Karate-do (way of the empty hand) is now practised all over the world and there are many different
styles to choose from. A lot of the more recent styles have been "westernised" and have become sport
or competition karate where the students are taught how to fight in a very restricted way and kata
have no meaning other than to be performed in front of an audience.
The roots of karate began on the island of Okinawa, the largest isle in the Ryuku archipelago to the
south of main islands of Japan (see The History of Goju-Ryu Karate). The
Birmingham dojos teach Goju-Ryu (hard/soft style), one of the three original traditional styles from
Okinawa.
Goju-Ryu is a very practical style encompassing many drills, techniques applications that are
missing in many other styles of karate. Katas are at the core of Goju-Ryu and each technique of the
kata can be applied to real fighting techniques.
The Birmingham area has three long standing dojos affiliated to the GKI (Goju-Ryu Karate-do
International), in Solihull, Stirchley and Moseley.
Because the instructors have all trained together for many years they have a very open policy
where the students from each dojo often train at the other dojos with the other instructors.
The dojos band together for gradings (graded by a committee of all of the instructors from the
dojos) and external courses and instructors are welcome to enrich and enhance the students
understanding of all aspects of martial arts.
