Hironori Ohtsuka I (Grand Master, 10th Dan Meijin, 1892 - 1982)

(Source: The Programme for the "2005 International Wado-Ryu Karate-Do Championships" held on 17th September 2005 at the Rivermead Leisure Complex, Reading, England)

Hironori Ohtsuka was born on June 1st, 1892 in the Shimodate Ibaragi prefecture.

On April 1st, 1897, at the age of 6 years old, he began to study Jujitsu under Shinzaburo Nakayama who was Master of the Shinto Yoshin Ryu school of Jujitsu.

At the age of 29 (June 1920), he had mastered this style of Jujitsu to such an extent that he took the licence of the highest degree of the school which then allowed him to succeed his master's position and become the Fourth succeeding master of Shinto Yoshin Ryu Jujitsu.

In July 1922 he began to study Okinawan Tode (now known as Karate).

In May 1934, at the age of 43, he founded Wado-Ryu Karate Jitsu and Wado-Ryu Karate Jujitsu Kempo; merging the superb features of Okinawan Karate into the traditional stream of jujitsu styles in addition to his own creation.

On April 29th 1966, the Emperor of Japan gave Ohtsuka the rank of "Kun Go To" and decorated him with the "Soko Kyokujitsu Sho" Medal for his effort to spread the practice of Karate-Do.

On October 9th 1972, the International Martial Arts Federation (IMAF), headed by Higashikuni (the cousin of the Emperor), certified Ohtsuka as the first excellent Martial Artist of 10th Dan in Karate-Do. This is the same status as that enjoyed by Kyuzo Mifune in Judo and Hakudo Nakayama in Kendo.

(Article from the above Source (The Programme for the "2005 International Wado-Ryu Karate-Do Championships") written by Grand Master Ohtsuka I entitled "Jujitsu and Karate in Wado-Ryu")

"Karate is a martial art created in Okinawa and was called Tode. The Satsuma clan made Okinawa their subject province and prohibited Okinawan's to use weapons even for private training. So they created the teach yourself system of Karate through Kata."

"From June 1922 or so, Okinawan's living in Tokyo and Osaka started to make Karate more popular. I had poor health during my pre-school age and from the age of six years old I started to train in the martial arts until the eighty eight years I am at present. I began the training of Jujitsu at the school of Chojiro Ehashi, the official instructor of the martial arts at Tsuchiura Clan, who was my mother's uncle. I heartily thank the Samurai style of education, which is both gentle and strict. I also thank the close guidance of my mother; without her I would not be what I am now."

"In 1910, when I was eighteen years old I came to Tokyo and lived in the dormitory of Waseda University. I continued to train at various dojos in Tokjo. On my 29th birthday, Master Tatusaburo Yukiyoshi Nakayama allowed me to know the deepest doctrines technique of Shinto Yoshinryu Jujitsu and to which I succeeded the position of the 4th Grand Master today."

"As Tode (Karate) became increasingly popular after 1921, I then began to study this art. I concentrated on making it a genuine Japanese martial art by taking it's merits into Jujitsu Kempo and throwing away it's demerits. Kumite Gyakunage, Idori, Tachiai, Tanto Dori and Shinken Shiraha Dori were created through this process. In 1929 or 1930, the Japan Society of Ancient Martial Arts was established. Our school participated in this establishment as Wado-Ryu Karate-Do. This was the first case of a Karate school having it's own name."

"The Martial Arts Festival was held at the Butokuden in Tokyo every year for the purpose of promoting the Japanese Martial Arts. The festival in 1938 focussed on the originator of each school, but Karate's originator had not yet been identified. So, I then identified Shiro Yoshitokai Akiyama, the originator of Shinto Yoshin Ryu, with that of the Karate style which had been organised by myself. Thus, the name of Shinsu Wado-Ryu Karate Jitsu was born."

"In those days, I used my house in Kashiwagi, Shinjuku like the training place I had at dojo in Tokyo. I trained the students of Eto (Meiji University), Kawakami (Meiji University), Kihara (Tokyo Agriculture University), Hirakawa (Ryikyo University), Lee (Chuou University) and Shimizu (Japan Dental College). When I talked on the naming of the first original name of a Karate school in Japan with my students. It was Kihara who told the name to the board of the festival. After the festival, Master Gihachiro Kubo (the successor of Yagyu Shinkage Ryu in Tosa Clan) advised me that either "Shinshu" or "Wa" stood for Japan, so to simplify it they named it "Wado-Ryu"."

Grand Master Hironori Ohtsuka I