Goju Ryu Karate... Contact?

**g3ost** · Posted On: 4/20/2012 12:50pm

I always liked karate, especially okinawan karate. While searching and studying about the origins of some martial arts I found that Kyokushin Karate was affected by Goju ryu karate and it is from goju ryu that it took it's hard style and it's format of fighting (please enlighten me on that cause I am not 100% sure). But then when I try to find goju ryu full contact kumite I find nothing and when I search about goju ryu kumite in general it is a lot like shotokan kumite, light to medium contact, one hit ippon rule, so I was wondering, is goju ryu full contact or not?

**SpamN'Cheese** · Posted On: 4/22/2012 9:20pm

Originally Posted by g3ost

I always liked karate, especially okinawan karate. While searching and studying about the origins of some martial arts I found that Kyokushin Karate was affected by Goju ryu karate and it is from goju ryu that it took it's hard style and it's format of fighting (please enlighten me on that cause I am not 100% sure). But then when I try to find goju ryu full contact kumite I find nothing and when I search about goju ryu kumite in general it is a lot like shotokan kumite, light to medium contact, one hit ippon rule, so I was wondering, is goju ryu full contact or not?

Depends on what organization the Goju ryu dojo is affiliated with. Goju ryu varies a lot.

**daishi** · Posted On: 4/24/2012 7:55pm

I was in the GKK, then my group splintered. We did hard sparring in class. The only tournaments we attended were point-contact without pads...a-la Karate Kid. These were really mostly for kids...not many participated after jr high or high school...but we still went if there was enough interest and helped out. I met some Okinawan GoJu people up in Canada and they seemed like they liked to get down. Like mentioned above...it all depends on the school and/or organization.

**Keej613** · Posted On: 4/27/2012 11:05am

In which parts of Canada did you meet the Goju people?

**Fuzzy** · Posted On: 4/28/2012 3:32pm

The Goju org (Jundokan South Africa) I used to belong to didn't do competitions (teh d34dly), but we did occassionally spar hard, and I have applied several of the techniques in JDK sparring later on.

Most of the practitioners I met were very fit and conditioned and moved well, but I never did see full contact sparring.

**daishi** · Posted On: 5/01/2012 8:32pm

Man, I'm not really sure. The Canadians I train with are Aikido people in Windsor...not sure where the GoJu group came from. Relationship was from a couple aikido students that do/did GoJu with them and some cross training at seminars and such.

**Tameshiwhaty?** · Posted On: 6/02/2012 4:20am

Originally Posted by daishi

Man, I'm not really sure. The Canadians I train with are Aikido people in Windsor...not sure where the GoJu group came from. Relationship was from a couple aikido students that do/did GoJu with them and some cross training at seminars and such.

A good friend and sempai told me about the tourniments fights he did with the goju org he was with, not sure the name but he was under chinin sensei, but in the dojo they always fought full contact and I always enjoy our kumite it is so hard to find Shotokan-ka that want to do more than just point sparring.

**marcwagz** · Posted On: 6/18/2012 3:10pm

My dojo does sparring, usually only at about 50% though
We have to wear full leather gear when sparring which includes boxing gloves headgear and shin guards
Sparring is rare though
Done often in black belt class but rarely in blue and under like once every couple weeks

**daishi** · Posted On: 6/18/2012 9:57pm

Originally Posted by Tameshiwhaty?

A good friend and sempai told me about the tourniments fights he did with the goju org he was with, not sure the name but he was under chinin sensei, but in the dojo they always fought full contact and I always enjoy our kumite it is so hard to find Shotokan-ka that want to do more than just point sparring.

My Go Ju school closed down awhile ago. My current dojo (aikido, judo, jujitsu) has a TKD/Shotokan class where some of the students compete (one or two are sponsored) in the NKF and WKF competition. Its always fun when the teacher has me drop in and spar with them to take them out of their comfort zone a little. Granted I'll get kicked in the back of the head while facing them a lot, but its not too bad contact, and I'm pretty sure my reaps, knees, and elbow strikes put them way out of their comfort zone. Its good to have a teacher who likes to push students out of their comfort zone.

**WorldWarCheese** · Posted On: 6/19/2012 12:39am

My school did one hit point sparring, light to no contact. We even drilled (rarely) how to strike quickly without making contact to the kicking post-things.

Later on, the older students were given more leeway with contact (especially in the tournaments) but making contact (strong contact) to the head was still discouraged in class.