What is Wado-Ryu?

“Wado” means “the way of peace and harmony”; “ryu” means “school”.  Wado-Ryu was founded in 1938 by Hironori Ohtsuka, our first Grandmaster.  Ohtsuka Saiko‑Shihan was already a master of Shindo Yoshin‑Ryu Jiu‑Jitsu when he began to study Karate with Funakoshi Sensei.  Wado-Ryu, the first actual Japanese form of Karate, is thus a development of Okinawan Karate in combination with Japanese Jiu-Jitsu.