Wado-ryu is a system of Japanese karate. There are many similarities with other styles of karate, but there are some differences that are important.

Many would argue that Wado-ryu is a Jujutsu style rather than Okinawan Karate, in fact when it was first registered with the Japanese Butokukai in 1939 the style was called Shinshu Wadoryu Karate-Jutsu, a name that reflects it’s “mixed origin” nature of Wado.

Wado-ryu's founder Hironori Ohtsuka was a renowned grandmaster in Shindo Yoshin Ryu Jujutsu; he met karate master Funakoshi and received tutelage from him and also later from karate masters Mabuni and Motobu.  With his broadened outlook on the arts he set off to merge Shindo Yoshin Ryu with Okinawan Karate, which resulted in Wado-ryu.

It may seem to look much like conventional karate, but beyond the surface there are some important differences.  An example would be to examine a block in Wado, at first it may look much like a block in Shotokan, they are nevertheless performed from a completely different frame of thought. A Shotokan student is likely to force an incoming fist out of the line of attack. A Wado expert, on the other hand, will rather move himself out of the line of attack while taking up a position that will gain him an advantage over the opponent.  As you can see the outlook on the tactic behind the block is very different, where the Wado-ryu student uses a principle called taisabaki, often wrongly referred to as evasion. The Japanese term can be translated as body-management and refers to body manipulation so as to move the defender as well as the attacker out of harm's way.