The History of USA Goju Karate
and Unionvale Martial Arts

The history of the USA Goju style of Karate varies according to who is doing the telling.  Details seem to get confused, especially when the one giving the history has been intimately involved with some of the events.  The following narrative attempts to present an accurate outline without getting involved in details about which there may be controversy.

   The GOJU (Hard/Soft) Style derives originally from the famous Miyagi Sensei, the father of Goju-Ryu in Okinawa. Yamaguchi Sensei was his student, and brought Goju to Japan shortly before WWII, calling his enhancement of the art Goju-Kai.

   In 1957 Peter Urban, an American citizen who had studied Karate after the war under Yamaguchi in Japan, came back to the United States, bringing the Hard/Soft style with him.

   Urban separated himself from the Goju-Kai hierarchy in Japan.  He established a Dojo in the Chinatown district of New York City and began training Americans in this Okinawan-derived martial art.

   Urban kept what was traditional from the style, the training methods and Kata, use of Japanese terminology, the philosophy of karate, and even the emblem of his Master Yamaguchi's fist. He adopted a black Gi training uniform as a visible demonstration of his disassociation with the Japanese organization. He assumed the rank of tenth dan, and called his style of Karate "Urban Goju".  The system has since become known as USA Goju.

   The line from Master Urban continues through Master Al Gotay (10d) who still teaches at John Jay College in New York City. A student of Master Gotay and of Master Urban himself is kyoshi William Grady. Kyoshi Grady and his late brother Kevin were instrumental in establishing the USA Goju system throughout the southern tier of New York State.

History of the Triad

   The first of the Triad Dojos began operating in Millbrook, New York in 1990 when Sensei Thomas Maloney, formerly of the Relig Dojo in New Rochelle, NY, siezed the opportunity to teach closer to his upstate home. He was assisted by Sensei Joseph Rinaldi who also trained in White Plains, NY at the time.
   A few years later Sensei Rinaldi, in cooperation with Sensei Richard Fiore, who also trained at the White Plains Dojo, began teaching in New Windsor, NY.
   A third Dojo was opened by Sensei Fiore in Newburgh, NY where the students are primarily inner-city kids.

   Sensei's Maloney, Rinaldi, and Fiore decided to "pool their resources." Their Dojos were all in the Mid-Hudson area of New York State, they all had studied and trained under kyoshi Grady, they all helped and supported each other with various events, and a number of their students were making the effort to train in all three Dojos. They began the TRIAD.

   Each Dojo retains its own identity, but training methods are the same, the philosophy is the same, and promotion requirements are the same. The TRIAD began operating as such in 1996, adopting a new emblem to be worn by the practitioners in all three dojos. This three-sided patch is very much in evidence at tournaments and promotion tests held throughout the region.