I do, though having not practiced in any other styles I cant give you a super precise in depth analysis, but im pretty sure its less rigid than some other styles, the stances are higher I think though to be honest there arent HUGE differences between most of the mainstream styles. I hope someone else can give you a clearer picture.
Wado Ryu is very similar to Shotokan. The techniques are all pretty much the same, though the names are occasionally different and the Pinan//Heian kata likewise have only a few differences in them. The major differences that I've personally seen are that Wado Ryu involves a lot more sideways motion, especially seen in the practice of the Kihons which as far as a I know are unique to this style. I've also never seen anyone perform the Tobikomizuki or Nagashizuki techniques in my Shotokan class.
Wado-Ryu is effectively a more competition version of shotokan. However I would warn you about some dojos. The dojo I went to was brilliant BUT they use VERY zelous point stop scoring. By the time you get to black you will have a wealth of knowledge for takdowns, sweeps, combos, specialist strikes, elbows, everything BUT you wont be able to use any of it. This is why I am switching. Because of the scoring system the dojos often use and because thye do less sparring more contest you only really use punches, kicks and blocks, nothing more. So all you have learnt up to black is basically useless because you never practice it in the fighitng. My 00.02
That's a bit harsh. Wado Ryu is one of the "big three" of Japanese karate (the others being Shotokan and Go Ju Ryu) and is based on the same principals as shotokan but mixed with jiu-jitsu. It has more of the direct movements of shotokan but with the swifter footwork of Go Ju Ryu and should, taught correctly, have more by way of joint locks than the other two styles.
I always thought Shotokan was the first style started by funakoshi, then Ohtsuka one of his students founded wado-ryu, which was a less rigid and then goju had things like blocks reinforced with the other hand which neither of the other two has as far as I know, they also do more conditioning dont they???
The sensei determines the atmosphere. I encourage my sensei to take on a more technical, practical approach. He was aware of the ever growing effectiveness of Muay Thai and BJJ (via K1 ), and he wanted his dojo to keep up. He isn't a very traditional man. I don't know how it is in Europe or North America. My suggestion is, Wado-Ryu is very good - as far as I know - for developing more snap power and quickness. Take it, get good at it, and then expand to other MA's. I won't lie. Few dojo's ever practice proper application (actually learning to take a hit, frequently). There are some, but I found the norm is of a more contest based teaching style. If you want to truly learn to defend yourself, learn the skill required in traditional martial arts, but learn how to apply it, and how to cope with, most of all, PAIN, by taking a more modern art, like MT, boxing, or San Shou.
I think Funakoshi was the first teacher to teach karate in mainland Japan. His teachings then evolved into something we call shotokan, but the style has went through some radical changes. The founder of wado-ryu had good backround on Japanese martial arts before he received instruction from Funakoshi. Wado-ryu has techniques from ju-jutsu and is influenced by Japanese swordmanship in some defensive techniques. I don't know much about Goju-ryu bit people seem to believe that Japanese and Okinawan Goju-ryu styles are very different.
I trained in wado for a while. It's similar to other karate styles. The stances are shorter though. Supposedly, the style was modified by otsukha hironori to include some CMA standup grappling. The problem being that karate competitions don't allow standup grappling, so most classes don't cover it.
There are so many karate styles around that it is really hard to say what a generic karate is. There are very traditional Okinawan styles that are really different from traditional Japanese styles. There are Japanese styles that do not follow traditional Japanese ways of how to practice karate. Styles developed outside Japan or Okinawa. Some are even focused on self-defense while other are only interested in sport. Stances in Wado-ryu are more natural, but not as natural as they are in some Okinawan styles. And even that depends on the teacher. And there are different Wado-ryu karate associations which makes it even more confusing. So even Wado-ryu is not an united style with similar techniques all over the world. Othsuka Hironori mixed what he had learned from toudi masters with Shindo Yoshinryu ju jutsu. All traditional Okinawan styles included grappling. Karate competitions are usually pretty silly. I would be happy if they could change the rules a bit.
Actually it is, Ohtsuka's instruction in Karate was from Funakoshi, the founder of what would later become Shotokan, while they've both developed differently over time they are both still very similar. That's why I was so frustrated that as a 5th kyu Wado student I had to start again as a white belt at this Shotokan class. I can see why it had to be like that and I've never argued the toss but it was frustrating 'cos I could already do the Shotokan syllabus as I'd been taught it already at my Wado class. As for similarities with ****o-Ryu, I'll gladly bow to your superior knowledge on that subject as I have no experience of ****o-Ryu Karate...
OK- but when I think of karate, I think 'shotokan' more than anything else. p.s. sport and self defence training are one and the same thing- or should be
Do some homework about the history and its techniques. Furthermore, this is what Shihan Ishikawa 8th dan told me.