Kanryo set sail for Fuzhou in the autumn of 1867, when he was 15, with the Ryukyu Kan, an area compromising a microcosm of Okinawan life, as his final destination. Kanpu Tanmei, the manager of his boarding house the Uchinayaru, learned about Kanryo's eagerness to study the Chinese martial arts and introduced him to the Chinese master Ryu Ryu Ko.

There is still no concensus of opinion about Ryu Ryu Ko's exact identity nor about the exact martial art style which he taught. However it is widely believed that the family of Ryu Ryu Ko had originally been of the aristocratic class, and in those times only the aristocratic classes studied the martial arts. Ryu Ryu Ko studied at the southern Shaolin Temple in the mountains of Fujian Province.

Due to the internal strife that threatened the feudal system and therefore the Chinese aristocracy, the family was forced to conceal their status in order to survive. For this reason Ryu Ryu Ko worked as a bricklayer and a builder. In later life he lived by making a variety of everyday goods such as baskets, furniture and other items from cane. This was the profession he was following when Kanryo Higaonna became his pupil.

In the area Kanryo Higaonna embarked White Crane teachers were living and probably Ryu Ryu Ko was one of them. The White Crane (Bai He) genealogy of Fujian goes back to Fang Jiniang, the daughter of Fang Shiyu, who is said to have learned Monk Fist (Luohan Quan) during his stay in the sourthern Buddhist Fujian Shaolin Temple on the mountain Julianshan (Nine Lotus) near Fuzhou in the Puliang-district. Fang Jiniang, from Yongchun near Fuzhou, had also studied the defence- and attack-movements of the White Crane and became due to this the founder of the first generation White Crane masters. The second generation Yongchun White Crane Boxing grandmaster was Zeng Cishu, who was also a Black Tiger Boxing master.

The White Crane tradition of the17th century Fujian became strongly influenced by Monk Fist and Tiger Boxing, and is probably the foundation on which Ryu Ryu Ko taught Kanryo Higaonna. The original Ancestral (Zong He Quan) or Trembling (Zhan He Quan) Crane style was later split into five main separate branches known as: Singing Crane, Sleeping Crane (Su He Quan), Flying Crane (Fei He Quan), Eating Crane (Shi He Quan) and Shouting Crane (Ming He Quan) and probably numerous subbranches as well.

However such was the devotion of Kanryo Higaonna that he eventually became Ryu Ryu Ko's uchi-deshi i.e. he received the inner teachings thus learning the whole system, as well as the study of weapons, and traditional Chinese medicine. It is not clear exactly which year Kanryo Higaonna began teaching the martial arts in Okinawa, but it is known that he did not begin teaching until a few years after his return from China.

Kanryo first began teaching martial arts in his home in Nishishin-machi, but later taught also at the Naha Kuritsu Shogyo Koto Gakko (Naha Commercial High School) in September 1905.

He had many noteble students and eventually his most favourite student, Chojun Miyagi, succeeded him as the leading master of Naha-te.

Miyagi was Kanryo Higaonna's most talented and chosen pupil. Miyagi came from a rich family of high esteem, shipowners who imported -amongst others- medicines from China and supplied these to the royal family, the government and business houses. To prepare him for his future task to lead the family, the only eleven years old Chojun was brought to Ryuko Aragaki (1875-1961), who on his term send him at the age of fourteen to Kanryo Higaonna. Here Chojun Miyagi, together with Juhatsu Kyoda (1887-1967), was taught thoroughly in Higaonna's Naha-te.

After the death of Higaonna the well-off Miyagi, who occupied himself full-time with the study of martial arts, planned a trip to Fuzhou, the mekka of South-Chinese fighting arts (Nan Quan), to visit the birthplace of Kanryo Higaonna's Naha-te and to pay his respects to Ryu Ryu Ko's grave. For two months Chojun Miyagi together with Aisho Nakamoto (1881-1945) stayed in Fuzhou to train and they also visited the Julianshan Fujian Shaolin Temple.

Back on Okinawa he became friends with two tea-merchants from Fuzhou Wu Xianhui (Jap. Go Kenki) and Tang Daiji (Jap. To Daiki ), both of them where famous martial arts teachers. Wu Xianhui (1886-1940) came to Naha in 1912 to teach White Crane boxing and made friends with -amongst others- Juhatsu Kiyoda , Chojun Miyagi and Kenwa Mabuni (1889-1952).

Miyagi dedicated his whole life to the development of what was called 'toudijutsu' (China hand art) or simply 'te' on Okinawa.

In 1921 crown-prince Hirohito visited Okinawa before travelling to Europe. Due to his visit Shuri-te as well as Naha-te (by Chojun Miyagi) was demonstrated.

In 1925 Miyagi demonstrated for prince Chichibu-Nomiya and shortly after, in 1926, he founded the Okinawa Karate Kenkyu-Kai (Okinawa Karate Research Club) together with Chomo Hanashiro (Shuri-te), Choyu Motobu (Tomari-te) and Kenwa Mabuni. One year later, Chojun Miyagi demonstrated Jigoro Kano, grappling-, locking- and throwing-techniques and the right use of breathing. Kano was very impressed by this toudijutsu and introduced Miyagi, -accompanied by his friend Mabuni- in Japan.

At the end of the twenties and the beginning of the thirties, Miyagi, together with his -at that time- topstudent Jinan Shinzato (1901-1945), gave some seminars and demonstrations on Japanese universities, at Budo-tournaments and at the crowningsfestivities of crown-prince Hirohito.

In 1933 Chojun Miyagi registered 'toudi' officially as Goju-Ryu at the Japanese regulating Budo-institution, the prestigious Dai Nippon Butokukai, the All Japan Martial Arts Association.

Later on Miyagi was distinguished by the Ministry of Physical Education, receiving the highest honour of the Dai Nippon Butokukai and was appointed representative of the Butokukai department for Okinawa.

Thus Goju-Ryu karate-do -the name derived from the Bubishi- was the first and eldest karate-tradition recognized by the Dai Nippon Butokukai; its founder, Chojun Miyagi, acquired an outstanding position in karate-do.

May 1934, Chojun Miyagi travelled on invitation to Hawaii where he taught and gave demonstrations until February 1935. His teachings for that matter were referred to as kempo karate.

On the 25th of October 1936 the most outstanding Okinawa-masters (Chomo Hanashiro , Chotoku Kyan, Choki Motobu, Chosin Chibana, Juhatsu Kiyoda and Chojun Miyagi) assembled and changed the name toudijutsu into karate-do.

Before the war Chojun Miyagi's teaching method began with hojo undo, uke harai, ude tanren, yakusoku kumite, kakie and then sanchin kata. This was the students' routine for the first three to five years and comprised eigthy percent of Chojun Miyagi's teaching. After this, one or two kaishugata would be taught, the depth and applications varied according to one's level of understanding and technical ability. Jinan Shinzato learned sanchin, sesan and tensho; Seiko Kina learned sanchin and seiyunchin; Meitoku Yagi learned sanchin and suparinpei; Shunshin Furugen learned sanchin and kururunfa. However the senior students from before the war, Seiko Kina, Meitoku Yagi, Kiei Tomoyose, Shunshin Furugen, Eiko Miyazato and Eiichi Miyazato, did not train anymore as they were busy trying to make a living in these hard times.

Therefore in 1948 Chojun Miyagi accepted new students and revised his teaching system, arranging the kata of Goju-Ryu into a set sequence, something that had not existed previously.

In Februari of that year four students came to his dojo. These were An'ichi Miyagi, Bise Chishin, Gima Seikichi and Tokeshi Kako. After one year of intensive training only An'ichi Miyagi stayed. Up to 1951 he was Chojun Miyagi's sole student. A close relation between both grew; Chojun Miyagi treated An'ichi like a son of his own.

Chojun Miyagi -who realised that he became older- taught the essence (gokui) of Goju-Ryu to An'ichi Miyagi. From February 1948 to October 1953 Chojun Miyagi taught An'ichi everything he knew to preserve this knowledge as a whole for future generations.

In 1951 Miyagi accepted new students. The first of them was Shuichi Aragaki, after him gradually more followed. Usually these students were taught by An'ichi. In 1952 the number of dojo-members gradually began to grow.

On the 8th of October 1953 master Chojun Miyagi died suddenly of a heart-attack.

Training continued in the garden-dojo of Chojun Miyagi's house. Mostly An'ichi taught and through his tuition three special students arose: Yasuo Iba, Anya Sauchi and Saburo Higa. For the first time since World War II the Goju-Ryu garden-dojo started to flourish and could claim many outstanding students.

About this time, Morio Higaonna joined the garden-dojo of the late Chojun Miyagi. Before that time Morio Higaonna trained Goju-Ryu and Shorin-Ryu with Tsunetaka Shimabukuru, Kenji Kaneshiro and Yoshishige Omine. At the intercession of Tsunetaka Shimabukuru, Morio Higaonna was introduced to the garden-dojo in March 1955. At his first visit he met Yasuo Iba. He told the young Morio Higaonna that he should go to An'ichi Miyagi as he was the most competent of the dojo. After training Morio Higaonna always visited Chojun Miyagi's widow Makato (1887-1966). Sometimes they spoke about Chojun Miyagi, some of his senior students, and of karate. She stressed that he should learn from An'ichi Miyagi as the latter was most close to her husband and learned from him Goju-Ryu in great detail.

August 1957, Eiichi Miyazato built a large dojo in the Asato district of Naha, which he named Jundokan, after the name of Jigoro Kano's first judo-dojo. Miyazato who also after the war was heavily occupied with judo became a judo champion around 1950 or 1951 and even left for Japan in April 1953, to attend the Japan Kodokan seminar. Miyazato finally became an accomplished judo master and president of the Okinawan Judo Federation as well.

Because of his authority and position as a police-officer Miyazato became official head of the dojo with Koshin Iha as his assistant and responsible for the fees. They rarely taught however, leaving the daily teaching responsibilities to An'ichi Miyagi. It was An'ichi Miyagi who for example taught Iha suparinpei kata.

In 1959 An'ichi Miyagi left Okinawa to work on an American owned oil tanker. At this time work was very difficult to find on Okinawa and An'ichi still had the responsibility of supporting his family. One year later, Morio Higaonna decided to go to Tokyo, mainland Japan, to attend Takushoku University. Attending university he would return to Okinawa just twice a year, each winter for about one month and each summer for about two or three months. On these occasions he continued his training and further development with An'ichi Miyagi.
The Okinawa Karate-do Renmei had been formed in May of 1956, with Choshin Chibana, the founder of Shorin-Ryu, as its first chairman. On December 30, 1960, this seminal organization held the first all-style dan grading. Shoshin Nagamine from Matsubayashi Shorin-Ryu was chairman at that time. The top-instructors of each style were awarded godan; twenty-five karate-ka were graded sandan (among them Morio Higaonna); twenty-three were awarded nidan; and forty were awarded shodan.

Morio Higaonna spent twenty years teaching at a dojo in Yoyogi, a suburb in Tokyo, during which time he built it up into a place which became famous throughout the world. As a result many people from a variety of martial arts backgrounds would come to train with and learn from Higaonna. In Tokyo Higaonna also introduced his teacher An'ichi Miyagi. During these years An'ichi Miyagi passed on the secret and highest level techniques of Goju-Ryu to his student Morio Higaonna.

In 1979 with the support of the family of Chojun Miyagi and Ken Miyagi -the fourth son of the founder of Goju-Ryu-, as well as many of Chojun Miyagi's senior students, the International Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-Do Federation (IOGKF) was formed. This to keep Goju-Ryu's original techniques unchanged and to further its technical development as well as its popularity according to the wish of Chojun Miyagi. An'ichi Miyagi was appointed honorable chairman; Morio Higaonna was appointed world chief-instructor.

In 1981, Higaonna moved to Okinawa and opened a dojo in Naha (Higaonna dojo) to do more research. Here he was selected by the documentary makers of the BBC -Howard Reid and Michael Croucher- to represent traditional karate-do in the series "The Way of the Warrior".
In 1987 he left for the USA to promote Goju-Ryu. Since 1987 he visited Fuzhou on many occassions to expand his knowledge on the Chinese roots of Goju-Ryu. From these visits a close bond between the IOGKF and the China Fuzhou Wushu Association (CFWA) was established.

The IOGKF today has a large following, numbering tens of thousands of students in forty-five countries all over the world. At this moment the IOGKF Honbu Dojo is being constructed on Okinawa, the birthplace of karate. It will be the true Goju-Ryu Budokan, with dojo, meeting rooms and upstairs a dormitory.

Startingpoint is qinna, meaning 'grappling' or 'seizing' and forms the heart of the Chinese self-defence methods. This qinna is crystallized out in ritual form (= kata), whereby every move refers to applications or bunkai in simple (basic) or more complicated and free forms (oyo bunkai). Except for the knowledge of self-defense techniques, kata is also the foundation of energetic qualities such as grounding, rooting, generating power, tension and relaxation, centering, etc. In short all those qualities which are necessary for moving in general and self-defense in particular.

It is clear that the origin of Okinawan karate and Chinese martial arts -with kata as paradigm- was next to self-defense also of holistic nature because of the great interest in Chinese medicine and the philosophical and spiritual traditions.

Partnerexercises (gyaku-te in Goju-Ryu) with qinna, are the basis of kakie ('kokie' in the Fujian dialect), one of the strongholds of Goju-Ryu.

Goju-Ryu is characterized by emphasizing close-combat fighting. In basic kakie the karate-ka learns the go-aspects such as rooting, absorbing power, using muchimi and ki-expansion. Aspects that are also emphasized in sanchin kata. In fighting-technical respect the karate-ka learns to use pushing- and pulling-techniques in this phase in order to out-balance his opponent (kuzushi waza) to make the fighting distance suitable to himself. Connected to this, different methods to lock arms (or legs) of the opponent and 'opening up' the vital points (energetic) of the body, follow (kyushu-jutsu).

After learning these basics the applications of the kata are integrated in kakie.

The fighting techniques trained in kakie, like so many bunkai kumite, are known as 'gyaku-te' and are divided in categories like e.g. kansetsu waza (manipulations of the joints), nage waza (throwing techniques), shime waza (strangulations) and kyusho waza (manipulations of the vital points).

The kakie training is integrated in the total curriculum. As soon as a good foundation is laid in terms of basic techniques and -abilities, kakie training shifts to more free exercising-forms ending in jiyu kakie kumite and iri kumi, the free-fight exercise and competition-form of Goju-Ryu.

Many techniques trained in kakie and in the bunkai can be traced back to an old Chinese text about fighting arts, the 'Bubishi'.

Because of the knowledge of gyaku-te with kakie as practical exercise-form and the energetic qualities of moving the traditional kata of Goju-Ryu form alpha and omega of karate-do. The influence of modern competition karate (WKF) and the longing for international reputation and recognition, has indebted that many karate-styles abandoned their original martial and spiritual orientation. As a result of this, kihon, kata and kumite of these 'modern' styles are desintegrated and have developed into the direction of what counts and is allowed in competition.

The loss of knowledge of genuine fighting methods and the spiritual vacuum that occurred during the last decennia in these modern styles, had as result that many karate-ka again orientate(d) themselves towards the profound fighting traditions of Fujian and Okinawa.

Written by Harry de Spa