How many practitioners of Goju Ryu do we have here at MT?

Studied Goju-Ryu under Sensei Sonny Ono in my younger years and it helped me make the transition into Kempo.

Best Regards,

Jerry

I studied it many years ago (Okinwan Goju-ryu Karate-do Shobukan), but not now.

Studied with Firdaus S.A in High school, never went beyond Saifa, Sanchin and Tensho though. During my university days I switch to Wado-ryu. But I still do Sanchin and Tensho almost everyday.

Incidentally, my Wado sensei also holds a Shodan in Goju. So he was like me, he studied Goju a little before switch to Wado.

I found the breathing Katas of Goju far superior than any Wado Kata. So I am keeping my Goju Kata in my personal training sessions. I also like the body conditioning like arm pounding, exchanging leg kicks etc.

I loved Tensho. What a great kata!

I loved Tensho. What a great kata!

Some people told me that the tensho hand movements (the pushing and pulling and craneblocks etc) has some resemblances to arnis hand trapping techniques, is this true?

You can make a cse for that. I wouls say that I notice a huge resemblance of Tensho to Wing Chun, and a resemblance of Wing Chun to arnis.

"notice a huge resemblance of Tensho to Wing Chun"

This is not too surpising since Goju Ryu is essentially a Chinese art. You can go to places in southern China where they still practice the Goju Kata almost exactly the same, of course with the exception of the Miyagi created kata.

I studied Goju Ryu in the National Karate and Jiu Jitsu Union under Bill Knoblock and also in IOGKF under Jong Lee.

One of my Aikido teachers also taught Goju Ryu at another school. He used to bring his Goju students to Aikido class to further explore the bunkai to thier kata. He said that every Aikido technique is found some where in Goju Ryu. I believe that.

I knew of the similarities to Five Ancestor Fist and crane styles, but was surprised how very similar Tensho and the basic moves of Wing Chun were.

Uh oh.. so.. Goju, Wing Chun, Arnis, all rooted in South China and therefore all are same concepts with different packaging?

I thought GM. Miyagi created tensho from his own head?

But apparently the movements he used to construct tensho already existed in the older arts?

Well, Wing Chun and Goju have roots in Southern China, but not arnis. I think that's more a matter of coincidence. There are also fewer similarities there.

Isn't Tensho (http://students.washington.edu/gojuryu/kata5.html) a modification by Chojun Miyagi of an older Chinese form? Rokkishu, maybe?

The current issue of JAMA (Vol. 14, No. 4) has an article on Yagi Meitoku and the 5 paired kata he contributed to the art. It was interesting reading.

As far as I know, the only kata that Miyagi created are the Gekisai.
Is Tensho not found in other styles?

I don't think it's in other Karate styles (that aren't variants of Goju), but I do think it's from a Chinese original. I don't know how modified it is.

I don't think it's in other Karate styles (that aren't variants of Goju), but I do think it's from a Chinese original. I don't know how modified it is.

Some of the open palm movements looks like "Saamchien" done in south china Kuntao. We have Kuntao people too here in Indonesia.

The Okinawan Sanchin is absolutely the same as the Chinese Sam Chien, albeit modified. Tensho has some similarities to it but is softer. They're related; I've seen them compared to Yin and Yang aspects (Sanchin being hard, Tensho being soft).

The Okinawan Sanchin is absolutely the same as the Chinese Sam Chien, albeit modified. Tensho has some similarities to it but is softer. They're related; I've seen them compared to Yin and Yang aspects (Sanchin being hard, Tensho being soft).

I have videoclips of Chinese people doing Saam Chien. Is it ok to post it here?

"Some of the open palm movements looks like "Saamchien""
Isn't this nearly identical to the original Sanchin?
There is a video from Dragon-Tsunami on the Saamchien from Feeding Crane Style. I have not seen the video but it was reccomended to me in order to see the close Chinese connection.

I have videoclips of Chinese people doing Saam Chien. Is it ok to post it here?

Well, it's certainly OK by me. What's the concern? Copyright?

Well, it's certainly OK by me. What's the concern? Copyright?

Yup, that's one. But I will go ahead and post it within a few days. The people demonstrating this aren't professionals mind you, they just plain chinese citizens who train at parks at their spare time. They dont even have uniforms on. However their technique are very good. I guess that's one proof that we dont really need high-tech training centers to become good in the martial arts.

The Okinawan Sanchin is absolutely the same as the Chinese Sam Chien, albeit modified. Tensho has some similarities to it but is softer. They're related; I've seen them compared to Yin and Yang aspects (Sanchin being hard, Tensho being soft).

I found one of those Saam Chien/Sanzan clips on my sensei's website

http://www.geocities.com/wadokai_indonesia/guilianjing.zip

I can't help but to see Sanchin and Tensho's embryo in this hsing/kata :)
Whaddya think?

PS: If the original owners of the clips are offended by this posting, I apologize deeply and will delete the file immediately.

"Some of the open palm movements looks like "Saamchien""
Isn't this nearly identical to the original Sanchin?
There is a video from Dragon-Tsunami on the Saamchien from Feeding Crane Style. I have not seen the video but it was reccomended to me in order to see the close Chinese connection.

Do you see the chinese connections in the above clip, Jim san? :)

I wonder why nobody comments on the clip? Have anyone downloaded it yet?

The Okinawan Goju I've been exposed to performs sanchin much more slowly with deep inhalations and exhalations of breath. I can see the resemblence, though. I'd say the Uechi-Ryu version of sanchin comes closer to the clip you provided than Goju's.

The Okinawan Goju I've been exposed to performs sanchin much more slowly with deep inhalations and exhalations of breath. I can see the resemblence, though. I'd say the Uechi-Ryu version of sanchin comes closer to the clip you provided than Goju's.

Yes, I noticed that too. Also, many Kuntao guys in Indonesia does almost the same Sanchin/Saam Chien. The breathing techniques varies but it's always the same finger pokes and rooted stances.

Are you from Uechi-ryu?

No, I do not study Uechi-Ryu. I do know a couple of the Uechi-Ryu kata, but I do not actively train in the style.

I used to study Goju-Ryu before I moved away for my job. I'm currently with a karate club that rather sport-oriented. I enjoy the physical training and even the sparring, but I'm looking for a situation with teachers with more in-depth knowledge. I might pursue a kung fu style next. In my years of studying martial arts, I've found that the right instructor is more important than the style, as long as the style is a reasonable one to start with.

I always wanted to work out with Uechi people but unfortunately there arent any here. Well I guess I'll have to work out with Kuntao people for now. After all, they're all south Chinese Kungfu :)

Sir-

I have the great opportunity to teach at a yearly Uechi-ryu camp here in Massachusetts run by George Mattson Sensei. I've always been fascinated by the historical connection between Uechi-ryu, Goju-ryu, and the more southern arts like Ngo Cho. Of course, they all share that Fukien / Fujian parentage along the way. There are some great clips of Uechi-ha Sanchin on Mattson Sensei's website www.uechi-ryu.com (http://www.uechi-ryu.com).

-wes

Dear Wes,

I am glad to finally "meet" an Uechi-ryu teacher. My sensei have a book written by Mr. Mattson about Uechi. He is most surprised by that book because the Sanchin looks a little bit like the breathing exercises in the Kuntao he learned from Mr. Khu Chen Yong.

Does the clip above looks anything like what you practiced in Uechi-ryu? The Saam Chien that we practiced here in Kuntao Macan is rather similar.

Sir-

I apologize for leaving out that even though I teach at a Uechi-ryu camp, I do not practice Uechi-ryu. I teach Pekiti Tirsia, Kuntao, and Pentjak Silat at the camp. Mattson Sensei likes to have his students exposed to other arts, so at this yearly camp there are many teachers of different traditions who teach there, along with some of the most senior Uechi-ka in the US. Again I apologize for leaving that out. Thank you.

-wes tasker

I practiced Goju Ryu for a while under Sensei Miko Peled
I also got to train with Hiagonna Sensei a few times. I'm not currently training in this style though.

Altough apperently not common, Tensho and Sanchin are taught outside Goju some places. They are taught at brown belt level in our wado club. We also do pushing hands now and then and our sensei commented on similarities between these movements and said kata.

Sanchin is pretty common (Isshin and Uechi are other examples, though the Uechi version is noticeably different). Tensho i smuch less common though.

I see similarities between Tensho and Wing Chun's Sil Lum Tao form!

I started Goju-Ryu a year ago.
Sort of fills out the things I miss after 13 years of Shotokan.

/Tim

Goju Ryu here!

i used to study goju ryu up until i was a teen and now that im 20 i take jiu jitsu and see some techniques are found in self defense and grappling. for example a bow is a simple defense against a choke from behind, and when we place our hands atop eachother before and after a kata signifies a sleeve choke used in gi grappling, very interesting!!!

Nahate Goju Ryu here (sub-variant of Peter Urban's lineage). Heavy usage of shotokan kata at my school.

I would really like to study more traditional Goju Ryu when the chance arises.