Rayford Shorin-Ryu Karate & Kobudo | Gyms & Fitness Centers

As a new student in martial arts, it is difficult to understand just how much Shorin-Ryu has to offer without having another style to compare it to. Many styles of karate offer the experience of learning katas (forms) without the student really understanding what the movements are all about. There are literally thousands upon thousands of individuals who achieve high ranks without the knowledge of how to use their art in a realistic manner. 

There are also several who win kata competitions at tournaments with great and sound looking techniques, but still no knowledge of the kata's content.  Shorin-Ryu offers an education in bunkai (practical kata application), which allows the student to truly experience the art in the spirit for which it was originally intended; self-defense. 

Shorin-Ryu is one of Okinawa's two original styles of karate (the other one being Goju-Ryu), wherein the practitioners of these styles had no concept of their art being a "sport".  Shuri (Shorin-Ryu) and Naha (Goju-Ryu) Okinawa were villages of oppressed people who had one thing in mind when they practiced their arts; survival.