Welcome to the official site for
Ronin GOJU Karate
The style of Ronin Goju Karate was founded in 1984 by a group of black belts with Sensei Gene Cross being the ranking black belt who previously studied under Sensei William A. Liquori of Orlando, Florida. Sensei Liquori was the head of USA Goju Organization, and a former student of Master Peter Urban. Master Urban is the founder of American Goju, his teachers were Sensei Richard Kim and Gogen Yamaguchi the Master of Goju Ryu Karate a traditional Okinawan style of karate.
Sensei Cross began his study of Goju under Sensei William A. Liquori in 1969. He taught USA Goju Karate in Arcadia from 1972 until 1984 when the style of Ronin GoJu was founded.
Ronin Goju Karate is currently taught at several locations throughout Southwest Florida. Classes are held at locations in Charlotte, Desoto, Hardee, and Highlands Counties. Please refer to the individual locations and Dojo pages for contact information workout and training opportunities.
Arcadia Florida remains the location of the Honbu or home Dojo location for Ronin Goju karate. After the destruction created by hurricane Charlie in 2004 the school of Ronin Goju Karate came together to build a traditional Dojo on the current site owned by Sensei Gene Cross.
Ronin Goju
The name Ronin in Japanese, refers to those without a master, therefore there is no master of Ronin Goju Karate. It is instead governed by the black belts of the style with Sensei Gene Cross being the ranking black belt.
Ronin Goju is a combination of hard and soft as the name Goju implies . It is a realistic style of martial arts that is both physically and mentally taxing. Punches and kicks are not pulled or stopped as in other styles of martial arts. Real weapons are used in belt rank testing. This type of training does not promote false self-confidence, but shows each student his or her strengths and weaknesses.
The average time from beginning white belt (10th kyu) to 1st degree black belt is 7 years of rigorous training. 1st degree black belt or shodan means that one has learned a working knowledge of the basics and is allowed to assist in teaching the beginners, and now ready to begin their own training in earnest.
A message from Sensei Cross
In Ronin Goju, our goals are to make better people of our students by giving them self respect and self-confidence through hard physical and mental training. Our students that attend school from grades 1-12 are required to maintain a passing average. If not, they are not allowed to workout or compete in any tournament until the grade has improved to passing.
We strive to teach our students that nothing in life or karate is free and that all must work to the best of their ability. We teach that our greatest opponent in karate and life is ourselves.
As black belts in Ronin Goju Karate it is not our wish to have students as skillful or successful as ourselves. It is our wish and our obligation to see that they do better than we ourselves have.
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