Goju Ryu katas.

[angus88]

He was the first to bring Goju-Ryu to the continental U.S. back in 1959.

There's plenty of stuff about him on the web though.

[shogeri]

In regards to the above statement, I further state that, so long as the philosophy, and principles of Goju Ryu remain unchanged, along with including the traditional or original naha te kata, then I agree it is still Goju Ryu.

[Goju_boi]

so this Mr.Urban brought it as it is or as his own blend?

[shogeri]

Here is a timeline with Sensei Urban listed in it.

http://www.gojujitsu.com/Goju%20Timeline.htm

Here is Sensei Urban's Homepage:

http://www.geocities.com/~usagojukarate/

[Goju_boi]

I see this guy was very important.Anyways what's the difference fron American Goju-ryu and Okinawan Goju-ryu?

[shogeri]

Not sure..Urban founded his own Goju Ryu Association, perhaps not his own actual derivate of Goju Ryu. Most teachers who branch off, in general do not completely change what is taught, rather they teach, how it is taught, or the order in which it is taught.

They should, in theory, only do that, if they truly understood why it was taught a certain way in the first place...

[Goju_boi]

I guess it's the same ,but why would he rename it U.S.A. Goju?There was this guy that used to train at my dojo that did this.I asked him what was the difference and he said he didn't notice any differences.

[angus88]

This is from - http://home.earthlink.net/~gojusandan/

"...he made several changes to differentiate himself from the Japanese Goju-Ryu systems. The most prominent one being the change from white to black gi’s (uniforms). He also “lined-up” his class in the opposite direction of the Japanese. When facing the class, the higher ranks line-up to Master Urban's right. The Japanese high ranks line-up to the left. Master Urban also added katas (forms) of his own, and truly made his system a style unto itself, combining the Butokukai style of Master Kim and the Kyokushinkai style of Master Oyama, along with the Japanese/Okinawan style of Goju-Ryu from Master Yamaguchi into what we now know as U.S.A. GOJU."

Take from it what you want. I've heard enough about Peter Urban that I think what he did, ultimately, was make it acceptable for non-Asians to open up martial arts schools in America. Through his books, he established what would be the pattern for early karate founders in America.

If you ever talk to a "founder" of a system, he should be able to tell you the difference in his system from that in which it was based. Again, USA Goju is still Goju, and depending on the founder, there will be changes made.

[Goju_boi]

so is USA goju a pretty common art or is it in small numbers?

[Kumori]

I think I'm taking traditional Goju