Goju Ryu Go means "hard", Ju means "soft" and Ryu means "style". The Go aspect refers to a strike that emphasizes maximum power generation with little effort. There are many methods of power generation practiced in Kakurin Dojos (Training Halls) with the objective of increasing power in old age instead of decreasing, this is only possible with authentic training. The Ju aspect refers to the softer, sometimes yielding methods of defence that enables adhesion, sensitivity and eventual control of an attacker.

Kakurin Kan

Kaku means "crane" and rin means "people", and the term Kakurin refers to the strong influence of the The Chinese White Crane System of Gung Fu has had on Goju-Ryu.

Kakurin Kan Karate is real Karate-do, a synthesis of 34 years of training in the Japanese Goju Ryu Karate system of Goju Kensha headed in Japan by Hanshi Tadahiko Ohtsuka 9th Dan.

James Sumarac has been a personal disciple of Master Ohtsuka since their chance meeting in Tokyo in 1973. The preoccupation of competition Karate is not evident in Kakurin Kan, instead a relentless search of original and authentic martial art training methods and principles.

Karate-do

Karate comes from the Japanese meaning "empty hands", referring to a martial art that does not require actual weapons (instead using the human body as tools of this art), as well as the subtle Zen sense of being 'empty' of agressive thought. The "-do" suffix means "way".

Karate is a mature art and had its developments on the small island of Okinawa, part of the Ryukyu island chain that (both culturally and geographically) links China and Japan. Its origins lie in China.

Origins of this Style of Karate
Click here to read more about the origins of Goju Ryu Karate, its masters and developments.