All About Goju Ryu Karate-Do

According to Sensei Peter Urban, when it comes to karate training, there are 3 types of practitioners - punchers, kickers, and “dancers”.

That’s the beautiful part about martial arts - it’s not just science, it’s not just art. It’s the combination of martial science + art that gives each student the ability to express themselves - their art - through the combination of their interest for either the scientific and technical/mechanical, or the artistic side of training. Each student brings their own skillset and underlying predisposition to the dojo that helps them form themselves as a karate-ka today and into the future.

What is Karate-Do & What is Goju Ryu Karate-Do?

I save the full history of the martial arts broadly, and of Goju for each student’s own exploration as they mature with their training. You could spend hours investigating and reading into the history of Karate, through it’s ancient origins in China, through it’s more “modern” history in Okinawa, Japan, and post world War II into North America.

Goju Ryu is considered one of the primary branches of karate-do (空手), founded my Chojun Miyagi. Students who visit Okinawa and see his grave will see a beautiful monument about the importance of Miyagi Sensei to the dissemination of karate from Okinawa to the rest of the world. Much of the fundamental techniques and principles are still taught and trained by Goju Ryu practitioners today as a method of self defense, and enhancing one’s life through training in the martial arts.

Karate-do fundamentally means “the way of the empty hand”; Goju Ryu being the “hard soft style”. I offer my students ample resources and reading material for those looking to delve deeper into the history of Goju Ryu or karate-do broadly.

Kihon (Basics)

Each student learns the basic techniques, the building blocks, used to learn more intricate techniques, kata etc. Regular practice of the basics promotes a strong foundation on which a more advanced understanding of the art can be built. Basics consist of:

  • Blocks

  • Punches

  • Kicks

  • Stances

  • Strikes

  • Breathing Techniques

Kata (Patterns & Forms)

Kata is the essence of karate-do. The techniques learned in the basics are implemented into a pattern to help the student learn (from a practical perspective) how to use the techniques of karate to defend oneself. As the students advance, they will be guided through ever advancing levels of understanding and practice for the kata, which will serve their training for the rest of their life. Kata are to be practiced, and with the same attitude one takes for eating, sleeping, brushing your teeth, etc, such that competency and fluency is developed through thousands of meaningful repetitions, such that something that was once conscious, becomes unconscious and automatic. Creating a practice routine to ensure uptake and retention of kata content are paramount to their karate training. The longer a student trains, the more they can not just learn about the art of karate, but themselves - as kata is a never-ending cycle of seeking an ever more perfect form. An impossible journey worth taking. Those students who delve deeply into their own kata training can become the “dancers”, the ultimate artists of karate-do Sensei Urban was referring to in classifying martial arts practitioners.

Students have particular curriculum requirements based on their age and rank in order to prepare for a grading. See curriculum requirements here. Students begin by learning kime no kata - basic patterns, then with age and experience will delve into kata from other styles of karate to help them enhance their understanding of how other martial arts approach the same “problem” of self defense.

Self Defense, Kumite (Sparring), and Bunkai (Application)

Every technique taught in the karate program has practical self defense application. Self Defense, Kumite, and Bunkai are the tools we use to educate the student on how their technique carries over into the “real world”, facilitating them to protect themselves if needed. Self defense techniques are taught in drills - to build skills, which then transition into more dynamic and “real” self defense situations with age, skill, and experience in both kumite and bunkai.

By learning in this way students can see and “translate” their learnings from the basics, into practical applications allowing them to confidently defend themselves should they ever need to in “real life”.

Physical Conditioning & Contact Training

coming soon!

Meditation, Philosophy, and the Martial Arts Virtues

coming soon!

Elements of Karate-Do Training

Frequently Asked Questions

Coming Soon!