Duarte Ryu
Martial Art of the Dominican Republic
The Philosophy of Duarte Ryu is to bring our interpretation of Martial Arts to the world, in order to produce skilled martial arts fighters that promote honor, fairness, and justice to all peoples. This art brings the fusion of the Western and Eastern mindsets in order to form a fighting style that is Dominican and unique in its own right. Most all martial arts have similar movements and techniques but interpret themselves in different ways. Most give valuable tools to the practitioner in order to build the person up to make them a skilled fighter and a more disciplined person. Martial means military, and it is in this vein that Duarte Ryu keeps an emphasis on real life application as it pertains to fighting. We are identified as an eclectic hard style of martial art. We understand that it is not only the technique that counts, but also the transition of the techniques in the form and flow of application and how to arrive at that application.
Duarte Ryu needed a Logo that would represent its philosophy and ideals. The logo that was chosen to represent Duarte Ryu was that of a fighting Gamecock which is commonly found in the Dominican Republic. These birds are ferocious and are known to fight to the death. The rooster by nature is not a vicious bird, but can become so by conditioning and training. In similar fashion Duarte Ryu training takes ordinary people and teaches them how to fight and defend themselves. The background of the emblem are the colors of the Dominican Flag with the centerpiece being the white cross of the flag which symbolizes sacrifice. The outer edges of the emblem contain the palm and olive branches being ringed in gold by the name of the art "Duarte Ryu" on top, and on the bottom by the phrase "Martial Art of the Dominican Republic".
The name Duarte Ryu consists of words mixed from two different languages. Duarte is a Spanish name modeled after one of the patriots and founding fathers of the Dominican Republic. This name demonstrates our style's commitment to honesty, and a yearning for freedom that is found in all cultures worldwide. Ryu is a Japanese word referring to a school of thought in any discipline. In English, the word is frequently used to refer to schools of Japanese Martial Art. Ryu is also oftentimes translated as style. Much of the art has its roots in Japanese systems, and follows some of the protocols and verbiage of these arts. While not a complete word in Spanish or Japanese the two words mix together to describe what we are about.
"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." Winston Churchill