Customer Reviews

Wado Ryu Karate/Jujutsu

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

No other book written on the Wado Ryu System compares to this work. Very few books have been written on the system, and those that have are not very well done. To be fair to the other writers on this subject, most were not professional writers as Cody is, or for that matter, even native English speakers.

Cody's book is HUGE compared to other texts. Its 388 pages are laid out in a very space-economical manner. Otsuka and Ogami's books waste a lot of space and their number of pages do not accurately convey how little information is comparatively in them. Both of those books are great and every Wado student needs to read them, but they just don't go into the detail that Cody does.

All the other books on this karate system give one or two sentence explanations of kata moves, whereas Sensei Cody generally writes a paragraph or more, carefully noting compass-point direction of movement, precise description of technique and Japanese terminology.

This book includes the most in-depth history of the system I have ever seen recorded and discusses the philosophy of "The Way of Peace" and of the martial arts in general as only a philosopher like Cody can.

The book includes many Jujutsu techniques and a few "flow drills" to teach sensitivity (something the system lacks good training techniques for). These drills come from Cody's exposure to Filipino Martial Arts.

The book's shortcomings (as some will see them) are the use of stances that are higher than most Wado teachers use. Cody notes that his exposure to jujutsu and weapon systems caused him to elevate kata stance. He explains that he often teaches the kata with much deeper stances to new students. I agree with his reasoning, but I think most Wado students would have liked to see the illustrations of the deeper (shotokan influenced) stances that they are accustomed to.

The book does not cover any of the two-man forms of the Wado System, but given the size of the book, their inclusion would have probably made the book too big and too expensive to purchase. I hope Cody covers these forms in a later book.

This book is essential to the library of anyone who wants to study the history, philosophy and Kata of the Wado Ryu system.

There are very few books on the Wado Ryu system available and there is simply no other Wado Ryu book available that has the information that this book has. Cody explains each form with great detail, describing the proper ways to face and turn. Each photograph is also easy to read and understand. Cody also deeply explains the history of the Wado Ryu system and discusses the philosophy behind it. This book is a must have for any Martial Artist who wishes to study Wado Ryu.

This is a decent and refreshing book about Wado Ryu. It provides for an interesting and realistic reading. I especially liked the author's honesty about the need to carry a weapon, and his pointing it out to the readers that Bruce Lee stuff is dangerous when facing someone with any kind of weapon. Thus, he makes it clear that those concerned with self-defence should as a first choice carry a weapon. That is decent and honourable advice.

As far as Wado Ruy content is concerned, the book focuses on forms, which are essentially the same as Shotokan forms, so the more realistic performance of the forms (shorter stances) is really not so relevant for Wado Ryu, as it does not have its own forms.

One warning: the author provides three principles for the effective implementation of Wado Ryu as a self-defence system, I paraphrase: "Get them bleeding, stope them breathing, cause shock." The latter two are valid, but to "get them to bleed", especially as a first defence principle, is misplaced. A bleeding person is not an incapacitated person, and in fact getting them to bleed might just enrage them enough to take the victim to pieces rather than stopping them. Bleeding is not important for defence. Breathing is, shock is, and disturbance to balance also is, and the author does not mention it here. So, this supposedly "catchy" phrase should be edited slightly.

Another two aspects of Wado Ryu that could and should be included in a future edition of this book: (1) the pre-emptive strike (the strike from normal stance while assuming the sparring stance, the front straight punch), and (2) nagashi zuki, which the author does mention, but does not give it sufficient attention, because it includes the now much-debated "tae sabaki" evasive pivot with the rear leg, and is a signature technique of Wado Ryu that has proven highly effective in competitions (I don't know about the street, don't have much experience there).

So, all in all, you should definitely buy this book. This is good writing, good stuff, and with some editing it could be even better in the next edition.

No other book written on the Wado Ryu System compares to this work. Very few books have been written on the system, and those that have are not very well done. To be fair to the other writers on this subject, most were not professional writers as Cody is, or for that matter, even native English speakers.

Cody's book is HUGE compared to other texts. Its 388 pages are laid out in a very space-economical manner. Otsuka and Ogami's books waste a lot of space and their number of pages do not accurately convey how little information is comparatively in them. Both of those books are great and every Wado student needs to read them, but they just don't go into the detail that Cody does.

All the other books on this karate system give one or two sentence explanations of kata moves, whereas Sensei Cody generally writes a paragraph or more, carefully noting compass-point direction of movement, precise description of technique and Japanese terminology.

This book includes the most in-depth history of the system I have ever seen recorded and discusses the philosophy of "The Way of Peace" and of the martial arts in general as only a philosopher like Cody can.

The book includes many Jujutsu techniques and a few "flow drills" to teach sensitivity (something the system lacks good training techniques for). These drills come from Cody's exposure to Filipino Martial Arts.

The book's shortcomings (as some will see them) are the use of stances that are higher than most Wado teachers use. Cody notes that his exposure to jujutsu and weapon systems caused him to elevate kata stance. He explains that he often teaches the kata with much deeper stances to new students. I agree with his reasoning, but I think most Wado students would have liked to see the illustrations of the deeper (shotokan influenced) stances that they are accustomed to.

The book does not cover any of the two-man forms of the Wado System, but given the size of the book, their inclusion would have probably made the book too big and too expensive to purchase. I hope Cody covers these forms in a later book.

This book is essential to the library of anyone who wants to study the history, philosophy and Kata of the Wado Ryu system.

I agree with other reviewers and the author that there aren't nearly enough books about Wado Ryu. The book is well-written, and the concepts addressed are numerous and important to most martial artists. Mr. Cody is clearly an accomplished and dedicated martial artist.

However, there are some issues with the book. While many concepts are covered, few are covered in any detail. For example, the section on "Methods of Body Shifting" is one page long containing six Japanese words and their definitions. The section on "Timing" is one page. The section on "Fighting Strategy" is two pages. Each contain little more than a few terms with definitions.

The majority of the book is devoted to the Kata of Wado Ryu (pg. 87 - 312). While I appreciate the great care that Mr. Cody took with this section, it also is somewhat disappointing. On the positive side, the photographs are numerous and make following the text descriptions easy. This section could be a great benefit to students of Wado Ryu as a reference to supplement their in-class instruction as they are learning a new kata. As the author acknowledges, his stances are not as deep as most Wado schools would practice them, but this is a reasonable explanation.

However, the photographs do not always depict good technique. Please understand that I do not expect perfection from any martial artist...no one performs every movement (arguably, *any* movement) in a kata perfectly. However, one benefit of photographs is that each movement can be re-shot until a good picture is captured, but Mr. Cody appears not to have done this. In nearly all of the stances that Mr. Cody describes as side-facing, the photos show the stance as half side-facing. The kicks that are described as chudan level in the kata are shown in the photos as being below the belt.

The author provides a paragraph or so explanation of the performance of each movement with compass directions. This is particularly valuable in the explanation of kata beyond Chinto (Niseishi, Wanshu, Bassai, Jion, Jutte, and Rohai) as there is very little written about the Wado interpretations of these kata. (Master Otsuka's master text is published in English and provides an explanation of the performance of kata through Chinto.) The most disappointing aspect of the coverage of kata is the lack of explanation of bunkai or application of the movements of the kata. There are a few in the book, but very few.

Overall, the coverage of the book is broad but shallow. Most of the concepts that are covered by Wado Ryu karate are addressed in this book. However, most of them are covered only in the detail that you would expect when the topic is first introduced to a student -- not any in-depth coverage. Even the coverage of the kata is shallow, like you would expect the first time an instructor shows you a new kata. If you want a shallow book that introduces many concepts then this one is well-written and pretty comprehensive. However, if you want a book with deep coverage that you can study at length, then you will have to look elsewhere.