The IOGKF and EGKA
Grading Syllabus

The IOGKF/EGKA Grading Syllabus Library

Your Annual Subscription

What you receive

Once we have collected your PayPal subscription payment we will send you a username and password, usually within 48 hours, that will allow you to access the IOGKF/EGKA Grading Syllabus library from any PC with broadband. You will also be able to view the videos on an iPhone or iPad.

You will be able to return to the library as often as you wish to view the content, which is periodically updated with new films.

You can add the Self Defence and Effective Karate libraries at any time. When you subscribe to an additional library, we will extend the expiry date of all of your existing libraries to the match the subscription period of your latest purchase.

When you purchase a subscription you become subject to the Terms and Conditions published on this website.

Cost

Annual subscriptions: Join Now

Grading Levels Covered New Upgrade Renew
Level 1: 9th – 3rd Kyu £25 £35 £20
Level 2: 2nd Kyu and above £60   £35

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Who should subscribe

Any student (child or adult) or instructor member of the IOGKF and EGKA

Senseis Ernie and Roy have devoted hundreds of hours to capturing the current IOGKF and EGKA grading syllabus on film. The library development team at the Goju Ryu Academy have then edited the content into short film clips that are grade specific.

This library has then been arranged into chapters relevant to each stage of the grading process all the way from 9th Kyu to the senior black belts.

Any Goju Ryu student preparing to grade will find this library contains all of the katas, bunkai and kakie techniques they will be expected to know on the day.

The library will therefore prove an invaluable reference library to students of any age as they progress through their grades.

Mastering karate is all about diligent training, which is why it is such a useful discipline to teach to children. It teaches them that nothing worth having, comes easy. If they want that black belt, they are going to have work hard to earn it. It should therefore come as no surprise to you to learn that we notice a marked improvement in our own students’ progress (young or old) if they do their ‘homework’ first by studying the content of this library.

Warning: Although this library only reflects what is taught in every IOGKF affiliated dojo in the world, parents should supervise what their children view from this library. Karate is a contact fighting discipline that can lead to injuries if students, of any age, fail to observe the discipline and self control of the dojo environment.

Library Content Summary

The following katas and their related bunkai and kakie are all covered in the library, conveniently arranged in the order students will be expected to have mastered them before they can grade for any particular level.

Library Level 1: Contains all the basics, kata, bunkai and kakie students will need up to and including the 3rd Kyu grading test.

Library Level 2: Contains all the basics, kata, bunkai and kakie students will need to master for all the gradings to senior black belt.

Level 1 contains the basics and dojo etiquette a new 10th kyu will need from day one. These include:

Dojo Etiquette        
Basics Stances Blocks Kicks Moving basics (Kihon Ido)

The following katas are all covered. Level 1 includes Gekisai Dai Ichi to Seiyunchin kata and their bunkai. Level 2 adds Shisochin kata all the way through to the senior katas.

Goju Ryu Kata Included      
0. Sandan Gi (moving basics)        
1. Gekisai Dai Ichi Kata Bunkai Kakie Bunkai variation
2. Gekisai Dai Ni Kata Bunkai Kakie Bunkai variation
3. Saifa Kata Bunkai Kakie Bunkai variation
4. Seiyunchin Kata Bunkai Kakie Bunkai variation
5. Shisochin Kata Bunkai Kakie Bunkai variation
6. Sanseru Kata Bunkai Kakie  
7. Sepai Kata Bunkai Kakie  
8. Kururunfa Kata Bunkai Kakie  
9. Seisan Kata Bunkai Kakie  
10. Suparinpie Kata Bunkai    
11. Sanchin (S. Miyagi Chojun version) Kata      
11a. Turning Sanchin (S. Higaonna Kanryo version) Kata      
12. Tensho Kata      
Appendix: Rensoku (Chokusen) Bunkai        
Appendix: Senior Kata variations Kata      

Unlike the mass of free videos you can view on websites such as YouTube, you will find Sensei Ernie and Sensei Roy will talk you through each individual technique, explaining how they think it should be performed. As Sensei Ernie is the IOGKF Vice Chief Instructor and the EGKA Chief Instructor, what he has to say on the subject of grading technique is worth listening to for obvious reasons. Both Sensei Ernie and Sensei Roy are senior members of the IOGKF/EGKA grading panels. Understanding what they expect of you in a grading will give you a considerable advantage whosoever may be assessing you.

The development team have deliberately adopted a format that mirrors the normal training approach you experience in your own dojo. The instructor will talk you through each step of the technique and then demonstrate how to perform it, slowly at first and then at full speed and power. Then its over to you to have a go.

The advantage of this approach is if you own instructor shows you a grading technique or a move in a particular kata you didn’t quite grasp at the time, you can look it up later in this library to see how Sensei Ernie or Sensei Roy performs the same move. There may be small variations in the teaching approach, but as we should all be following the same international IOGKF syllabus, any differences really should be minor.

Just remember there is really no such thing as a right or a wrong way to perform a certain technique providing it remains effective … there are just different ways of doing it. So always follow your own instructor’s preferences on how katas and techniques should be performed. If you train with or grade before Senseis Ernie or Roy, you should adapt to the way they do it in this library.

This library has now been in operation for a number of years, and the feedback has helped us reshape this latest version to include more material relevant to students interested in supplementing what they are taught in the dojo. When you learn that other Goju Ryu instructors from around the world use this library to help them plan their own dojo lessons … you know we have achieved the right balance of technical content for all students.