Gōjū-Ryū Karate

History & Naming

While its roots reach back centuries, Gōjū-ryū was formally organized and named by Miyagi Chōjun in the early 20th century. The name, drawn from the Bubishi's "Eight Verses of the Fist," expresses hard and soft in balance. Gōjū-ryū received formal recognition in Japan (including by the Dai Nippon Butokukai in 1933 and later by the Nippon Kobudō Kyōkai), reflecting its status as a classical Okinawan art.

Training Methodology & Framework

• Culture: Cultural understanding is the gateway to truly understanding karate. At The Karate Workshop, Gōjū-ryū is taught within its Okinawan context: history, etiquette, and tradition inform how we train and why. The dōjō is a cultural environment; we practice humility and respect in accordance with our Dōjōkun.

• Fitness: We build a body that can express purpose with power, control, and efficacy. Training blends breathwork, preparatory exercises, and calisthenics. Intensity is scaled by age, experience, and individual capacity.

• Form: Through disciplined kata study, we develop coordination, precision, and mental focus while gaining access to the art's deeper logic and spirit.

• Function: Through partner training, we turn the principles of kata into functional skill, bridging the gap between theory and reality. The results are practical close-quarters self-preservation, not sport.

Training is built around and supported by the kata of Gōjū-ryū and includes:

• Kihon-Kata (Foundational Forms): Sanchin, the fundamental form.

• Kaishū-Kata (Open-Hand Forms): Strategy, tactics, and techniques for practical self-protection; includes both dentō (classical) and shin (modern) forms, plus the fukyū (introductory/promotional) kata.

• Heishū-Kata (Closed-Hand Forms): Emphasizes the softer, circular qualities of Gōjū-ryū—most notably Tenshō.

Why It Matters

Gōjū-ryū cultivates calm power and a disciplined mind — internal strength with outward gentleness. The result is practical skill, physical resilience, and a mindset oriented toward restraint, responsibility, and contribution to community.