Old School Karate – Koryu
Not all Karate is the same……
Old School Karate (or “Koryu” as it is usually called) is not a style, but rather a philosophy of realistic & effective self defense that was applied by the original creators of Karate, the Okinawans.
A feature of this philosophy is that instruction was given in small group and often one on one settings so that teaching could be tailored to individual needs.
When Japan annexed Okinawa and Karate started being adopted on the Japanese mainland, some good and also some unhelpful things occurred.
The Japanese gave karate structure including uniforms, grading systems and more standardised curricula.
However, they over-ritualised and over stylised their iterations of Karate putting style very much ahead of substance and losing the focus on practicality and effectiveness in the process.
As Karate was introduced to universities they also focussed increasingly on Karate as a competitive sport to engage these young students. Again they lost the essence of effectiveness and practicality that characterised Koryu – Old School Karate.
With the inspiration and pioneering hard work of instructors like Gojukensha’s Ohtsuka Tadahiko O-sensei and later Koryu Uchinadi’s Patrick McCarthy, a whole lot of knowledge has been rediscovered and expanded on by groups such as Kin Shin Kai.
Our methods and teaching are based firmly on Old School Karate principles and delivered via the framework of traditional Goju Ryu karate.
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