Shorin-Ryu / Gojo-Ryu

[1stMMA]

I am looking for anyone who is or has trained in this form of Martial Arts. I have been for 25 years and would like to find others to discuss when and where they trained.

 

[knoxpk]

Well I trained in Uechi ryu for a couple of years and it has roots in the same base as Goju ryu and even share some kata.

Because of this emphasis on simplicity, stability, and a combination of linear and circular motions, proponents claim that the style is practical for self-defense. In contrast to the more linear styles of karate based on Okinawan Shuri-te or Tomari-te, Uechi Ryū's connection to Chinese Nanpa Shorin-ken means it shares a similar foundation to Naha-Te (and thus Goju-ryu) despite their separate development.[2] Thus Uechi Ryū is also heavily influenced by the circular movements inherent in kung fu from Fukien Province. Uechi Ryū is principally based on the movements of animals: the Tiger, Dragon, and Crane.

As far as a "style" is concerned I think it has something to offer such as "kotekitai" whcih is body hardiening like you might find in Muay Thai: Thigh kicks,forearm conditioning and some low power stomach strikes.

To keep it grappling related it has VERY limited grappling pretty much limited to Aikido style wristlocks, no ground grappling at all that I saw in about 2 years of training. They DID actively work on grabbing and pulling someone INTO a punch .

The philosophy is pretty no nonsense.
Toughen your body so you can take punishment, deliver hard and fat had strikes and if you can grip your opponent for control low line kicks with a major focus on the front kick, sidekick and roundhouse. we were taught NO kicks that involved turning your back tot he opponent and if you want to kick your opponent in the head, take his legs out 1st!


I didnt like it much b/c unlike some of the other striking arts and most of the grappling arts there was rare opportunity for live sparring. we did that MAYBE 2x's a week if we were LUCKY but mostly just once a week, if that.

LOTS of kata work though.

 

[1stMMA]

thanks. I guess we were ahead of our time. We did alot or sparring after white belt. We did study Judo and Jujitsu as well. The sparring would continue until the master said stop. It did start out as self defense, but the more experienced students were put on the fighting squad and would compete in different style tornaments. My best finish was 4th at the National AAU.

 

[crazyjake]

I've only just started training in Goju Ryu - will be grading for yellow in a few weeks. I enjoy the class. Yeah we do Kata's and drills but we do get a chance to spar . It's a new dojo so there are not a lot of higher belts there which is nice. We also work on kick boxing and Jiu jitsu to round the whole thing out. One aspect I like the most is the sparring where you get an opportunity to try out what you have been practicing, with a real live training partner rather then just hitting the heavy bag or focus mitts...

I'm always interested in any tips or info anyone could provide

 

[Bosozoku]

Maybe wrong forum, but no one seems to be complaining...

I trained 9 years in traditional Okinawan Goju Ryu: 5 years in America and 4 in Japan, member of the I.O.G.K.F. under Morio Higaonna, who is in my estimation (and many others) the greatest living traditional martial artist.

After earning nidan in Japan I decided to try MMA and joined a shooto dojo to focus on grappling. I think my Goju Ryu training probably advanced me by 1-2 years in the ground game. As I'm sure you know, Go Ju = Hard Soft, which I think is an essential philosophy of sub grappling. Breathing, Relaxing, Flowing, and Exploding in a movement, feeling your opponent rather than seeing your opponent, is all a foundation I built in Goju Ryu which crossed right over to sub grappling, and gave me a huge advantage over other begginners when I first started.

Traditional Goju Ryu has a great deal of "in close" fighting, "Kakie" training (a kind of pushing hands employing aikido type submissions and judo type throws). When I first learned the arm drag in shooto I felt like I'd been doing it for years. Plus the body conditioning knoxpx mentioned, and, with the right teacher, there should be heavy sparring.

Now I'm back in the states and training BJJ, which I'm addicted to, but I wouldn't trade my foundation in Goju Ryu for anything.

 

[GJJNY]

I did Gojo-Ryu when I was younger, I remember worrying about Kata's a belt gradings. We did get to spar every class though which was cool, but I remember the fighting style to be better than TKD, but not as good as MT.

 

[knoxpk]

I did Gojo-Ryu when I was younger, I remember worrying about Kata's a belt gradings. We did get to spar every class though which was cool, but I remember the fighting style to be better than TKD, but not as good as MT.

thats pretty much how I felt. Again its about the school etc.. but as is its a decent intermediate for folks NOT wanting to take the beating of boxing or MT but to do a lil something more practical than some of the mess that is out there now. If my class had sparring every night I woulda liked it much better.

 

[Balto]

I trained in Okinawan Kenpo Karate from ages 5-18. Not exactly the same as Goju Ryu, but very similar in that it's the old Okinawan version of karate, not the mainland Japanese style.

It was really a mix of stuff and JKD at heart (my instructor was real tight with Dan Inosanto who came down for seminars all the time). We did Kali, Muay Thai, Jun Fan, and Combat Submission Wrestling as well.

But the beginner classes and the first style of sparring I learned was karate stuff. Our sparring was pretty decent. It was point fighting somewhat, but you were supposed to hit full power and had to shock the guy a little to get the point.

You could punch to the head, but not directly to the face. So we did a lot of hooks to the side/back of the head to score there.

The Muay Thai sparring we did was a little closer to the way an MMA fight goes, but I still think our old point sparring way was closer to a real fight. Muay Thai is actually really slow paced because you have to be able to last multiple rounds in the ring. A full point fighting match is usually over in about a minute, so the whole strategy was extremely aggressive fast stuff.

That sort of "attack attack attack" mentality I learned from karate sparring really helped me a lot in real life situations.

 

[Tom Hishon]

I have a black belt in Shorin-ryu from when I was younger (21). We sparred full contact in those old karate chop tourney gloves. I was fortunate though I trained with all prison guards who took it serous. We used to have boxers and kickboxers and judo guys come in and train with us, cause we went full contact till someone got hurt or quit.

I think the cat stance is bullshit, although I used it fighting in a cage a few weeks ago, (training) cause I was getting kneed in the thigh. Funny really. If you train karate full contact, your style will morph into a MT style, which MT is the original sport karate, as the okinawan sailors took it over to MT adn fought on the docks for money.........PM me and we can talk about it.

 

[ssssmashing]

I have done isshin-ryu which is a hybrid of goju-ryu and shorin-ryu - I have been in it for 17 years. I have done others as well. PM me and we can talk about it.

I think the goju-ryu stances are probably the best adapted to MMA of any "traditional MA" stance work (not MT - I am talking karate, TKD, etc.).

I love sanchin - I think it is a great teaching tool.

 

[ssssmashing]

You should post to the stand up forum too - it might get more play there.

 

[Evil Eye Gouger]

I trained Goju-Ryu for a couple of years, but as a child -- keep that in mind.

I remember it being very similar to what you may expect from any Karate style -- forms, some light sparring, reverse punches till you're blue in the face.

We did learn some throws -- I remember seoi-nage, some hip throws and some trips, but the focus was definitely on striking. We didn't do any ground grappling at all.