"Your hands are your weapons. Karate teaches you the skill of movement and eye contact. It teaches you to set your opponent up for your attack".- Shihan

         MARTIAL ARTS

 
"I come to you with only Karate, Empty Hands. I have no weapons, but should I be forced to defend myself, my principles, or my honor, should it be a matter of life or death, of right or wrong, then here are my weapons, Karate, my Empty Hands."
                  Ed Parker

 Goju-ryu, (Japanese for "hard-soft style") is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book Bubishi(Chinese: wu bei ji), used by Okinawan masters during the 19th and 20th centuries. Go which means hard, refers to closed hand techniques or straight linear attacks; Ju which means soft, refers to open hand techniques and circular movements.

Major emphasis is given to breathing correctly. Goju-ryu practices methods that include body strengthening and conditioning, its basic approach to fighting (distance, stickiness, power generation, etc.) and partner drills. Goju-ryu incorporates both circular and linear movements into its curriculum. Goju-ryu combines hard striking attacks such as kicks and closed hand punches with softer open hand circular techniques for attacking, blocking and controlling the opponent, including locks, grappling, takedowns and throws.

The tonfa can be gripped by the short perpendicular handle or by the longer main shaft. In defense, if the handle is grasped then the shaft protects the forearm and hand while the knob protects the thumb. If both ends of the shaft are held, the shaft can be used to ward off blows and the handle can be used as a hook to catch the opponent's weapons.

Tonfa are traditionally wielded in pairs, one in each hand. This is unlike police nightsticks, which are generally used alone. As the tonfa can be held in many different ways, education in the use of the tonfa often involves learning how to switch between different grips at high speed. Such techniques require great manual dexterity. As with all Okinawan weapons, many of the forms are reflective of empty hand techniques.

The bō is typically gripped in thirds, and when held horizontally in front, the right palm is facing away from the body and the left hand is facing the body, enabling the bō to rotate. The power is generated by the back hand pulling the bō, while the front hand is used for guidance. When striking, the wrist is twisted, as if turning the hand over when punching.[4] Bō technique includes a wide variety of blocks, strikes, sweeps, and entrapments. The bō may even be used to sweep sand into an opponent's eyes.

Eskrima, Arnis and Kali refer to a class of Filipino martial arts that emphasize weapon-based fighting with sticks, blades and improvised weapons. Although training starts with weapons, empty hand techniques, trapping and limb destruction are also a core part of these arts as the weapon is merely an extension of the body.

This simple and common walking stick
can be used in many ways to defend yourself. We have several forms that teach an effective way to use this very useful weapon.

Class Pictures

These are the basic weapons that we start off studying.