Way of the Hard and Soft:
The Goju Ryu Method
A Word of Introduction
We, the creators of this website, attended a small Dojo located in the small town of Clyde, Pennsylvania. Our Sensei, Jeff Lamb, got injured in the course of teaching a class and as such had to close his school. He taught both Japanese Goju Ryu, and Ju-jitsu. With each belt we would gradually progress in both styles. Often our style of Goju Ryu was eclectic. Sensei Lamb allowed us to integrate various styles into our practice and try out techniques from martial arts books, magazines, and even movies. Our katas, and technique however did not suffer from this. I have personally won trophies at tournament for both Sparring and open hand kata, have placed in weapons kata, and am currently ranked #2 in the State of Pennsylvania for sparring in my division. My friend, and fellow webmaster, has at once been ranked number one in the state of Pennsylvania for kata and Sparring. It is likely though that some of our kata, or even our views may differ from the traditional Goju Ryu. A style must evolve. We have created this website in an attempt to keep our dojo alive. We have moved it from reality and into cyberspace.
Go - The Hard
The Yin and the Yang. The Hard and the Soft. The two compliment each other. Without the soft what is hardness? However, too much softness is not good. In Goju Ryu the hard refers to a quick and powerful motion. The hardness of Goju Ryu is the external martial art. Goju Ryu's combos are well known. The trick is to hit your opponent as many times as possible in the right places as to render them unable to fight. We do exercises to promote strength and speed in our technique to train ourselves to attack hard, and have our opponents feel it. Many of our blocks are as much offense as defense. If done correctly a block can injure an opponent more than an attack. The style is agressive, with the objective being to hit the opponent as many times as possible in a myriad of places. The opponent should not have time to react. When someone attacks a Goju Ryu practitioner they soon wish they had not.
Ju - The Soft
Goju Ryu is the perfect balance of aggression and gracefullness. Meeting force with force is not always the best way to go. Nuetralizing the force an opponent exerts or turning it against them is a large part of Goju Ryu. Smooth Crane style blocks like those of Chinese styles such as Hung Gar are used against our opponents, as though to say "I'm willing to fight, but not to exert myself." Indeed little power is needed for these "Soft" techniques. They have been likened to the flapping of a birds wing, or slapping the opponents arm. But believe me, you don't want me to "slap your arm". The bodies weaknesses are exploited as well. Have you ever tried to bend one of your joints, say your elbow, the wrong way? It hurts doesn't it? I like to think of it as begging the opponent to touch you so you can grab his arm and snap it in half. This internal part of Goju Ryu sets it apart from other styles.
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