Goju-Te Ryu is not a "martial art". Goju-Te Ryu is a life art. The term "martial art", as it relates to the arts of personal or self-defense, has been historically misused. The word "martial" in general means military, warlike and soldierly. Martial is a term that is directly associated with the military. It is in the military where one can learn martial arts (the way an army wages war). Therefore, if one wishes to learn a martial art or arts one should look to places like West Point or the Naval Academy at Annapolis. However, if one is interested in learning a method or a process of prolonging his life then it is in Goju-Te Ryu that one should look to. Contextually the term "martial art" has been misplaced with arts such as karate, gung fu or tae kwon do.

A morbid preoccupation with combat (and to a lesser degree with physical fitness) has traditionally existed with many self-defense styles. Traditionally they have been concerned only with the combat nature of the art. But the facts never supported this emphasis. In our daily lives we rarely encounter a confrontation with another person and even then an actual physical confrontation is rare. Therefore all the mental as well as physical energy one is asked to invest in learning only self-defense techniques are geared towards an encounter that may never happen. This we believe is a waste of energy.

What is much more valuable to a practitioner is learning about life. That is, understanding his world and himself. How to live longer and better is much more valuable than preparing for an encounter with another human being that may never happen. For that we need not a martial art but a life art. Goju-Te Ryu is such an art.