The Way of Least Resistance

Continued from Part 1 of this article. Factors that might explain the “traditional” or “standard” history of goju-ryu There is a tendency for martial artists to venerate the past and play down innovation. It is tradition that gives legitimacy. In goju-ryu we are told that Chojun Miyagi passed down an art form established by his teacher Kanryo Higaonna. Yet everything indicates that Miyagi was an innovator and set the benchmark - not Higaonna, however skilled and knowledgeable the latter might have been. We know that Miyagi introduced tensho, his own sanchin and the gekisai. We know he performed his kata very differently from Higaonna, emphasising dynamic tension, closed fists etc. The art of goju-ryu was named by him. He is the one who is recognized as the "founder" of the system, not Higaonna. There must be a reason for this. The "standard" history is not backed up by any technical or historical comparison with tou'on ryu, goju's sister art. Furthermore, F...

Introduction In recent years various prominent martial arts researchers have postulated that goju-ryu kata fall into 2 groups that come from different sources: The first is “cluster H”, being kata that were taught to Chojun Miyagi by Kanryo Higaonna and consisting of: sanseru sesan suparinpei sanchin (Higaonna style) The second is “cluster M”, being kata that Chojun Miyagi acquired, or developed from material acquired, from a different source and consisting of: saifa seiunchin shisochin sepai kururnfa (as well as the gekisai kata and tensho that Miyagi is known to have created). The theory and its supporting arguments were recently published in an article a few months back in Journal of Asian Martial Arts (16:4, 2007) entitled “A Preliminary Analysis of Goju-Ryu Kata Structures” by Fernando Camara and Mario McKenna. For those who cannot access the article, you’ll get the gist of Mario McKenna’s argument here: on his blog 1 . Researcher Joe Swift explores what is principally the same th...

It is known that a version of Seisan was taught in Naha by Seisho Aragaki as early as 1867. Moreover the Shuri and Tomari te styles of karate (the “Shorin” schools) appear to have taught a version of Seisan even before this. Seisan is presently taught in all Goju-ryu schools, in Ryuei-Ryu, in Tou’on-ryu and Uechi-ryu (the "Naha te" schools). Although the Uechi-ryu version is significantly different from the other Naha te schools in the second half, the first half is clearly identifiable as being from the same source. As with Sanchin, Seisan is said to have been performed originally with open hands (which is still the case in the Uechi-ryu kata). Seisan is also still common to all systems of Shorin schools, truly warranting its status as "the universal kata". At first glance the Shorin versions of Seisan appear to be completely different to those of the Naha te schools, however a closer analysis reveals that they too are related, albeit distantly. Goju seisan - as pe...