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O’Sensei Hironori Ohtsuka

"I Never Fret About the Past.  I Concentrate On The Present  and Plan For the Future."

Hironori Ohtsuka was born on 1st June 1892 in Shimodate City Ibara!i a#an. He was thefirst son, and the second of four children, of Dr. Tokujuro Ohtsuka, a Doctor of Medicine. Ohtsukaensei was first introduced to !artial arts b" his #reat uncle, $hojiro %bashi, a sa!urai warrior,who be#an teachin# hi! Jujitsu. This !arked the startin# &oint of his life'lon# fascination with the!artial arts.

On the 1st (&ril, 189) *+ "rs 1- !onths, Ohtsuka ensei started school where he studiedShindo $oshin %yu u&utsu, under the su#ervision o' his 'ather. /ater, when he was 10, hestudied the st"le under Shinzaburo Nakayama Sensei , the third rand Master of this st"le ofJujutsu. nlike the other schools of jujutsu at the ti!e, hindo 3oshin 4"u s&eciali5ed in kickin#and &unchin# techni6ues in addition to throwin#, twistin# and lockin# techni6ues.

Ohtsuka ensei continued to stud" the st"le while at 7aseda niersit" fro! 191- to 191). Healso studied different st"les of Jujitsu, concentratin# on their &ositie as&ects. n doin# so, Ohtsuka ensei learned a #reat dealabout the bod":s ital &oints for both attackin# and healin# &ur&oses.

%i#ht "ears after his father died, after !uch dedicated stud", he took oer the Mastershi& of hindo'3oshin'4"u Jujitsu fro!Master ;aka"a!a after bein# &resented a certificate of <=ull >roficienc"< in that art. t was June 1, 1921, his 29th birthda".Master Otsuka was the fourth !aster of hindo'3oshin'4"u Jujitsu.

n 1922, Ohtsuka ensei attended the s&orts festial in Tok"o, where he encountered ?arate tau#ht b" (ichin Funakoshi, a?arate instructor fro! Okinawa, and a !an widel" held as the <=ather of Modern ?arate<. Ohtsuka ensei was so i!&ressedwith this that he isited =unakoshi ensei on nu!erous occasions durin# his sta". =unakoshi ensei was, in turn, i!&ressed b"Ohtsuka:s enthusias! and deter!ination to understand ?arate and a#reed to teach hi! all he knew about it. n the followin#"ears, Ohtsuka ensei set u& a !edical &ractice dealin# with !artial arts injuries. His &rowess in !artial arts had led hi! to bethe $hief nstructor of hindo 3oshin 4"u Jujitsu at the a#e of just 0-, and an assistant instructor at =unakoshi ensei:s dojo.

@" 1929, Ohtsuka ensei was a re#istered !e!ber of the Ja&an Martial (rts =ederation. (t this ti!e, Okinawan ?arate onl"concentrated on ?ata, which is a set se6uence of !oe!ents a#ainst an i!a#inar" o&&onent *or #rou& of o&&onents. Ohtsukaensei thou#ht that the full s&irit of @udo, which concentrates on defense and attack, was !issin#, and that kata techni6ues didnot work in realistic fi#htin# situations. He eA&eri!ented with other, !ore co!batie st"les such as Judo, ?endo and (ikido. He

blended the #ractical and use'ul elements o' Okina)an karate )ith traditional a#anese martial*arts techni+ues 'rom &u&itsu and kendo )hich lead to the birth o' ,umite, or fi#htin#, in ?arate. Ohtsuka ensei thou#ht that there was a need forthis !ore d"na!ic and fluid t"&e of ?arate to be tau#ht, so he decided to leae =unakoshi ensei to concentrate on deelo&in#his own st"le of ?arate ' Wado .

190+ &roed to be a &iotal "ear for both Ohtsuka ensei and 7ado ?arate. On =ebruar" 28th, Jiro ' Ohtsuka:s eldest son whowould one da" succeed his father ' was born. Durin# the sa!e "ear, 7ado'4"u ?arate was also officiall" reco#ni5ed as aninde&endent st"le of ?arate. This reco#nition !eant a de&arture for Ohtsuka ensei fro! his !edical &ractice and the fulfill!entof a life:s a!bition ' to beco!e a full'ti!e !artial artist.

Ohtsuka Sensei-s #ersonalied style o' ,arate )as o''icially re!istered in /012 after he was awarded the rank of <4enshi'#o<. He &resented a !a#nificent de!onstration of 7ado ?arate for the Ja&an Martial (rts =ederation. The" were so i!&ressedwith his st"le and co!!it!ent that the" acknowled#ed hi! as a hi#h'rankin# instructor. The neAt "ear, 1909, the Ja&an Martial

 (rts =ederation asked all the different st"les to re#ister their na!es. Ohtsuka ensei re#istered the na!e 7ado'4"u *wa" of>eace. The neAt few "ears witnessed 7ado'4"u ?arate #oin# fro! stren#th to stren#th. ;ew dojos were o&enin# and ?arate

was bein# tau#ht at uniersities. Ohtsuka ensei hi!self was beco!in# a reco#ni5ed fi#ure within the world of !artial arts.

In /033 Ohtsuka Sensei )as a##ointed a#ans Chie' ,arate Instructor. n 19+B Ohtsuka the second be#an to receieeA&ert tuition fro! his father in 7ado'4"u ?arate.

=ro! this &oint until the 19C-s, 7ado'4"u ?arate re!ained on the three s!all islands of Ja&an. t was hardl" reco#ni5edoutside of the east. Howeer, in 19C0, a three !an tea! left Ja&an to de!onstrate 7ado'4"u ?arate to America and 4uro#e.The tea! was co!&osed of (raka!a ensei, Takashi!a ensei and u5uki ensei. The i!&ressions the" left whereer the"went were tre!endous, and 7ado'4"u ?arate soon beca!e reco#ni5ed world'wide.

Durin# this ti!e, Ohtsuka ensei continued to train and instruct 7ado'4"u ?arate in Ja&an. He was awarded the title ",un(oto Suokuo ,yoku &u&itsu Shuo" in /055 b" the late %!&eror Horohito. t was &resented b" the %!&eror for his dedication tothe introduction and teachin# of karate. This dedication led to the further, historic, award of " 6ei&in " or The First 47cellent

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6artial Artist in ,arate /8th 9an in /0:;. This was the first ti!e that this award has been #ien to a &ractitioner of karate, andwas the sa!e status as that of ?"u5o Mifune in Judo and Hakuko ;aka"a!a in ?endo.

The !an, Hironori Otsuka, was as uni6ue and full of italit" as the st"le of karate he founded. %en as an aboe aera#e !anin his )-:s or 8-:s would &robabl" be content to rest and let others continue his work, not so Master Otsuka. ;eer beliein# thathe or een the !artial arts in #eneral had learned all there was to know, he continued to &ractice. >uttin# on his #i, he wouldtrain eer"da" for twent" !inutes on just one techni6ue and continue it for a full !onth. He re!arked one ti!e how he enjo"edwalkin# on the unbelieabl" crowded Tok"o streets so he could &ractice s!oothl" weain# and twistin# in the crowds withoutlettin# an"one touch hi!.

Ohtsuka Sensei continued to teach and lead the world of 7ado'4"u karate into the 198-s. Ohtsuka the econd beca!e thesecond rand Master of 7ado'4"u in 1982, takin# his father:s na!e, Hironori. Ohtsuka ensei &assed awa" &eacefull" onJanuar" 29th, 1982. Throu#hout the world where !artial arts are &racticed, he will continue to be re!e!bered for his enor!ouscontribution and indiidual deotion to 7ado ?arate. ( fittin# e&ita&h for hi! could surel" be a state!ent once !ade b" hi!"The di''erence bet)een the #ossible and the im#ossible is one-s )ill", for trul" to this #iant of @udo'ka, nothin# couldsee! i!&ossible.

Shihan Cecil T. Patterson

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The world of Martial Arts and Traditional ?aratedo lost one of its!ost beloed and central fi#ures on October ;:th ;88;, with thedeath of $ecil T. >atterson, 1st >resident and $hief nstructor of thenited tates %astern 7ado 4"u ?arate =ederation.

<orn on une ;; /018, in the s!all !ountain town of Sevierville Tennessee.>ro!&ted b" an earl", "outhful a&&reciation of law enforce!ent, >atterson ensei firstbeca!e interested in the &racticalit" of self'defense while trainin# in =ederal /aw%nforce!ent tactics under the =@. /i!ited thou#h it was, it was this basic trainin# that

would i#nite his desire for a dee&er understandin# of the art  of self'defenseE a desirethat would take hi! a world awa" fro! the !ountains of %ast Tennessee to the illa#eof Iwakuni , on the banks of the Inland Sea in southern Ja&an.

tationed there durin# his tour of dut" in the ;a", >atterson ensei enrolled in a s!all 7ado Dojo under theinstruction of Sensei Kazuo Sakura ' one of the few rankin# senior students directl" under Master Ohtsuka.Trainin# siA'seen da"s eer" week for hours each da", the "ears &assed with >atterson ensei #rowin# closereer" da" to reali5in# his drea! of reachin# a dee&er understandin# of !artial arts.

n 19B9, Mr. >atterson was adanced to the rank of San Dan, or, 0rd de#ree @lack @elt.=ie "ears later, he was &ro!oted to the rank of Yon Dan *+th de#ree and in Dece!berof 19C8, Master Ohtsuka hi!self adanced >atterson ensei to the rank of Go Dan 'Bthde#ree' the hi#hest rank achieable in the 7ado s"ste! at that ti!e, !akin# $ecil>atterson the hi#hest'ranked Occidental in the 7ado s"ste!, worldwide.

7ith that honor, howeer, ca!e !an" res&onsibilitiesE includin# Master Ohtsuka:sinstruction that Mr. >atterson brin# the art of 7ado 4"u to the %astern nited tates. n/052, that res&onsibilit" was fulfilled with >atterson ensei:s for!al establish!ent of TheUS Eastern Wado Kai Federation, and takin# on the new res&onsibilit" of oerseein#the o&erations and instruction of all 7ado 4"u Dojos in the entire %astern half of the nited tates. 7ith thefor!ation of the first =ederation, howeer, also ca!e reco#nition for $ecil >atterson. He sered as both the tate4e&resentatie and the 4e#ional Director for the United States Karate Association, serin# also on thator#ani5ation:s @oard of 4esearch. n addition, he beca!e one of the !ost reco#ni5ed and res&ected consultants tofederal and state law enforce!ent a#encies, lecturin# and instructin# on >olice Defensie Tactics at the Tennessee/aw %nforce!ent (cade!", and serin# for +- "ears until his retire!ent as Director of the  Arson and FraudDivision for the Department of Commerce and Insurance for the state of Tennessee. 

%en well &ast )- "ears of a#e, this 6uiet, conte!&latie !an stillsearched for that dee&er understandin#, trainin# eer" da",teachin# eer" week, hostin# the "earl" %7= Tourna!ent,and brin#in# his annual u!!er and 2w e!inars to hundredsof 7ado students fro! 11 states. Holdin# the rank of achi!Dan *8th De#ree @lack @elt Mr. >atterson receied !an" awards forhis role in karate, includin# bein# na!ed Father of Karate for thetate of Tennessee, b" the ;ineteenth eneral (sse!bl", andthe &resti#ious "aster #htsuka Award , &resented to hi! b"Hironori Otsuka when isitin# Ja&an in 19)1. He authored twobooks on 7ado 4"u karate and seeral books on &olicedefensie tactics. On June 1Cth of 2--1. he was inducted intothe @lue#rass ;ationals &ort ?arate Hall of =a!e.

Mr. >atterson and wife Joan were blessed with four children, two sonsand two dau#hters. The oldest son John be#an trainin# in Judo and

?arate in 19C1 at the a#e of siA and continues to train in ?arate to this date. The eldest dau#hter holds a rank ofSan!K$u *0rd De#ree @rown @elt in Judo. The "oun#est son Michael also trains in karate.

The @ushido sa"s that <...a true samurai reflects his master$ of self in ever$ step% ever$ &reath%and ever$ movement...< 7e hae lost a true sa!urai a #reat warrior, and a #entle !an of honor.