Gōjū-ryū (Japanese for "hard-soft style") is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book Bubishi (Chinese: wu bei ji), used by Okinawan masters during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Go which means hard, refers to closed hand techniques or straight linear attacks; Ju which means soft, refers to open hand techniques and circular movements.

Major emphasis is given to breathing correctly. Gōjū-ryū practices methods that include body strengthening and conditioning, its basic approach to fighting (distance, stickiness, power generation, etc.), and partner drills.

Gōjū-ryū incorporates both circular and linear movements into its curriculum. Gōjū-ryū combines hard striking attacks such as kicks and close hand punches with softer open hand circular techniques for attacking, blocking, and controlling the opponent, including locks, grappling, takedowns and throws.

The names "goju ryu" and "karate" are recent, but the art is older. The Okinawan name for their 19th century martial art was toudi, with to meaning "Tang" (a medieval Chinese dynasty) or "Chinese"; and te meaning "hand."

In Okinawa there were three main toudi variants: Naha-te (or nafadi), Tomari-te and Shuri-te. Goju-ryu comes from Naha-te.

The Goju-ryu style of Karate Do was established in 1933 by Chojun Miyagi Sensei. He based Goju ryu on his training with his Sensei, Kanryo Higashionna as well as time he spent studying various kung fu styles in mainland China.