Original article by Hoshindo Karate Brisbane
Goju Ryu
There are many students of karate, all which can trace their origins back to the island of Okinawa, Japan. However, originally there existed only three styles, each of which was named after the city in which is evolved. These are: 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 to its true form and became known as Goju Ryu.
The Meaning of Goju Ryu
According to oriental 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 the name Goju Ryu based on precepts from the Chinese martial arts. Go means hard or resilient; Ju means soft or yielding. Therefore Goju Ryu translates as the hard-soft school. This refers specifically to both the technical characteristics of our style and to its underlying philosophy.
The Five Precepts
- We are proud to study the way of Goju
- We are courteous in manners
- We strive to develop courage and fighting spirit (humble yet strong)
- We cultivate fellowship and understanding (the spirit of Cooperation)
- We respect the ideals of loyalty and honor, traditional from olden times
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