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The style of karate which is taught by Lotus Defence Karate-Do is a blend of both Shotokan and Goju Ryu karate. Both of these styles have tremendous qualities in their own right and those who train in one or the other may not understand or may question why we have chosen to blend the two together. The perfect answer to this (below) was found on the Gojuryu.net.
“...... Many of us come from branches that have grown differently. Some branches have grown strong and some are weak however it is not in our hands to criticize one from the other. Very few of these branches had seen the original sprout however all did come from the same seed and are capable of producing fruit, new and different branches and even new trees. Some of the trees will not fall far from the ground whereas others may take up root far away in another land. Some will spread additional fruit and others will return to the Earth never reproducing; and some branches will become a major branch receiving a different part of the sunlight and producing a different flavour fruit.
All in all we must remember we came from the same seed, share the same original roots and need to nourish our seedlings and grow new branches. We must teach and spread in the correct manner to remain a healthy tree. And we must respect our roots and our seniors who taught us the same manner.” - JP Williams, 1999
"Shuha Rei" is the respectful gesture of teaching modified methods, instilling personal or regional ideas, experimenting with new techniques according to science available in your particular time period, creating a new branch while changing it to fit your needs and criteria in your particular art. – Gojuryu.net |
Our aim is not to diminish Shotokan and Goju Ryu as individual styles, but rather to blend the qualities of each in order to benefit from both.