Traditional Okinawan Karate

Our karate is a Goju-ryu, or hard soft style called Meibukan that translates to "School of the pure warrior", this traditional karate style originates from Okinawa Japan lead by Kaicho Masaaki Ikemiyagi (Hanshi 9th dan).

Goju-ryu is one of the prevailing karate styles combining hard and soft technique. Ikemiyagi Sensei is the Chairman of All Okinawa Karate Federation, which is one of the leading organizations representing Okinawan karate.

Okinawan Goju-ryu teaches to hit with crippling force, but to move smoothly avoiding the opponent’s punches. One must skin a raging buffalo with the same lightness as they apply to a brush drawing a calligraphic letter, so to speak. But such elegance of hard punches comes only after years of practice.

Human body is seen as both hard — «go», and soft — «ju». To make a technique efficient one must use «ju» moves to the hard parts and «go» for soft ones. For example, a hard straight fist punch is used to reach the opponent’s stomach, but strikes on the head come with the soft part of hand.

In real life you never know who and when you will fight. That is why there are no competitions or weight classes in traditional Okinawan karate. As well as there is no opportunity to learn about the opponent ahead of time, to get to know his or her tactics or weak points. The idea is to develop flexibility and understanding of the fact that a fighter must be at his or her best 365 days a year.  (Excerpt from https://ikemiyagi.com/en/)

More about Kaicho Masaaki Ikemiyagi