Professor Danny Gwira

Professor Danny Gwira is the Founder and Chief Instructor of African Goju and South American Goju. He started his martial arts training with Boxing and Fencing in England in 1961. He then studied Judo and Jujitsu from 1966 till 1970 and was the Junior West of England Judo champion in 1969. He then decided to change to Taekwondo; which he did for five years under Ivorian Master Simon Zagore, a first generation student of Korean Grandmaster Kim Young Tae and obtained a Black Belt in 1973. By 1976 he was doing Shotokan under renowned Professor Enoeda and John Anderson in London. He stopped Shotokan in 1979 in favour of Chinese Goju which he had started in New York in 1976. He also learnt Kyokushinkai, Kempo and Wadoryu along the way. He still keeps in touch with his students around the world and is credited with bringing Goju to Africa in 1979 when he took Kung-Fu film star ‘The Black Dragon’ Ron Van Clief to Ghana.

He is the owner of the Martial Arts institute with its headquarters in Accra, Ghana. He has trained over 10000 students and has a proud legacy of a new generation of students ready and willing to take African Goju and South American Goju to the future. He founded African Goju in 1985 and South American Goju in 1986. He became a professor of Martial Arts Education in 1987, at the University of Martial Arts and Science in New York U.S.A; under the tutelage of Professor Ron Van Clief from whom he obtained the nickname ‘African Dragon’. A Founder Grandmaster with a 10th Degree Black Belt and a 10th Degree Red Belt, he prefers not to worry about belts because he has always believed one is only as good as the next workout and the proof should always be in the pudding! Check out some of his stunts in the photo gallery below. Even at his age; he still trains as hard as ever before!