| USAGF History
Goju Karate (from the Japanese Go, meaning Hard, and Ju, meaning Soft) was originated by Master Chojun Miyagi. He combined the
strong snap techniques of the Okinawan Style with the soft techniques
of Chinese Kenpo. Goju is the Way of Hard and Soft.
Gogen Yamaguchi
was Chojun Miyagi's successor as the head of the Goju Karate system.
Known as "The Cat", he founded the first Goju school in Japan. Master
Yamaguchi made great efforts to promote his art.
Peter Urban was a student of Gogen Yamaguchi. After receiving his
master's degree in Japan, he returned to the United States and founded
United States (Urban) Goju. Today it is the United States of America
Goju Association (USAGA). You will see many different American Goju
styles of Karate. They have all, in some way, stemmed from Master Urban.
A
school of karate, or ryu (pronounced "roo") is similar to a family tree. The base, or root, is the
founder. The limbs are the high ranking black belts. The leaves are
the students, who later, as the tree grows, become the limbs. |
