Hello, I am the head instructor at Arizona Wado karate in Chandler Arizona.
Too bad I never saw this post when the time would have been more appropriate to respond to.
I first met Sensei Fred Bode in high school in Salt Lake City. He was an exceptional martial artist and I trained with him in Wado Ryu until he left for military service. I continued my training in wado ryu and when he came back he trained me in his new
system that he was developing with emphasis on self defense rather than competition kumite that included kicking techniques and training methods of TKD,kick boxing, traditional japanese karate (Wado Ryu and Shotokan), military hand to hand, jui jitsu,
and Aikido.
Fell in love with it and continued to train with him while maintaining my Wado Karate training.
when he moved to Denver he opened a karate school called East West karate and gave a name to his martial art of Bushi no te ryu.
This became the name of his style/way and is not to be confused with the name of his school.
By this time I had already opened my Wado dojo in Utah. I continued though to include the techniques he taught me in with my Wado Ryu curriculum as they were a perfect supplement and the moves made sense and many applications work as practical bunkai for
the moves in the Japanese Katas of Wado Ryu created by Master Hironori Otsuka who was the founder of Wado Ryu Karate. He created those forms as a blend of the Shotokan Karate he learned under instruction from Gichin Funakoshi and his previous experience
as a master of Shindo Yoshin-ryu jujutsu.
I believe the blending of the Jujutsu with the Shotokan karate made the system a unique and effective martial art.
I believe Sensei Bode did the same thing with his Bushi no te Ryu system.
I stayed close in touch with Sensei Fred Bode and he would provide me videos and visit our school for seminars and belt testing.
I traveled on occasion to Denver to train with him personally.
I believe I was his first black belt and several years later was awarded a second degree black belt in his system. I was on the testing board when Bernadette tested at East West karate.
She tested along with Sensei Bode's wife Chris and another talented young man who I do not recall his name.
When I had to relocate to Phoenix Arizona for my work over time we've lost track of each other. He did visit here one time and I was able to meet with him. I was sad to hear that he was no longer training. It would be disrespectful to discuss here why
the school closed or the reason for him not continuing with the system.
I hope he is doing well and this will remind me to search him out and see how he is doing.
I can say it was one of the best things I ever was exposed to and I continue many of the training techniques I learned with my students here in Arizona. From time to time I still get contacts from old students in Utah who say they have tried other karate
schools and it was not the same and they wished they were down here.
they may change their mind when they realize it's a hundred and fifteen degrees down here and monsoon season. Haha.
I am now nearly 62 and have been training in martial arts since age 7. I believe my martial arts training has led me to some of the great successes and overcoming obstacles I have faced in my life.
I have been at Arizona Wado Karate for 25 years. I am now a 6th Dan and the head instructor as The founder, Sensei Marlon Moore, has retired and requested I take over and keep the dojo alive and growing.
I would love to get a copy of that PDF of the curriculum. It would bring back some great memories. If anybody wants to communicate with me and discuss your experiences I would love to hear from you. Enjoy your life and training every day.
kgchipman@gmail.com
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