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| The foundation of Goju-ryu karate was established by Grandmaster Kanryo Higaonna. In 1876, when Higaonna was 15, he traveled to Fuzhou, China in Fujian Province. There he met the famous Chinese KingaiQuan-fa Master, Liu-Liu Ko. Higaonna remained in China and studied with Ko for over 20 years. He eventually became Ko's top student. Kingai is a style indigenous to Fujian Province that was in practice there for over 1,000 years. Higaonna also studied with the Chinese military man, Shin-Zan Wei. |
| Ko was very strict and his training regimen was very demanding. It is said that Ko was of Chinese nobility and trained his whole life to become a knight of the empire. To become a knight, he had to pass a rigorous Imperial Test. He attempted and failed the Imperial Test at age 37, and again at age 50. But, he never gave up and never stopped training. Ko tried again on his 73rd birthday. At this time, he appeared before the Emperor walking hundreds of feet with a rock weighing 180 kilos strapped to his back. He then performed the Sanchin kata with such skill and expertise that he passed the test and was finally knighted. Ko understood that there was no easy way to attain mastery, and that anyone aspiring to do so had to endure great sacrifice and arduous challenges. Ko's training method reflected this fact. It was through this type of long and difficult training under Ko that Higaonna was able to develop and hone his exceptional martial skills. |
| In 1888, Higaonna returned to Okinawa and began teaching in Naha. Throughout his life there, Higaonna continued to develop and improve his karate method. He revised and adapted a number of the techniques he brought from China to make the art more appropriate to Okinawan conditions, lifestyle, and culture. He very quickly became recognized for his knowledge, skill, and dedication, and his art became known as Naha-te. |
| As a testament to Grandmaster Higaonna's skill, there are many who witnessed and reported on his exceptional Sanchin breathing kata. When performing his open-handed Sanchin kata, Higaonna would occasionally allow four Okinawans to try to dislodge him from his standing posture. They could not move him and when the kata was finished, the floor would be hot due to the friction incurred by the gripping of his toes. |
| Higaonna was the leading Confucian scholar of the period in Okinawa. As such, he taught that a pure and virtuous life was the ultimate goal of any high martial practice - and established the |
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| as the primary philosophical tenet upon which Okinawan karate is based. He taught and required that his students have respect for themselves, their fellow students, their families, and for life in general. Any students who failed to adhere to the highest of moral and ethical behavior would be dismissed and refused further instruction. |
| It was very difficult to satisfy Higaonna's high standards, but those few students who did became famous and historically significant karate masters. They were:. |
| Chojun Miyagi, the founder of Goju-ryu karate; |
| Kenwa Mabuni, the founder of Shito-ryu karate; and |
| Juhatsu Kiyoda,
the
founder of
Toon-ryu karate (named after
the first character in Higaonna's name) |
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