History of Goju-Ryu Style Karate, a traditional Okinawan Style

Okinawa is a small island in the south china sea, between Japan & Taiwan. No one knows exactly when Karate started on the island of Okinawa as there are no written records of it, however there is archaeological evidence strongly suggesting unarmed fighting skills were practised as early as the 15th century.

Due to ties with china, the early Martial arts were greatly influenced by Chinese Arts.

Around the mid 15th century, the King of Okinawa Sho Shin, banned weapons in an attempt to increase his control of power. This ban was later reinforced when in 1609 the Sarsuma clan from southern Japan invaded Okinawa. This created two forms of Martial Arts, weaponless fighting ( karate ) & the art of utilising every day farming & fishing tools, weapons ( kobudo ) . Both these skills were practiced in secret. In the late 1900's the last king of Okinawa, Sho Tai, abdicated & the island finally succumbed to Japan's total rule. Firearms gradually became more common, making karate & kobudo impotent for creating any political change. The two arts were then used as tools for the personal development of body, mind & spirit & even taught in schools. At this time there was nothing like our present day Student system or uniform (gi). Neither were there any particular styles, all this was to develop gradually during the early part of the 19th century.

In the 19th century, Kanryo Higashionna Sensei already a master in Naha Te, an Okinawa'n martial art, traveled to Fuzshou in China. After the tuteage of master Ryu Ryuko, ( possible an alias given by Kanryo Higashionna sensei to protect his true identity ) he mastered southern Chinese boxing. On his returning to his home city of Naha in Okinawa, he began teaching a combination of systems. One of his students was Chojun Miyagi.

Chojun Miyagi sensei ( 1888- 1953 ) became Kanryo Higashionna Sensei's top student. After Kanryo Higashionna Sensei's death, Chojun Miyagi Sensei also traveled to China to study Zen and Martial arts. On his return, he combined all he had mastered and adapted it to the Okinawa culture and physique. He named this style GoJu Ryu (hard & soft way.)

GoJu Ryu's traditional training methods were extremely hard and total dedication of mind and body was required to reach any level close to Chojun Miyagi Sensei - GoJu Ryu represented a way of life.

Learn traditional Martial Arts in Romsey, Hampshire (near Southampton).
A friendly club teaching traditional Okinawa Goju Ryu Karate for exercise and self defence.
Goju Ryu is one of the most effective self defence styles of the traditional Japanese martial arts, and offers real self defence capability, as well as providing very good exercise and improving stamina and self confidence.
Students notice improvements in general fitness and balance after only a handful of sessions.

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