Mr.Man Posted January 21, 2004 Posted January 21, 2004 Hi, I am currently in tae kwon do and I am completely fed up with it. I feel like I could have learned the same in one month that I have learned in two years! What I am most interested in is pure self defense (not sport).The problem for me is that there is not many martial arts to choose from where I live. There is a goju-ryu dojo available that looks pretty cool and I was wondering about opinions on it's self defense and just opinions in general on goju-ryu. Thank you
LeaF Posted January 21, 2004 Posted January 21, 2004 I study goju and love it, wonderful balence of hard and soft, hece the name go=hard, ju=soft. I would check the pl;ace our meet the sensei and see if it is an environment you'd be interested in training at. Goju Ryu Karate-do and Okinawan Kobudo, 17 Years Old 1st kyu Brown Belt in in Goju Ryu Karate-do, & Shodan in Okinawan KobudoGiven enough time, any man may master the physical. With enough knowledge, any man may become wise. It is the true warrior who can master both....and surpass the result.I AM CANADIAN
Practice is the key _ Posted January 22, 2004 Posted January 22, 2004 If you let me pick from shotokan and goju ryu I'll pick Goju ryu they got good deep stances I cannot tell people What art I'd study but it belongs to renzoken club. Somone love oneSomone love twoI love one That one is myself just have been turn down....
humblecanadiangojuguy Posted January 22, 2004 Posted January 22, 2004 If you are into selfdefence mostly than try prehaps a mixed martial art place if you have any available. If not Goju is very good selfdefence style, very practical blocks and strikes and kicks. But it is still a tradional MA, so there will be alot of practicing the same stikes over and over again and learning things that you would not use in a real fight, its done for more tradition. But its better in my mind than TKD or Shotokan for selfdefence. There nothing wrong with either TKD or Shotokan for selfdefence but for the average karateka the very practical blocks, get in close and keep the kicks low for good balance, Goju is very good for that. I take Goju-ryu for years now, we say " Once we touch you we never let go until the fight is over". TKD and Shotokan keep their enemy at a distance, not easy to do, Goju go right in close, it freaks most people out when you do it. Goju rocks for selfdefence but it is still a traditional MA.
Karateka_latino Posted January 23, 2004 Posted January 23, 2004 I've gone to several karate schools to visit and to train in and i must said that Goju and kyokushin have many good tools for self defense. If the Goju school in your area seems to be good then go and try a couple of lessons there. Goju-ryu works mainly in close-range, trapping, low kicks which are all good for self-defense. But as HCGG says, its still a traditional art and you have to work on many things that you may not like at first if you are just looking for JUST self defense. In that case, i'd recomend you find a Krav-Maga or Jeet Kune Do school.
Mr.Man Posted January 23, 2004 Author Posted January 23, 2004 Thank you guys so much for your impute. Goju-ryu sounds very much like what I am looking for. I don't mind the traditional stuff, as a matter of fact I like to experience the whole art as long as some practical self-defence is taught with it. I like that it deals with being upclose too. The TKD class I am in now has basically no self-defense no matter what they say and what they call self-defense is incredibly useless. My wife takes the class too and even though we both have fun, I don't feel that she could use very much of what we have been taught outside the ring in a real situation. So thanks again and I 'll tell you how we like the class arter we take a few.
steve57 Posted January 23, 2004 Posted January 23, 2004 Regarding self-defence I don't think goju is any more effective than other styles. For it to work in a REAL street situation, it needs to be adapted, therefore specific training is required. Steve57
rb Posted January 23, 2004 Posted January 23, 2004 This is a case where I would definitely try the school first. There are a couple of goju school that are of the same parent school in my hometown that reek of mcdojo. Blackbelt factory for kids and adults after a couple of years. All with poor technique, sloppy kata, questionable skill with weapons, predominantly point sparring. The behavior of the instructors is also disgusting. Smoking in front of children while lecturing them of good habits and training is one of the little things wrong with them. The major stuff makes my blood boil. Hopefully not all the schools in this alliance are not as bad. The rest of the karate schools in town, shotokan, kyokushin are all excellent. I think this could happen to any style but this is what is going on with goju in my experience.
Ripper Posted January 24, 2004 Posted January 24, 2004 Maybe you should read this thread first. Is Karate effective when used as self-defense ? I don't know how to link this but it is on page 2. René
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