Traditions and information about the IOGKF

You may have already some idea about what karate is. Some of you may have already read about karate in books or magazines, or seen karate on TV and at the movies. Some of you may have heard about karate through friends and acquaintances. We ask you now to forget about these ideas for a moment and approach the subject with a clear mind, or what we call a "beginners mind." This is the ideal way to approach karate.

There are many schools of karate, all of which can trace their origins back to the island of Okinawa. However, originally there existed only three styles, each of which was named after the city in which it evolved. These were: TOMARI-TE, SHURI-TE, and NAHA-TE. The Tomari-te and Shuri-te styles were unified to form one school known as Shorin-Ryu, while Naha-te remained in its pure form and became known as GOJU-RYU.

The Meaning of Goju-Ryu:

According to Asian philosophy, to achieve harmony and order in the world everything must express a balanced nature. So there is night and day, fire and water, and so on.

The founder of our style, GRANDMASTER CHOJUN MIYAGI, chose Goju-Ryu based on precepts from the Chinese martial arts: GO means hard or resilient; JU means soft or yeilding; Therefore, GOJU-RYU translates as the "hard/soft" school. This refers specifically to both technical characteristics of our style and to its underlying philosophy. In the study of GOJU-RYU, we hope to attain a level of balance in mind, body and spirit.

Back