Master Morio Higaonna

The highest authority in the Goju-ryu world today. Morio Higaonna was born 25th December 1938, he began training in karate when he was fourteen. He studied Shorin-Ryu with his father, he was also training with a friend Tsunetaka Shimabukuro another Shorin-Ryu stylist. At the age of sixteen he began to train in the Goju-ryu style on the recommendation of Shimabukuro Sensei. The year was 1955 and the young Higaonna was training in the garden dojo of the late Chojun Miyagi Sensei, his instructor was Anichi Miyagi Sensei.

At that time the training regime was very tough and Higaonna Sensei tells us of the countless times he would practice Kata or Kakie training with many different opponents until he could no longer move his arms. Anyone who has trained in Okinawa will know that due to the climate this requires tremendous effort.

Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953)

After Kanryo Higaonna's death in 1915 his top student, Chojun Miyagi Sensei, continued to teach the system and refined it into a format better suited to the Okinawan physique and culture. It was Chojun Miyagi who eventually called this system "Goju Ryu"; a name inspired by the Bubishi, an ancient manual of martial arts. In addition to running his own Dojo, he began teaching Karate Do to the Okinawan Police and frequently travelled to mainland Japan to teach at various Universities. The most promising disciple of Chojun Miyagi was Jinan Shinzato, but sadly he was killed during the Second World War. The most famous of Miyagi's students include Eiichi Miyazato, Koshin Iha, Seiko Higa, Seikichi Toguchi and Meitoku Yagi.

Kanryo Higaonna (1853-1915)
In the 19th century, Kanryo Higaonna Sensei, who was already an accomplished master of the Okinawan martial art known as "Te" or "Di", travelled to Fuzhou in China, and mastered Southern Chinese boxing under the tutelage of a master known as Ryu Ryu Ko. He then returned to his home city of Naha in Okinawa to teach his, by now combined, system of martial arts. Amongst his students were notable characters such as Chojun Miyagi and Kenwa Mabuni.