History of Goju-Ryu

Ancient Roots • China to Okinawa

The Ancient Beginnings

The roots of Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-Do stretch deep into the fertile soil of southern China's martial traditions. Ancient Shaolin Temple practices blended with local Fujian Province styles like White Crane, Tiger, and Monk Fist Boxing. These arts, rich in internal energy, explosive power, and fluid evasions, traveled across the sea to Okinawa through centuries of trade and cultural exchange during the Ryukyu Kingdom era.

1853-1915 • The Founder

Kanryo Higaonna

In the mid-19th century, a young merchant from Naha named Kanryo Higaonna embarked on a transformative journey to Fuzhou, China. At just 14, he apprenticed under the legendary master Ryu Ryu Ko, enduring over a decade of rigorous live-in training. He mastered core kata, iron-body conditioning, weapons, and herbal medicine, returning to Okinawa around 1881 with a profound synthesis of Chinese "China Hand" and indigenous Okinawan fighting methods—establishing what became known as Naha-Te.

1888-1953 • The Systematizer

The Birth of Goju-Ryu

Higaonna's most dedicated student, Chojun Miyagi, started training at age 14 in 1902. He absorbed the full curriculum through grueling bare-knuckled sparring and hojo undo tools. In 1930, inspired by a line from the ancient Bubishi manual—"The way of inhaling and exhaling is hardness and softness"—Miyagi officially named his system Goju-Ryu (Hard-Soft School), the first recognized karate style registered with Japan's Dai Nippon Butokukai in 1933.

1931-2009 • The Heir

An'ichi Miyagi & The Revival

World War II devastated Okinawa, claiming many students and destroying dojos, but Chojun Miyagi rebuilt postwar. From 1948, he privately trained his designated heir, the orphaned An'ichi Miyagi, in the intimate Garden Dojo, imparting all esoteric knowledge, bunkai applications, and oral traditions. This secret lineage transmission ensured the art's survival in its purest form.

Born 1938 • Living Legend

Morio Higaonna Sensei

Into this sacred lineage stepped Morio Higaonna—a Naha native who began with Shorin-Ryu at 14 before discovering Goju-Ryu in 1954. At 16, he entered the Garden Dojo, training obsessively under An'ichi Miyagi. In 1979, with blessings from An'ichi and the Miyagi family, Higaonna founded the International Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-do Federation (IOGKF), spreading the art globally while earning Okinawa's Intangible Cultural Treasure status in 2013.

2022 • Return to Roots

The Birth of TOGKF

In September 2022, at 84, Higaonna Sensei resigned from the IOGKF he founded, citing a desire to refocus on pure, Okinawa-rooted teaching as a holistic way of life. He immediately established the Traditional Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-do Federation (TOGKF) in Okinawa, with his historic Tsuboya dojo as honbu. Emphasizing direct access to his teachings, cultural depth, and unadulterated tradition, TOGKF serves as guardian of the lineage's essence.

継承

"The way of inhaling and exhaling is hardness and softness" — The Bubishi

Today, under Higaonna Sensei's guidance as Chief Instructor, TOGKF carries forward the flame: from Fujian's hidden gardens, through Okinawa's resilient spirit, to practitioners worldwide seeking not just technique, but profound personal transformation. This enduring journey reveals a living tradition of resilience, adaptation, and philosophical depth—inviting all to forge strength, resilience, and inner peace.