gojupralgo

I don't believe that all styles will blend together, but some things mix very well. I trained in GOJU, but learned some aspects of Aikido, and Judo. Grappling techniques work real well, and can be incorporated into self defense techniques.

Goju-Kai White Green Brown Black

I looks to me like some of what he has to say may be a bit overstated. I'm not knocking his fighting ability, because I've never seen him fight. I'm sure he has the ability to back it up. What I am not believing is how he attained such high rank from the Yamaguchi family so easily. It's not easy to attain those ranks at the HONBO DOJO. My Dad has a 6th Dan from "THE CAT". Not so easy. I also don't think that he was as outspoken in their DOJO as he is on is own website. That DOJO has produced some Amazing fighters. He would have been tossed out.

GOJU_BOI, Here are some of the differences between Japanes GOJU-KAI and the Okinawan Organizations. I and my family have a very extensive background in both. Kicking: A Japanese MA brings the knee up higher and uses two front kicks you don't see as much in Okinawa. Ball of the foot kick to the torso, and instep kick to the groin. The Okinawan fron kick does not have you bring the knee up very high, and is more of a short thrust. The Japanese theory is that you get more extention on the kick by pointing the toes up or down, and more power when the knee comes up. Japa The okinawan version is very effective too. The short thrusts are fast and powerful. Blocking: If you look at an Okinawan MA doing high block, the rotation of the fist at the end of the movement is more exagerated. The Goju-Kai way is not as exagerrated to protect the wrist from getting hurt. You'ss see other similar small differnences Diamond Pattern: Diamond Pattern is footwork used in cat stance. I have only seen it taught in Goju-Kai. It is usually only taught to Black belts. There are some American black belts that I have met with a rank as high as 5th Dan in Goju-Kai that haven't even heard of it. The Diamond Pattern workout is 2 1/2 - 3 hours in length. I have never seen a back belt in a street fight or competition lose when using this type of footwork. Very effective. Free Fighting: Yamaguchi was very much a believer in Kumite. For many years, most Okinawan DOJOs did not take part in free fighting. More have adopted it. The Jundokan has for example. The differneces that I have highlighted will also be found in USA GOJU. Peter Urban (One of my Dad's former instructers a long time ago) was a student of Gogen Yamaguchi.