# Any high-level Goju Ryu fighters here?



## Mountie (Jan 28, 2018)

I'm dealing with a bit of a problem.  I currently train in Japanese Ju Jitsu and there are no other JJJ schools within 90 minutes of here.  My school is closing the my choices to replace it are limited.

I have no one I can talk to in person, as everyone I know either has no idea or they're involved in a club and they push whatever they're doing with little thought as to what I need.  People get passionate when talking about their styles.  

I'm leaning toward a Goju Ryu karate school.  I trained in it for a while in my younger years, and I think it will fit in with my current skills nicely.  I keep second-guessing the choice, as I was still very junior and my last school was focused on art more than self defense.  The school here takes conditioning and defense seriously, but I worry that Goju will not be practical enough for me.

I'm a small guy, and my takedowns keep me out of trouble at work (law enforcement) and I hope Goju Ryu would help round out my skills.  It seems to be a close combat style that compliments JJJ nicely.  

My other nearby options are Muay Thai, but I don't strike if I can avoid it as I train so I can arrest people without injury, or BJJ, but I don't want to ground fight if I can avoid it.  While I know that BJJ is the art of choice for some police officers, again I'm small and the risk level in a grappling match changes drastically when you're carrying weapons on your belt.  I worked my ground fighting a lot in JJJ so I can escape and re-engage from a standing position.

All three are good schools with quality instructors.  Although the Muay Thai and BJJ are incredibly expensive, they also have better instructors/facilities and I can afford to go to any of them.  Not easily, but I can manage.

Sorry for the long post.  I'm hoping there are people on here who train on Goju who can confirm/deny whether it will suit me.


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## MA_Student (Jan 29, 2018)

No one knows if it'll suit you because no one knows you. No one knows the school. Just go there see if you like it or not and go from there that's the only advice you'll get here because that's all anyone can really say


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## hoshin1600 (Jan 29, 2018)

Agree with what @MA_Student  said.
I can tell you some of the benefits of Goju.
You will get stronger. More grounded and stable in you stances.  In combat people have a tendency to trip over themselves when the adrenaline starts pumping. The dynamic tension training will help counter act that.  If it is okinawan Goju rather than Japanese goju kai, there may be some wrist controll, arm bar type stuff in the curriculum as well.
I think it is the solid stability that Goju gives that sets it apart from other arts. That solidness applies to your core muscles  as well as the shoulders and arms.
In full disclosure to you I am a uechi-ryu guy and have only done a small amount of Goju. But the two are related and very similar sharing a few kata and origins.


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## Charlemagne (Jan 29, 2018)

Mountie said:


> I'm dealing with a bit of a problem.  I currently train in Japanese Ju Jitsu and there are no other JJJ schools within 90 minutes of here.  My school is closing the my choices to replace it are limited.
> 
> I have no one I can talk to in person, as everyone I know either has no idea or they're involved in a club and they push whatever they're doing with little thought as to what I need.  People get passionate when talking about their styles.
> 
> ...



It sounds like Goju would probably round out your stand up game pretty well with your background. As for the ground, and wanting to avoid it, I quite agree.  Having said that, those who are best at avoiding the ground tend to be the people who are the best at taking the fight there.  And, if the thing you want to avoid does happen (the other guys get a vote right?), then you would be well suited to handle it, and get back to your feet ASAP if you knew what you were doing there.  In addition, there are some guys doing some great stuff with weapon retention and deployment while in bad situations (e.g., the ground) these days.  






It's your butt on the line, so it is obviously up to you, but I just wanted to let you know that there is more to it than you might think.  

Stay safe!


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## Mountie (Jan 29, 2018)

Thanks everyone.  Nice to hear from some others and to have a place to bounce ideas.  

I'm mostly disappointed because I was in such a good place.  Great school, well rounded art, once I got my black belt I was going to go to other schools for 1 day a week and try to challenge myself and focus on my weak points.  Take BJJ for 6 months, work on ground, take kickboxing for 6 months, work on my strikes, keep going to JJJ twice a week.  This was not part of the plan.  

I'll probably try the Goju school, see how it goes.  BJJ was my next choice, and I know it's a good choice and an excellent martial arts style, but there's a big thing holding me back.  I don't enjoy ground fighting.  I train in it because I know its important, but if it were the entire style I suspect I'll start finding excuses to skip classes.  

Thanks for the support all.  At the end of the day, I'll keep training and improving myself.  Got a lot of years left in me yet.


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## drop bear (Jan 29, 2018)

Going to throw an idea out there for the Thai. To be able to train you are going to have to find a way to not mess people up. Any system with sparring will come with a force continuum.

Otherwise learn to wrestle. Which is kind of the core concepts of grappling. And again in wrestling you train by subduing people without crippling them.

So basically wrestling is what makes all your other grappling work. This is because wrestling is your positions (mostly) and your timing.

If you want to do a wrist lock. You have to find a path that goes from you standing there to you isolating an arm while not getting killed in the process.


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## donald1 (Jan 29, 2018)

Go ahead and give it a try. I've practiced goju ryu long enough to say it will help you. Although technically it doesn't take a high ranking member to recommend the style.


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## pgsmith (Jan 29, 2018)

Something else to consider is whether any of the upper belts in your current school would be interested in continuing your training. They may be interested in getting together with you a couple of times a week to not only continue your training, but to give them someone to train with also.

  Just a thought, as I've done this myself in the past.


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## JR 137 (Jan 29, 2018)

On paper, Goju seems like a good fit.  On paper.  There’s going to be variation from school to school and teacher to teacher.  And if they’re teaching what you want to learn, do you click with the teacher and students?  Only one way to find out.

Have you considered Judo?  Wrestling?  Both of those may have what you’re looking for as well.  Again, visit whatever’s available.


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## Mountie (Jan 29, 2018)

pgsmith said:


> Something else to consider is whether any of the upper belts in your current school would be interested in continuing your training. They may be interested in getting together with you a couple of times a week to not only continue your training, but to give them someone to train with also.
> 
> Just a thought, as I've done this myself in the past.



Working on this now, just not sure how it will work out.  We throw pretty hard and it requires at least some space/mats.  

As for wrestling/judo, I've like both, but no clubs nearby.  Although if I need to there's a city 30 minutes from here that has a few more options I can look at more closely.  Just missing JJJ.  It had some of everything and was suited my needs very well.


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## DaveB (Jan 30, 2018)

If those are your only options then train Goju ryu and find out when the other two spar and show up on the sparring days to develop and hone your skills. 
If they clash then alternate but I would keep Goju as your core.

The reason being is that karate is a kind of Jack-of-All art (regardless of the branch you study). It is a superb platform on which to build a personally tailored fighting style almost regardless of how they train in the class, because the ingrained movement patterns and structures are so universally useful. 

Plus in your specific case Goju utilises soft elements including locking that you can easily use as a jump off to your previous training, while hopefully bolstering your striking ability.


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## drop bear (Jan 30, 2018)

Never mind.....


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