Karate @ FightUK.com

Read Part one.

The name Goju-Ryu.

The naming of Goju-Ryu came about more by accident than design. In 1930, one of Chojun Miyagi’s top students, Jin’an Shinzato was attending a Martial Arts convention in Tokyo. He was asked by numerous martial arts masters as to what school of martial arts he practiced. As Naha-te had no formal name he could not answer this question. Feeling his art would be looked down upon and given amateur status, he quickly picked Hankry-ryu, which means the Way of Half Hard. On his return to Okinawa he reported this incident to Chojun Miyagi. He liked Shinzato’s idea and took it one step further. After much consideration, Chojun Miyagi decided on the name ‘Goju-Ryu’ (hard and soft school) as a name for his style. He took this name from a line in the Bubishi (a classical Chinese text on martial arts and other subjects). This line, which appears in a poem describing the eight precepts of the martial arts, reads “Ho Goju Donto” (the way of inhaling and exhaling is hardness and softness). The whole poem reads as follows:
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Hello. I am looking for a list of Shotokan technique names in Japanese. I would like to know the names of each technique when I practice kihon, such as forward punch, reverse punch, front snap kick, etc. This website provides some of the information, but I would like something more comprehensive. Thank you.

Re: Japanese names of techniques

Here”s a starter list with pronunciation

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When moving in Shotokan there are a few things you want to keep in mind. First and foremost is to keep your feet on the ground (unless you are jumping for a reason). I know this sounds silly, but let me explain. Having both feet on the ground adds stability to all stances. It also makes it more difficult (though not impossible) to fall victim to a foot sweep. When you are walking and/or changing stances, you want to glide the foot across the floor. Raise it enough to move it, but always be sure you are in contact with the floor.
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