ABOUT GOJU RYU
Traditional Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate has a
very pure lineage.
Goju-Ryu Karate is a traditional martial art that was
handed down from the founder Sensei Chojun Miyagi
to his student Sensei Anichi Miyagi and then to Sensei
Morio Higaonna in an unbroken line, which means the
art has not been diluted or embellished through the
generations like many other martial arts have. Instead,
Goju-Ryu Karate persists as a highly effective fighting
system today. It is not a sport style of Karate but offers
its students a practical method of self defence in any
situation.
Characteristics of Goju-Ryu Karate
Goju-Ryu Karate has a great variety of hand and foot
techniques and employs hard and soft techniques with
both circular and linear movements. Particular
emphasis is placed on strengthening the body and mind
with supplementary exercises.
The basic idea of the hard and soft style is use a soft
blocking technique to block a hard strike or to deflect
the strike rather than to meet force with force.
Likewise, when attacking, Goju-Ryu employs a hard
technique against a soft target and vice versa. For
example, in Okinawan Goju-Ryu a palm heel strike
(using the relatively soft palm heel of the hand) is often
used to strike something hard like the head. Another
example for the hard/soft aspect is a kick (hard) into
the groin (soft).