Goju ryu karate which means hard soft style is a traditional Okinawan style of karate. The principle of hard and soft styles are derived from Bubishi which is the famous book for martial arts. This book was used by the old Okinawan masters during the period of X1X and XX.

What does the name Goju mean?

The word Go means hard .This refers to the straight linear attacks or closed hand techniques. Ju means soft and this refers to the circular movements and the open hand techniques.

Here most of the emphasis is given to correct breathing. Goju ryu includes practice methods for body conditioning and body strengthening. It involves approaches for fighting (power generation, distance, stickiness) and partner drills. Goju ryu is a combination of hard striking attacks like kicks and closed hand punches along with soft open hand and circular techniques meant for attacking, controlling the opponent and blocking the opponent including grappling, locks, throws and takedowns.

What is the history of Goju ryu?

Due to the lack of documentation, the history of Goju ryu is controversial. Still the main theories about its origin can be summarized. The Goju ryu followed the same path as other martial arts. As the process of modernization started in Japan, it changed from a pure fighting discipline to a general purpose and educational discipline. This was noted by Higaonna Morio in the year of 1905.

The martial art was taught by Higashionna Kanryo sensei in two ways depending on the type of the student. He taught Naha te at home as a martial art for those who had the ultimate goal of killing the opponent. However at the Naha commercial high school he taught karate to his disciples as a form of intellectual, physical and moral education.

Two years define the way Goju ryu was considered by the Japanese establishments.

The first one, the year of 1993 is the year when Goju ryu was recognized officially as a budo in Japan. In other words it was considered as a popular modern martial art. Dai Nippon Butoku recognized Goju ryu as an ancient martial art form in the year of 1998. The change in how the relationships between Japan, Okinawa and China were viewed by the Japanese society was reflected by the recognition of Goju ryu as a koryu bujutsu.

What are the other non traditional Goju ryu Kata?

Some additional, style based Kata are used in some Goju ryu schools which are not in other curricula of Goju ryu kata. The extra Kata include the advanced Kata (such as Meibukan kata), simple kihon kata (such as taikyoku or fukyugata dai ichi).

What do you mean by Meibukan kata?

This kata has a two man component. It was found by Meitoku Yagi sensai.

What is Yamaguchi Goju Kai kata?

It is a kata which includes different martial art forms such Genkaku, Chikaku and Taikyoku.

What does Seigokan kata mean?

Seigokan kata is a type of kata which was founded by Tada Seigo . He created lots of additional katas for the beginners.

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