Karate (Goju Ryu)

Karate is a Japanese martial art which is rooted in China. Development took place on the Japanese island of Okinawa, which had important trading ties to mainland China. In karate, different styles can be distinguished, the one practiced at Kenkon is called ‘Okinawa Goju Ryu Karate-do’. Goju Ryu is a traditional style, in which effective self-defense is linked to the positive contributions to physical and mental development.

In earlier times the karate practitioners of Kenkon were training under the name of ‘Karate school Ta-Mo’, which has evolved into the Kenkon training centre. Karate at Kenkon is residing under the IOGKF-Netherlands and affiliated with the Dutch Karate-do Federation (KBN). Its chief instructor is sensei Sydney Leijenhorst, 5th dan, who is responsible for most of the training sessions. Sensei Leijenhorst is involved with the national instructors academy of the KBN and is also an instructor at the national martial arts academy FOG. Other people involved in teaching karate at Kenkon are Wijnand Meurs (4th dan), Peter Slenders (4rd dan) and Bart Pekel (4rd dan).

Training takes place in our own training halls (or ‘Dojo’), which are equipped with wooden floors and training facilities like punching bags, makiwara (punching boards) and other, more traditional devices like weights. Lessons are adapted at specific groups, for instance novice, advanced, kids and senior training. Special training sessions are organised regularly, based on sparring or kata (forms), or with emphasis on special themes like zen training.