A number of Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate Namibia’s seniors attended the annual Senior Black and Brown Belt Gasshuku this past weekend hosted by IOGKF Technical Advisor and Chief Instructor of IOGKF South Africa; Sensei Bakkies Laubscher (9th Dan IOGKF) . The Gasshuku was hosted virtually with IOGKF members joining from all across the globe.

Sensei Bakkies Laubscher is Sensei Morio Higaonna’s most senior student and member of the IOGKF. He has taught Goju Ryu Karate in 28 countries and still travels and teaches worldwide. He has a university degree in Human Movement Science and has incorporated modern scientific knowledge and methods into his Karate without altering the essence of the system.

Recently Sensei Bakkies launched the Traditional School of Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate Virtual Dojo; a platform on which he shares the training, stories and knowledge he has collected over the past six decades of practicing traditional karate. “The idea of a Virtual Dojo stems from a personal reality check in 2020, ‘fast tracked’ by the unforeseen global situation because of its restriction on Karate practice as I’ve known it over the past nearly six decades. The uncertainty surrounding the short and medium term future caused a search for alternative solutions and this prompted the realization that technology can be used positively to an extent to continue Traditional Karate in difficult times.” – Sensei Bakkies Laubscher

In addition, Sensei Bakkies also working on a series of free, weekly ‘In Pursuit of Excellence’ Podcasts where he shares experiences from this journey and other relevant information, hoping that it will help as a road map for the serious to find the way to the essence of pure Traditional Karate.

Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate Namibia would like to extend it’s utmost gratitude to Sensei Bakkies for once again delivering a world class training experience, and for his ongoing dedication to pursuit of excellence and the preservation of Traditional Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate.