Goju Kai Karate

Gojukai Karate Clubs
in Peterborough

Gogen Yamaguchi was born on January 20th in 1909 in Miyakonojou Shonai, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, near Kagoshima City on the island of Kyushu. Gogen Yamaguchi was named Jitsumi Yamaguchi by his father Tokutaro who was a merchant and later a schoolteacher and superintendent; his mother was Yoshimatsu . Jitsumi was their 3rd son and there were ten children in this very large Japanese family.

In his 5th year of primary school Yamaguchi commenced his karatedo training under the guidance of Maruta San, a carpenter joiner from Okinawa. Maruta San was a Gojuryu practitioner, a student of the legendary Chojun Miyagi of Okinawa. Gogen Yamaguchi studied directly with Chojun Miyagi later in 1929, after he and his then-current teacher and friend Jitsuei Yogi wrote to Chojun Miyagi and invited him to come to Japan.

Yamaguchi Goju Kai Origin of Goju Kai: Japan, 1950

Founder of Goju Kai: Yamaguchi Gogen (The Cat) 1909-1989. His sons Gosei and Gosen brought Goju Kai to California, United States in the sixties.

Gogen Yamaguchi was also famously known in the world of Karate do as ‘the Cat’; he was a very small man, just over five feet and a mere 160 pounds, however he projected the impression of great bulk and an aura reminiscent of the samurai era. He was first dubbed ‘the Cat’ by American GI’s for his gliding walk and flowing hair. He alone was primarily responsible for the spread of Gojuryu throughout the world today whereby hundreds of thousands of practitioners have experienced some form of training within traditional and non traditional Karate Dojo.

Goju Kai Karate is very similar in techniques and Katas to Goju Ryu. Goju Kai tends to place more emphasis on the sport side of training rather than the body conditioning and supplementary exercises of Goju Ryu. The founder of Goju Kai, Yamaguchi Gogen, is credited for introducing free sparring to Karate. Previously, Okinawan Karate styles only used Katas and pre-defined attack/defense techniques in their training.

Many Goju Kai schools exist today all over the world, and the characteristic clenched fist logo of Gojo Kai can easily be recognized. The insignia was designed by the late Gogen Yamaguchi in 1932, founder of Goju-Kai Karate-Do. In fact, the clenched fist insignia is vigorously protected by U.S. and international trademark and patent laws by those that currently hold the rights for it. Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gogen_Yamaguchi

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