Goju Ryu
Karate Centre
Forty-Five Years of Traditional Karate
Goju Ryu Karate Centre, Home of the Jaguars
Nestled in the busy suburb of Florida Hills, Goju Ryu Karate Centre (GRKC, informally) is home to a diverse, hard-working and vibrant karate community. With students as little as five years old, and as experienced as 68 years old, everyone is here to enjoy a well-rounded karate education on their own individual paths to self-improvement and growth. Our focus is on longevity; we train to grow and age well, rather than training for the ring or octagon.​
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We have a strong anti-bullying focus, and we also seek to improve the general fitness of our students in a safe, monitored way. As schools have dropped physical education classes, we are stepping up to fill the gap.
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Karate is a wonderful vehicle for learning self-control, discipline, confidence and focus. We work with students of all neurodivergent minds and all physical ability, and believe that karate is for everyone, not just the talented few.
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Our syllabus covers kata, basics, sparring (contact increases with seniority of belt), groundwork, fitness and traditional Okinawan training implements (hojo undo).
Meet Our Instructors
Ché Jagger
Owner and Head Instructor at Goju Ryu Karate Centre
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6th Dan Black Belt ratified by OGKK
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Affiliated to OGKK (Okinawa Goju-Ryu Karatedo Kyokai)
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Shibu licence holder for OGKK
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Bachelor of Physical Education (University of Witwatersrand)
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Level 3 First aid (accredited with the Resuscitation Council of South Africa)
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Completed Guardian Sports Safeguarding Awareness course (2025)
Ché has been a student, competitor, in-house deshi, coach, sempai (big brother/mentor) and sensei in the Goju Ryu Karate Centre since 1980.
He started in the dojo under Paul Andre Sensei as a 5 year old, and received his Shodan-ho at 14 under Aubrey Pieterse Sensei. He took over ownership of GRKC in 1999, and has been teaching full-time ever since. He has represented South Africa for kumite, and coached the national Goju Ryu Team up until 2019.
His current instructors are Sensei Lilian and Sensei Elias, who are the Shibo-cho instructors for Africa OGKK, and who train under Hanshi Kikugawa, based in Naha, Okinawa.
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Over his forty-plus years of training, Ché has been fortunate to train with many great teachers, including Higaonna Morio Sensei & Chinen Teruo Sensei. He continues to pass on their knowledge both in the dojo and on our youtube channel.
In his downtime, Sensei Jagger is an avid gardener, DIY fundi, reader of karate books and baker of bread (especially rye bread!)
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Zoë Jagger-Hinis
Dojo Administrator and Instructor
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3rd dan (ratified by OGKK)
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Level 3 first aid (accredited with the Resuscitation Council of South Africa)
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Completed Uchi-deshi course - 3 year internship
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Member of OGKK
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BA Hons (Rhodes University)
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Nisaa Counselling Course for Survivors of Rape and Abuse Certificate
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'Talk to me': Improving mental health and suicide prevention in young adults course by Curtin University, completed 2022
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Completed Guardian Sports Safeguarding Awareness course (2025)
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Zoë has been studying martial arts since the age of 11, when she began with Judo after being bullied at school. She discovered Goju Ryu in her first week at university in 2006, and has been training in the style ever since. She has also studied Aikido for six years.
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After fleeing the advertising world to become a deshi (in-house student), Zoë has completed her three-year instructor's course and is licensed to teach by OGKK Gauteng. She handles all dojo admin, from accounts to events to merchandise, as well teaching classes.
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She is also the producer and editor of the dojo Youtube channel, which we started in lockdown and ended up finding out that a bunch of people around the world wanted to learn from us.
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When not training, teaching, or mothering, she runs, bakes delicious (and lopsided) cakes, attempts to grow stuff in the garden, and reads all sorts of books. She writes about karate and martial arts in general at her website: http://zoehinis.com
