of karate persisted through the early years of Meiji. This would change and karate was about to come into the light. It didn't take long before many prominent and influential members of society took notice of karate and its virtues. This departure from secrecy to open contribution to society should be viewed in the context of social changes brought on by the Meiji Period. Karate was being changed from merely a fighting art to an art which improves human beings through rigorous and challenging endeavor.
The value of karate as a means of self-improvement was a key point which Funakoshi became expert at describing when lecturing about karate. He stated that karate "should be simple enough to be practiced without undue difficulty by everybody, young and old, boys and girls, men and women." "Karate-do is not merely a sport that teaches how to strike and kick; it is also a defense against illness and disease." Because of this way of viewing the value of karate, it began to make the all-important transition from JUTSU (technique) to DO (way).
Funakoshi's forsight was in his appreciation of different styles of martial art. Azato demonstrated an open mind toward other martial arts by encouraging Funakoshi to study them also. There was considerable rivalry between some of the schools of karate, with some claiming superiority due to their Chinese influence (ch'uan fa) and others claiming superiority because of their Okinawan heritage (tode). Funakoshi looked at them all equally. Given the open minds of his two primary instructors, Azato and Itosu, Funakoshi was in an ideal position to appreciate the strong points of the various styles of karate. He had been exposed to the different styles of the two masters, Shorei through Azato and Shorin through Itosu, and had trained with many of the other prominent Okinawan karate masters of the day. Funakoshi had become the most eclectic karateka of his day.
Karate was to undergo an important transition during the Meiji Period. It was time to evolve away from its secretive and lethal
past and move into a new phase of public interest and contribution to society. The commissioner of public schools, Shintaro Ogawa, strongly recommended in a report to the Japanese Ministry of Education that the physical education programs of the normal schools and the First Public High School of Okinawa Prefecture include karate as part of their training. This recommendation was accepted and initiated by these schools in 1902. So began a long, fruitful, and continuing relationship with the educational system. Funakoshi recalls that this was the first time that karate was introduced to the general public. Thereafter, karate was successfully incorporated into the Okinawan school system. Funakoshi performed the task of primary spokesman for Okinawan karate with the capability of a seasoned diplomat.
Some years later, Captain Yashiro visited Okinawa and saw a karate demonstration by Funakoshi's primary school pupils. He was so impressed that he issued orders for his crew to witness and learn karate. Then, in 1912, the Imperial Navy's First Fleet, under the command of Admiral Dewa, visited Okinawa. About a dozen members of the crew stayed for a week to study karate. Yashiro and Dewa were thus responsible for the first military exposure to karate and brought favorable word of this new martial art back to Japan.
In 1921, the crown prince Hirohito visited Okinawa. Captain Kanna, an Okinawan by birth and commander of the destroyer on which the crown prince was traveling, suggested that the prince observe a karate demonstration. Funakoshi was in charge of the demonstration. This was a great honor for Funakoshi. It was the Japan Department of Education which, in late 1921, invited Funakoshi to participate in a demonstration of ancient Japanese martial arts. With significant assistance from Hoan Kosugi, the famous Japanese painter, Funakoshi published the first book about karate, Ryukyu Kempo: Karate.
This book was forwarded to prominent citizens.
Soon, Funakoshi was balancing his time between early university clubs (such as Keio and Takushoku), a main dojo, and speaking and demonstration requests. He was approachin 60 and was introducing karate to Japan!
Funakoshi's background as an educator was helpful for presenting ideas in concise and systematic fashion. Funakoshi pioneered the organization of karate instruction into three fundamental categories of practice: kihon, kata, and kumite. In fact, practice of kumite was rather new and aroused great enthusiasm among the young university students. Competition between university karate clubs helped fuel the interest in kumite and the popularity of karate.
In 1935 supporters gathered sufficient funds to construct the first karate dojo in Japan and in 1936 it was dedicated as the Shoto-kan. With the acceptance of karate by other established martial arts and with a growing number of dedicated students, the introduction and popularization of karate in Japan was now well underway.
Origin of Wado-Ryu (Style of the Way of Peace):
The founder of Wado Ryu Karate, Hironori OHTSUKA was born in 1892. His father Dr. Tokujiro OHTSUKA operated a clinic at their home in Shimodate, Ibaraki prefecture. His mother's uncle, Chojiro EBASHI was a samurai warrior who kept the young OHTSUKA spellbound with tales of exciting samurai adventure.
In 1898, when only six years old, Hirinori OHTSUKA began practising Ju Jitsu under the tutelage of his father. By the age of 13 he was a young shave tall in the Shinto Yoshin school of Ju Jitsu studying under Yukiyoshi Tatsuoburo NAKAYAMA. Where as most Ju Jitsu schools specialised in naga waza ( throwing and ground or striking techniques), the Shinto Yoshin Ryu stressed atemi striking and kicking.He continued his studies Master Nakayama for 16 years. At age 29, he was presented a certificate of "full proficiency" by Master Nakayama, and accepted the mastership of the Shinto-Yoshin school of ju-jitsu.
At 19 he entered the Waseda University and while majoring in business administration he started training in atemi style kempo in addition to his regular training in Shinto Yoshin Ryu.
In 1922 OHTSUKA Sensei went to Tokyo after hearing about an Okinawan named Gichin FUNAKOSHI who on invitation from the Crown Prince had travelled to Tokyo to perform his local martial art before the Emperor of Japan. This new art was called karate.
OHTSUKA Sensei wasted no time in introducing himself to the karate master who welcomed him warmly. This was to be the start of a long and close friendship between the two. OHTSUKA Sensei trained virtually every night at the Meishojuko Dojo and from that moment on, ideas on how to adapt his atemi techniques to karate were constantly on his mind.
In 1927 OHTSUKA Sensei began working as a medical specialist treating persons injured in the martial arts. He continued his karate training and two years later he organised the first school karate club at the Tokyo University. He launched a study into a method of arranging kumite (free style fighting) into competitive matches, laying the basis for the present kumite style matches.
After 1930 OHTSUKA Sensei set up a string of karate clubs at various universities in Tokyo. In 1934 he officially inaugurated his own unique style of karate which he called karate promotion club. It was not until 1940 that OHTSUKA Sensei final devised the name of our style, WADO RYU, meaning "Way of Peace," or "Way of Harmony." The name Wado-Kai is interchangeable (kai, meaning organization or club). In keeping with this concept, he chose the dove encircling the fist as the symbol of his style representing that peace contains strength. Master Otsuka believed that someone who possesses genuine inner strength (self confidence and conviction) cannot easily be provoked to violence, and therefore will live in harmony with others.
Sadly OHTSUKA Sensei passed away in 1982, however his techniques and his legacy lives on worldwide through the schools and the clubs which bear his crest.
|
.jpg', '317', '480'))