Wado-Ryu Karate maintained solidarity until just before founder Hironori Otsuka passed away in 1982.
Once Otsuka Sensei's son took over there were many political and technical problems in America, Europe, and Japan. Many inconsistencies with kata and techniques began to evolve. Tatsuo Suzuki tried to reunite the Wado organizations on several occasions only to have them resume their bickering as soon as he left Japan. Suzuki Sensei's growing dissatisfaction with the way things were proceeding and his realization that his time was limited made him decide to take a different route to preserve Otsuka Sensei's teachings. This was the reason he decided to start his own International Wado-Ryu organization.
In 1989, Jiro changed his name to Hironori Otsuka II, succeeding his father. With differing interpretations and changes taking place on a regular basis, Wado Ryu became a split entity.
The largest divisions that exist today are:
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Organization |
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Headed by Jiro Otsuka and is a private group located in Japan. |
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Headed by Tatsuo Suzuki and is founded in the U.K. |
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Headed by Yoshito Kondo reporting to the All Japan Karate-Do Federation (JKF), which was formed by the Japanese government to oversee and promote Karate-Do. |
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Originally headed by Masaru Shintani and is located primarily in Canada. |
The United States Bonsai Karate Do Federation was originally formed by Sensei Conrad Jones (Godan) and his brother Sensei Keith Jones (Yondan) after they left as senior instructors for David Deaton Karate Studios. When they opened their own schools, they created their own organization.
Deaton at the time was a member of the US Eastern Wado Karate Federation, a national organization founded by Cecil Patterson and controlled by the Wado Ryu Renmei, which is the organization created by Jiro Otsuka (Wado founder Hironori Otsuka's son). The Joneses did not like the restrictions that the federation imposed on students and their families, so they formed their own organization.
Originally, the USBKF included Conrad Jones’s school at the Brentwood YMCA, and Keith Jones’s school in Hendersonville. Soon thereafter, Conrad Jones came to his permanent residence in Grassland/Franklin, and in the mid 90s, he opened up a third school as co-owner with Tim Clark, one of his 2nd Dan students at the time. The new school was in the Nipper’s Corner area of South Nashville.
Mr. Clark funded and was initially the primary instructor for the new school. It was called "Bonsai Karate School" to differentiate it from the "Conrad Jones Karate" schools but to still be in the umbrella of the USBKF as far as techniques and instruction. After a couple of years, Mr. Clark left, and the "Bonsai Karate School" closed due to a property condemnation for the construction of a new Walgreens. At that time, Mr. Jones opened a new "Conrad Jones Karate" school in Brentwood, which the Bonsai students transferred into.
The USBKF currently includes all of the schools operated by Conrad Jones and all of the schools operated by his brother Keith Jones. The president of the organization is Conrad Jones.
