About the Staten Island Kouketsu Dojo

Our mission and teaching philosophy

The mission of the Staten Island Kouketsu Dojo is to develop and discipline the human spirit. This discipline must be self-imposed in order for it to be meaningful; however external discipline is required in order to learn internal discipline. The method of training and practice is the same - constant repetition of both solo and partner exercises. The actual movements are secondary to the spirit or approach of the student.

The goal of this Dojo is not the attainment of a particular belt or fighting skill but rather the process of learning itself, everything else is a by-product of the training. In martial arts we frequently speak of the practice of our arts as the Way or “Do” - a term that symbolizes process.

The martial arts represent the means to the end - the process or the path. It is not physical prowess at the art that is important but rather mental attitude and state of mind while engaged in the art. This Dojo along with your hard work and training will show you the way.

Glenn Cunningham is Taira Sensei's Official Representative of the Goju-ryu Karate Kenkyukai in Okinawa, Japan for the New York City area.

The goal of this Dojo is not the attainment of a particular belt or fighting skill but rather the process of learning itself.

Our Tradition

We teach Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate-Jutsu. Goju-ryu (剛柔流), (Japanese for "hard-soft style") is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book Bubishi (Chinese: wu bei ji), used by Okinawan masters during the 19th and 20th centuries. Go which means hard, refers to closed hand techniques or straight linear attacks; Ju which means soft, refers to open hand techniques and circular movements.

Our Roots

We teach Okinawan Gojuryu Karate-Jutsu. This Dojo is a Shibu (Branch) of the So-Honbu Goju-ryu Karate Kenkyukai in Okinawa, Japan

Our Guidelines

A good teacher whose name will become known throughout the world, is one who has gone through many years of difficult training, suffered through and overcome difficult living conditions, and yet does not boast about it. He must always let this example filter down to others and guide them on their path. We emphasize the following guidelines in order to train students;