The History of Karate

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Karate-Do means "the way of the empty hand." Goju-Ryu means "Hard-Soft Style." The history of Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-do dates back at least one thousand years, and can trace its roots all the way back to the ancient fighting arts of China.
In 1875, the man who would later become a great Master, Kanryo Higaonna, first traveled to China and brought back his new-found knowledge of Chinese martial arts to the island of Okinawa. His style of fighting became known as Naha-Te, meaning 'Naha Hand' after the city of Naha where Kanryo Higaonna Sensei lived. Kanryo Higaonna Sensei would later pass on his entire knowledge of Naha-Te to his top student Chojun Miyagi who would carry on the style after him. In 1933 Chojun Miyagi Sensei officially changed the name of his karate style from Naha-Te to Goju-Ryu, which means "hard-soft style." He also developed the Junbi-undo, or warm-up exercises, several kata (forms), and systemized the style in order to spread it throughout the world.
After Sensei Chojun Miyagi's death in 1953, the style was carried on by his most dedicated student Sensei An'ichi Miyagi, who in turn passed it on to his top student, the current Chief Instructor and founder of the IOGKF, Sensei Morio Higaonna. Sensei Higaonna has dedicated his whole life to preserving the essence of this traditional art, and has traveled all over the world to make certain that all members of the IOGKF hold true to the fundamental nature of the art, as it was originally intended to be.

For a more indepth record of the History of Goju Ryu Karatedo and the Sensei, please visit the IOGKF website by clicking HERE.

Miyagi Chojun Sensei chose the name 'Goju Ryu' from the 'Eight Precepts' of traditional Chinese Kempo found in the document 'Bubishi' and are as follows:

1. The mind is one with heaven and earth.
2. The circulatory rhythm of the body is similar to the cycle of the sun and the moon.
3. The way of inhaling and exhaling is hardness and softness.
4. Act in accordance with time and change.
5. Techniques will occur in the absence of conscious thought.
6. The feet must advance and retreat, separate and meet.
7. The eyes do not miss even the slightest change.
8. The ears listen well in all directions.