The Essence of Goju Ryu ... re-visited

In June I wrote a post on The Essence of Goju Ryu, the book that was just published as a joint project between Barrett Sensei and his contributor Garry Lever. Having read the book I now present you with a  short critical review of this book, which I see it as an invaluable addition to my martial arts book collection. This article appeared on Newsgrape.

The first observation I make about this book is how fluid the writing is. I don't know why I am surprised; possibly because I expected that the concepts in this book would be difficult to understand. Instead, the reading flows and the understanding of its text follows. This, I noted is obvious from the usage of signposts that links smoothly the paragraphs and offers an overall flowing reading.I found that the explanations and examples given in support of the authors' arguments made in this book help the understanding of it. One example, is the term of chinkuchi. The authors explained this term  very well in the book and it is briefly described in the glossary too. The glossary is a section which was very useful as I am not familiar with terms that are either new or above my understanding of Goju Ryu Karate.

Another thorough explanation given is that of the link between shime whilst performing Sanchin kata and the Central Nervous System (CNS). In my understanding, the authors explain that it is very easy to 'put the breaks on' when forcing the body to cope with extraneous movements during Sanchin practice. That is, they explain because the CNS intervenes through the inhibiting factors to prevent causing damage to the body by the practitioner during Sanchin.

Moreover, reading this section in the book I understood not only that by tensing whilst doing Sanchin I do the kata incorrectly, but also that by 'putting the breaks on' because the CNS prevents me from doing damage to my body, I contribute to the stagnation of my progress in executing correctly the kata.
In a different section however, the authors answer why knowing the culture where a martial tradition was born is necessary. They argue that knowing about the Okinawan culture (in the case of Goju Ryu) and how superstitious Okinawan people are explains for instance,

'that the importance of the ancestorship should not be overlooked because they explain how come as part of their martial traditions of these island people notions such as Yoi kamae include much more than just a ready stance. They incorporate not just 'the entire wealth of experience of not only our own lifetimes, but also those of our ancestors, our teachers, and the past masters of our lineage.' (p. 83)

Furthermore, when explaining the value of Kokyu no michi (p. 92), the authors have generously complemented the writing with very good quality photos and drawings helping the reader in getting main points argued in this part. I found it immensely helpful whilst reading it and since included it into my training. Besides, the wealth of photos throughout the book is immensely helpful and particularly important in this and other parts of the book in understanding the breathing paths, the strength paths and the various thoughts on the use of Sanchin.

For me, the book also accounts as an invaluable source and a good starting point for those interested in traditional Chinese medicine. The authors explain the link between the ancient theory behind the Chinese medicine and the reason karate practitioners benefit from practising in bare feet. On page 86, they explain that by massaging certain pressure points in the feet through various turns and twists karate practitioners benefit much health wise.

In more general terms, I would divide the book in two main parts, GO and JU. The GO part would benefit more an intermediate or less experienced karateka whilst the JU would be easier to grasp by the advanced or more experienced karateka. In fact, the point at which I began to understand however that this book has far more depth than I can grasp begins with the JU section of the book.

In my effort to offer a more balanced critical review I wish to add two minor points. First, regarding the word subconscious to describe a fear anticipated by the student undergoing the shime - whilst reading it I thought that regarding the processes underlying the build-up of the anticipation needs further explanation. Hence, I found it confusing. Second, the book would benefit from having an index for when the reader wishes to make reference to a particular part or even term in the book.

No doubt, this book is a must for the likes of karateka who are precisely interested in the main topics included in this book, such as junbi undo, Sanchin kata and/or the miscellaneous thoughts on the use of Sanchin. This book is now part of my essential reading and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wishes to endeavour into researching beyond the obviousness of Goju Ryu karate to reach its essence.