Recommended Reading

Below are some books that have been recomended by our instructors and members. If you would like to suggest a book please contact us with the title, author and a brief reason why you would recomend it.

Wado Journal
Wado Journal was published from 2000 - 2003, a total of six issues in all. Although the print run was rather small, it was distributed to readers from all over the world. Issue #1 is completely sold out now but originals of issues 2 - 6 are still available.

A summary of their contents is given on the link above. As well as the articles and interviews there are many photographs including early and rare pictures of Hironori Otsuka from Japanese sources.

Recommended by: Rob

SKW Grading Syllabus
An essential booklet for all those training under England Wado Kai. Contains all the grading details from 8th to 1st Kyu and lots of other useful information.

The 2011 edition includes details for Ohyo Kumite and Kihon Gumite techniques.

Recommended by: Sensei Wilkinson

Karate Katas of Wadoryu by Shingo Ohgami
This covers the five Pinan Katas, along with Kushanku, Naifanchi, Seishan, and Chinto, and explains in detail the required stances, moves and some applications.

Recommended by: Rob

Introduction to Karate by Shingo Ohgami
This is a good book for all Karate beginners and as a reference book for the more experienced. The book covers the history of Karate, warming up, stretching, stances, striking, kicking, blocking, in fact everything except for Kata, which is covered by the book above.

Recommended by: Rob

Sport Stretch: 311 Stretches for 41 Sports by Michael J. Alter
This book on stretching is very useful to those who do martial arts. The 311 stretches cover just about everything, but its the theories behind stretching and flexibility that are partucluarly useful. The book gives you an insight into how to increase your flexibility, which is central to martial artists who want to kick with perfection. It also outlines the benefits of flexibility, which are increased power and speed.

Recommended by: Rob

Angry White Pyjamas by Robert Twigger
This book is the story of a poet from Oxford Univertity living in Japan who has just realised that at 30 he wasn't fit and he wasn't brave.

Not knowing his fist from his elbow he joins the Yoshinkan Aikido Hombu Dojo and enrols on their year-long, brutally demanding Senshusei course of budo training - specially designed for the Tokyo Riot Police.

This book is the fascinating account of his journey from White to Black belt and is a fantastic read (especially before a grading!). The book is also a brilliant and captivating insight into the bizarre nature of contemporary Japan.

Recommended by: Rob

Wadoryu Karatedo by Roberto Danubio
In this Wado Ryu Karate manual you will find a unique and comprehensive collection of all the techniques, Katas and partner exercises of Wado Ryu Karate.

With 352 pages and over 1400 color photos, this book is the a complete and comprehensive reference manual on the techniques of Wado Karate.

Sensei Wilkinson has reccomended this new publication, as
there are so few quality books on Wado Karate available and he hopes this will address the imbalance.

Recommended by: Sensei Wilkinson & Rob

Conversations with karate masters by Clive Layton
This book contains interviews and conversations with many of karate's great modern masters from the five predominant karate styles:

• Mitsusuku Harada (Shotokai)
• Masafumi Shiomitsu (Wado-Ryu)
• Keinosuke Enoeda (Shotokan)
• Stephen Arneil (Kyokushinkai)
• Morio Higaonna (Guju-Ryu).

Interspersed with plenty of black & white pictures, this book is a great read for anyone interested in karate regardless of the style you practice.

Recommended by: Rob

Kata The Folk Dances of Shotokan by Rob Redmond
The contents of the book are quite a few chapters which follow Karate kata development from China to Okinawa, and then from Okinawa to Japan.

Kata of the major schools of thought are analyzed for their differences, and conventional wisdom is challenged as to how they evolved and why. Following are the twenty three points for excellent kata performance.

The second part of the book contains text descriptions of each of the kata with advice on how to perform some of the more challenging movements better.

Although this is a Shotokan book by name, the history of the Katas is relevant to all karate practitioners as is the reasoning to why we do them.

Kata The Folk Dances of Shotokan is now available from the Author's site FREE as a PDF file. If you enjoy it, a copy of the hardback edition is available.

Recommended by: Rob

Bunkai-Jutsu: The Practical Application of Karate Kata by Iain Abernethy
Bunkai-Jutsu is the analysis of the karate katas and their application in real combat. It is also the title of this book by Iain Abernethy.

Bunkai-Jutsu provides the reader with the information they need to unlock the secrets of kata and to begin practising karate as the complete and realistic combat art that it was intended to be. This groundbreaking and often controversial book provides a detailed analysis of the combative concepts and principles upon which the katas are based.

Although strictly speaking we do not practice Bunkai in Wado, this book is nonetheless a very interesting read.

Recommended by: Rob

Wado Ryu Karate: Hironori Otsuka
Written by the founder of Wado Ryu Karate, Hironori Otsuka, this book is an exact translation from the master's text, which was written in 1977.

This is a book for serious Wado practitioners everywhere.

Recommended by: Rob