Goshin Do/Goshin Jutsu karate rears its silly head again

**bigphilwastaken** · Posted On: 12/10/2007 6:18pm

hey man...if you ever really wanna talk about that stuff let me know.

id love talk over phone or aim about it

i was under a goshin instructor for about 4 years....i believe he was a 5th or 6th dan. id be happy to answer any qeustions you have about it.

-phil

**btbl** · Posted On: 12/11/2007 4:20pm

Originally Posted by bigphilwastaken

hey man...if you ever really wanna talk about that stuff let me know.

id love talk over phone or aim about it

i was under a goshin instructor for about 4 years....i believe he was a 5th or 6th dan. id be happy to answer any qeustions you have about it.

-phil

sure i dont have aim but i got a myspace if you dot one of those or ill probably get aim soon or e-mail or w/e

**Pacer** · Posted On: 12/13/2007 2:05pm

I found this buried deep in the recesses of e-budo. It's dated a few years ago.

1. Was Mr. Durant born in Japan and/or was he half-Japanese?

Answer: No. Mr. Durant was born in Utica, NY in 1922 to American parents.

2. Did Mr. Durant study karate in Japan and bring the style Goshin Jutsu to the US from Japan?

Answer: No, in fact there is no evidence that Mr. Durant was ever in Japan at any time during his life. He did not "jump ship" anywhere.

3. Did Mr. Durant learn the style in Japan from a "samurai prince"?

Answer: No. See answer to question #2. Also, there is no such thing as a"samurai prince". The Samurai were extinct as a class in Japan long before Mr. Durant made his claims, and besides, they don't have "Princes". The Samurai were warriors, not royalty.

4. Where, when, from whom and in what style did Mr. Durant receive his shodan?

Answer: Mr. Durant never earned any dan ranking in any form of Traditional karate. Evidence indicates that Mr. Durant promoted himself to shodan in the early 1960's in Erie, PA.

5. Is Goshin Jutsu a classical form of traditional Japanese karate?

Answer: No. It is a completely fabricated style which was made up by Mr. Durant.

6. Are the Goshin katas such as Ichi Bando, Yonaka, Kishu, etc. classical katas with Japanese/ Samurai roots?

Answer: No. Mr. Durant made the katas up himself, which is why no one from legitimate karate styles has ever heard of them.

7. Are promotions in Goshin Jutsu handled in the traditional manner of classical Japanese karate?

Answer: No. Since the style is made-up, it has no ties to any legitimate karate associations which issue rank. Thus, in Goshin, instructors either promote themselves or each other to high rank, and in some cases,are even promoted by their own students.

8. Is the Japanese terminology used by Goshin Jutsu/Goshin Do correct?

Answer: No. Instructors of the style use and pronounce many of the common terms improperly, and also have made-up many phrases without regard to their actual Japanese meaning. For instance, Mr. Durant called himself "Kyoto", telling his students it meant "great teacher".In Japan the term actually means "assistant principal of a public school". It is obvious that Mr. Durant could not speak or understand Japanese and that the terms he did use were probably copied out of books. Similarly, the kanji Mr. Durant printed on promotional certificates has been studied and found to be gibberish, probably copied sloppily from books.

9. Was the style handed down by Chinese bandits, ninjas or samurai?

Answer. No. See questions 1-6.

10. Is the style considered in present day to be a legitimate form of Japanese karate?

Answer: No. Few legitimate karate organizations have even heard of Goshin Jutsu. It is generally understood to be a made-up style pretending to be legitimate.

**Pacer** · Posted On: 12/13/2007 2:24pm

double post - deleted

**goshinkaratekid** · Posted On: 12/15/2007 12:14am

http://www.defendwithhonor.com/articles/article2.html

ok the truth of goshin jutsu karate:

all the stuff about durant going to japan is false and was propogated by william cavalier, joe brague, and bob bohack all of whom gave themselves high ranks in the system. This happened because of internal politics that fell apart due to egos. the link above has the article that tells the truth from durants son. Whether you think the style is legitimate or not doesn't really matter. technically there are only 5 recognized styles by the japan martial arts federation and they were made around 1940. So whats 20 years?

I have 8 yrs in goshin jutsu from stephan capellas branch of the system and it is evolving, there are ties to shori ryu, aikido, and judo/jujitsu schools in the pittsburgh area that are all growing together. so it may have rough starts but its growing.

I personally have experience in aikido from the southern maryland aikiki (whose instructor was an instructor at capital aikiki) and I found it amazing how what I learned in goshin jutsu applied to aikido. many of the principles and body mechanics where the same but there was a different intention.

**bigphilwastaken** · Posted On: 12/15/2007 10:36am

thats interesting because on the video ill upload soon there is an interview with durant saying he was born in japan.

here is some of the story as told by jerry durant care of john lindsey form the e-budo post

I was born in Tokogo (sp?) Japan. My father was a Frenchman and my mother was Japanese.

I started training at 3 years old (jujutsu) until I was sixteen, then I studied karate. My father knew there was a bad war coming, he was smart, he sent me to Canada.

(Durant joins the Army and serves in Europe)

When I got done with the war, I had nothing to go to. My people were over in Japan. So, I went to Canada, and from Canada to took a plane to Japan. But when I got there, nothing was left. The bombs had demolished every fuking thing. I mean, here was Hiroshima, and here was Nagasaki, and Tokogo was right in the middle of it, so you know, there was nothing left, you know. I lost my parents that way, and ah, I decided to study over there. I was there, so I figured I could get drunk every fuking night. I could get drunk there just as well as I could here. So, I did, and anyway. I found a teacher, Mr. Muragami, he was a fantastic man. Him and his ??? Honda, they were fantastic teachers. So, I studied with them.

So, when I got into the Goshin (sp?)organization, which was started by Yamabushi up in northern Japan. I started training real hard, because I wanted them to know I was good enough to stay in Japan. Well, I had a big advantage, I wrote, read, wrote, and spoke Japanese. I didn’t dare tell them (the military) that in WW2 because they would have shipped my off to a camp.

Originally Posted by goshinkaratekid

http://www.defendwithhonor.com/articles/article2.html

ok the truth of goshin jutsu karate:

all the stuff about durant going to japan is false and was propogated by william cavalier, joe brague, and bob bohack all of whom gave themselves high ranks in the system. This happened because of internal politics that fell apart due to egos. the link above has the article that tells the truth from durants son. Whether you think the style is legitimate or not doesn't really matter. technically there are only 5 recognized styles by the japan martial arts federation and they were made around 1940. So whats 20 years?

I have 8 yrs in goshin jutsu from stephan capellas branch of the system and it is evolving, there are ties to shori ryu, aikido, and judo/jujitsu schools in the pittsburgh area that are all growing together. so it may have rough starts but its growing.

I personally have experience in aikido from the southern maryland aikiki (whose instructor was an instructor at capital aikiki) and I found it amazing how what I learned in goshin jutsu applied to aikido. many of the principles and body mechanics where the same but there was a different intention.

**Extinct** · Posted On: 12/16/2007 12:34pm

Capela, huh. Hmm...

From E-budo:

I have actually lost count of the number of "Grandmasters" who claim to be the one and only "diasoke" of the Durant's style. A quick web search reveals at least SIX individuals who claim extremely high rank (and most also declare themselves the "head" of the Goshin system):

Joe Brague, claiming 10th dan http://www.goshinjutsu.org/pages/history.htm

Matthew Durant, claiming 10th dan http://www.goshin-jutsu.com/

William Cavalier, claiming 10th dan http://www.geneseo.edu/~karate/t_history.htm

Robert Bohach, claiming 10th dan http://www.iksa.com/profiles/heckman.html

Steven Capela, claiming 9th dan http://goshinjutsu.freeyellow.com/index.html

Jim Locke, currently claiming 8th dan http://www.royal-martial-arts.com/school.html

What a bunch of morons.

**Extinct** · Posted On: 12/17/2007 10:49am

Oops, you can't blink around these Goshin people. In the previous post, he was a humble little 9th Dan, but I guess a weekend's a long time in the land of Goshin.

Now Capela is "Hanshi 10th Dan" [rolleyes]

**Extinct** · Posted On: 12/17/2007 12:04pm

Originally Posted by btbl

My master recieved an 8th degree black belt

Your "master"?? What are you, a serf or something?

What IS it with these Goshin people and their absurd, inflated titles?

Oooh, ohh I'm gonna join Goshin, then I can call myself Super Duper Grandmaster Sosho Kyoto Doshu Hanshi Sokei Smith!

It will only take a weekend for one of the other Grandmasters to get promoted by his own students (Goshin people call that the "yooDon Shack hi") and he'll outrank me by Monday morning but wow, what a weekend its gonna be!

**Extinct** · Posted On: 12/17/2007 11:13pm

Originally Posted by eyebeams

Learn to read.

I can read just fine.

In front of me I have, in writing, a brochure printed and distributed by Ralph Porfilio who is currently teaching in Greensboro, NC. Here is what it claims, reproduced verbatim (note the Kuniba references). Spelling mistakes are also as Porfilio did them:

"Detailed History of Ralph Porfilio's Martial Arts Career"

1965 - Begain training in the art of Goshin-Jutsu Karate at age 15.

1968 - Accepted into the "Seishin-Kai karate Union" under the leadership of Siyugo Kuniba, one of the Few Americans to be registered in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, Registed #27.
-Began private instruction to friends and relatives.

1969 -Promoted to the rank of 1st degree Black Belt in the art of Karate, a rarity at that time.
-Accepted into the "Hokkoryu Martial Arts Federation" under
the leadership of Kyoho Okuyama.
-Continued studying and giving private instruction to friends
and relatives.

1974 -Promoted to the rank of 2nd degree Black Belt in the art of
Karate

1975 -Promoted to the rank of 3rd degree Black Belt in the art of
Karate

1976 -Accepted into the "All american Karate Federation under the
leadership of Hidetaka Nishiyama"

1977 --Promoted to the rank of 4th degree Black Belt in the art of
Karate
-Promoted to the rank of 3rd degree Black Belt in the art of
Jui-Jitsu
-Promoted to the rank of 3rd degree Black Belt in the art of
Bu-Gei (oriental Weaponry)

1981- -Promoted to the rank of 5th degree Black Belt in the art of
Karate.