While the material and information taught through the Shorin Goju school of karate is very traditional many of the methods for presenting that material are modern and, in fact, on the leading edge for the teaching and presentation of martial arts education. Our Shorin Goju school has fully embraced modern methods of communication and has made the highest quality traditional karate training far more widely available. While local lessons are still available most people simply do not live near one of our instructors. 

There was a time, not that long ago, when those of use who studied traditional karate systems were often relegated to working with our senior instructors only on rare occasions. Many of us could only make trips to see our teachers once or twice  year. This made study irregular and visits for training and testing quite costly. For many, due to the fact that there was no local school of traditional karate, study of these martial arts was out if the question. many  people were forced to study systems which were not quite what was desired or with instructors who might not be as qualified simply because of local availability.

Study of traditional karate through the Shorin Goju organization is now available to most people even if the nearest instructor is thousands of miles away. High Definition web-cams are now widely used by our instructing team to allow students anywhere to regularly train with instructors. Web-cam use is as simple as a phone call, often free and allows students and instructors alike to see and hear one another and allows for regular training sessions. Students also  have access to the most highly qualified instructors and often with far less expense than local schools. An added benefit is that students using this web-cam approach often also use screen capture video software and can then easily replay lessons in order to more fully understand the material. This sort of study is fantastic for those who have had their training placed on hiatus because of a move or loss of instructor. Students may use this method to become fully trained and fully ranked Shorin Goju practitioners and may also pursue complete instructor and mastery certification. 

Anyone of any style or rank who is interested in this approach to training need only contact Rob Barton to make arrangements to begin. This process generally includes an initial free phone or web-cam session to develop a plan and approach and to get an overall sense of where the student is and where the student wishes to go. 

Some of the applications for this mode of study include:

Individual lessons: The student and instructor have regularly scheduled on-line appointments which can be weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or on any schedule established by student and instructor. The student often works with his or her instructor and also practices and learns  on his or her own. Kata and techniques are generally learned through the use of videos that are viewable for free through many internet sources.

Partner lessons:  These work the same as individual lessons except that the two students team up and become training partners and share the appointments.  

Small club lessons: An interested student will host a small group of other local students, often in his or her home, garage or some other available space where a web-cam can be set up. These groups often train together two or more times a week with weekly to monthly web-cam lessons. This approach appeals to those who wish to become certified instructors, especially people with some previous experience in martial arts and who enter or instructor development and training program. The student instructor may act as an assistant instructor for the group under the supervision of a senior instructor. Web-cam lessons are taught by the senior instructor and the other training sessions are led by the assistant according to a training plan designed for the group.

Dojo support sessions: Local schools of karate which teach Shorin Goju or which have recently joined to the Shorin Goju family will often schedule sessions where a senior instructor of Shorin Goju can work with the local instructor and assistant instructors. Senior instructors can also use web-cams to observe student instructors as they teach in order to help those student instructors meet the requirements for full certification as instructors.

Specific seminars: Seminars are available to people of any rank and style who wish to be trained in a specific  subject area covered in Shorin Goju material.  Often these seminars are hosted by instructors of schools not affiliated with Shorin Goju and will be presented to that instructor and his or her teaching staff. This is a great way for people who are happy and accomplished with other systems of martial arts to access the material developed by our instructors and Goju in general over the last century in order to improve their own understanding and presentation of martial arts.

General instructor and mastery training: This is for those who practice other systems of martial arts and who would like to be more completely trained in general martial arts knowledge and skill. Often people have spent years mastering the forms and techniques of a specific method of martial arts and have no need or desire to learn a new system from the ground up. These people are happy with the information that they have but would like to become fully trained as instructors or to be trained to the levels of information necessary to be considered a master of martial arts. These people are trained in the skills of instruction and mastery and apply those skills to their own systems and schools. When the Grandmaster of Shorin Goju is prepared to certify these people they are given letters and certificates noting their training. They will also be given recognition letters and certificates of an objective, general martial arts ranking. Letters of presentation noting their study and general ranking will also be given, these letters are recognized by several large international martial arts associations who will then issues official certificates of rank and recognition through these larger bodies.

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