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Title: Essentials of Wado-Ryu Karate by Chris Thompson ISBN: 0-901764-96-5 Publisher: Talman Co Pub. Date: April, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95

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Average Customer Rating: 3 (6 reviews)

Rating: 2
Summary: Dishonest and Inadequate
Comment: Dishonest- Thompson states the pinan katas he's using are close to the original ones practised by Master Itosu. Anyone who knows a little bit about what the Okinawan pinans look like, will tell you this is false. Thompson still uses the Wado versions of pinan shodan, yondan and godan but his versions of pinan nidan and sandan resemble shotokan moves.

Inadequate- For example, how he describes the cat stance. In the book he states the weight distribution should be 60% back leg but the picture shows Thompson doing a different type of cat stance. In Wado, there's side-viewing cat stance and normal cat stance, but the reader would never know that because the book doesn't state the difference.

Rating: 2
Summary: Title is misleading -- the emphasis is on a Wado derivative
Comment: I was fairly disappointed in this book. I was expecting a basic instructional book on Wado-Ryu Karate. The book does a good job of explaining some of the historical development of the Wado Ryu style. However, the title of the book is somewhat misleading. The style that the author teaches is not Wado-Ryu, but rather is Washinkai, which is based on Wado-Ryu.
The Pinan katas emphasized in the book are not the Wado-Ryu versions. The author acknowledges that Master Ohtsuka adapted the Pinan katas developed by Anko Itosu into the Pinan katas taught in Wado-Ryu. However, the author then emphasizes the original Okinawan forms developed by Itosu. While this may be interesting in understanding the historical development of Wado-Ryu, it is of little practical value to students looking for Wado-Ryu instruction. The actual Wado-Ryu versions of these katas are basically left to an appendix.
If you are a beginning to intermediate student looking to supplement your instruction in Wado-Ryu, then save your money and don't buy this book -- it will only confuse you. Trying to figure out which parts of the book coincide with the teaching of Wado-Ryu and which are peculiar to Washinkai will only serve to muddy the water. If you are an advanced student interested in exploring the history and development of Wado-Ryu, then this book may be useful.

Rating: 4
Summary: I trained under this man
Comment: Having trained under Chris Thompson, I can say that the book is an accurate portrayal of good traditional wado ryu Karate. Washinkia karate is almost 100% wado ryu.