GOJU KAI KARATE DO AUSTRALIA
I.K.G.A
Website of International Karate
do Goju Kai Association Vice President Paul Starling - Hanshi
WRITTEN BY GOGEN YAMAGUCHI TO PAUL SHIHAN
Gogen Yamaguchi & Paul in Sydney Australia 1970.
Paul Starling - Hanshi [ 8th Dan ] is a Vice President of the International Karate do Goju Kai Association - and a representative on the
I.K.G.A. Presidents Council
Founder of Sydney Goju Kan in 1970- & Former Patron of Goju-Kai Karate-do Sydney Inc.
Thank
you for taking the time to visit our I.K.G.A. Vice President's website
of Goju Kai Karate do
School of Yamaguchi. This style was established in 1963 in Sydney
Australia. The Australian branch of Goju Kai has a very long standing
tradition of an unbroken lineage directly to Grandmaster Gogen
Yamaguchi and hence his successor and third son Goshi Yamaguchi now
aged 80 who is designated as Saiko Shihan .
Paul
Starling Hanshi, joined Goju Kai Karate do in the early 1960's
and has
remained a member ever since, making him the most senior non Japanese
Instructor and World Vice President of the IKGA [International Karate
do Goju Kai Association].
Australia
is a continent as large as North America and distances between states
have always been prohibitive, yet Goju Kai has continued to flourish
here during the past 60+ years, largely as a result of the
combined efforts of the Shihan instructors located in New South
Wales, Victoria & Western Australia and Queensland. Although each
Chief Instructor has their own unique and individual method of teaching
and running their Dojo, they are united in a determined stance of
loyalty and respect for the Yamaguchi family and for Yamaguchi Goshi
Saiko Shihan.
Perhaps it could be argued that the strength of Goju Kai Karate do in Australia comes from the fact that the most senior Instructors here are of a very high rank, [at least 7th Dan], and that, of these Instructors and their Senior students, each has been training and teaching for at least 30-50+ years. At the same time, training with these Instructors are many other Shihan Instructors of 5th Dan and 6th Dan Rank who have also each been training and teaching for approximately 25-55 years.
Perhaps it could be argued that the strength of Goju Kai Karate do in Australia comes from the fact that the most senior Instructors here are of a very high rank, [at least 7th Dan], and that, of these Instructors and their Senior students, each has been training and teaching for at least 30-50+ years. At the same time, training with these Instructors are many other Shihan Instructors of 5th Dan and 6th Dan Rank who have also each been training and teaching for approximately 25-55 years.
Instructors
of the 4th Dan rank {Jokyo}, and 3rd Dan rank {Shidoin}, work with
their Chief Instructor or Shihan, cohesively, to keep
intact the traditional precepts of Goju Kai Karate do which state
that:-
We are proud to study the way of Goju Ryu.
We are courteous in manners
We are humble but strong
We cultivate the spirit of co-operation
We respect the Budo spirit of traditional martial arts. (The
spirit of Bushido)
The
Australian branch of Yamaguchi Goju-Kai maintains a strong link with
the Japanese
Headquarters of IKGA. Grandmaster Goshi Yamaguchi Saiko
Shihan visits our Country on a regular basis (usually every 2 years),
and since the 1960's Australia has frequently sent individuals as well
as large groups of students and Instructors to Japan, ensuring that
Australia keeps up to date with the latest methods of teaching and
training. It has been
said that outside of Japan and the United States school of Gosei
Yamaguchi Hanshi, that Australia has the longest history of Goju-Kai
Karate-Do associated with the Yamaguchi Family. We are proud of the
fact that we now have many Shihan Instructors in the Australian
branch of the IKGA, which is explained by our 60 year + history.
We hope that you will find time to sign our guestbook; to navigate this site please either view the pages that interest you from the Home Page/Site Map, or otherwise please press the last navigation link at the top & bottom of each page titled 'NEXT'.
As this
site is continually being modified, we hope that you will bookmark the
Home Page, and return intermittently, pressing the RELOAD
button, to view a regularly updated version of the site. The
International Karate do Goju Kai Association, currently have Dojo in
60+ different countries throughout the world, and we hope that you will
navigate and explore the various Websites of our worldwide association.
Members
may also be interested to attend European, Canadian, Australian,
African, South American or Asian Summer and Winter camps held regularly
and taught by Goshi Yamaguchi Saiko Shihan. Sydney members have
previously
attended Seminars in Sweden,Karlsgogaar, Corfu-Greece & Japan,and
Western Australians & Victorians attended Championships &
Seminars in Japan, India Malaysia & Brazil and beyond.
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©
2023 www.gojukai.com.au Goju Kai Karate Do
Sydney Goju Kan - Paul
Starling Vice President I.K.G.A.
