Why Goju? By Gavin Mulholland
After nearly 50 years training in the martial arts, primarily in the Okinawan Karate style of Goju Ryu, I think that I have heard, and answered, most of the questions that people tend to ask. As such, I was rather surprised, if not taken aback slightly, when someone asked me a rather straightforward, but ultimately deeply penetrating question;
All photographs appear courtesy of Gavin Mulholland.
Why Goju? It really got me thinking; how many of us actually question what we do and why we do it? In truth, it is difficult to know where to start, so I will start with a caveat that what follows is my view and not necessarily the view of the ‘Goju Community’ as a whole. Actually, that gives me the ideal place to start – the Goju Community… One of Goju’s absolute strengths (its key strength in my opinion) lies in its diversity. You can go to one Goju school and the sparring is full-contact, another where it is semi-contact, another still which rarely spars at all. You will see Black Belts who are phenomenal kickers and others who can barely get their leg above their waist. Some clubs grapple, others don’t , etc., etc. Generally, being a close-quarter system, Goju has retained its grappling and ground-fighting much better than most schools but as a general rule, you will tend to find more grappling in Okinawan variants, than you will in the Japanese. Now I know that this all sounds like a muddle but it really is our secret strength! No one has ever tried to ‘standardise’ Goju. That guy may not be able to kick, but he will take you down and choke you out on the floor.
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