Karate Masters

Chojun Miyagi - Goju Ryu Karate Founder

Early Life and Training

Miyagi, Born as Miyagusuku, which later changed to Miyagi Chojun by the Japanese, was born in Higashimachi, Naha, Okinawa on April 25, 1888. He was the adopted son of a wealthy businessman.

Chojun Miyagi was introduced to martial arts by Ryuko Aragaki at the age of 11.

Aragaki then introduced him to his friend, the foremost Naha-Te master, Kanryo Higashionna, also known as Higaonna Knryo, when Miyagi was 14. By the time he was 20 years old he was his Sensei's disciple.

Under his tutelage, Miyagi underwent a very long and arduous period of training. His training with Higaonna was interrupted for a two-year period while Miyagi completed his military service from 1910 to 1912 in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture. Miyagi trained under Higaonna until Higaonna's death in 1915.

Training in China

In May 1915, before the death of Higaonna, Miyagi travelled to Fujian Province. In China he visited the grave of Higaonna's teacher, Ryu Ko. In this first trip he travelled with Eisho Nakamoto. After Kanryo Higaonna's death in October of 1915, he made a second trip to Foochow with Gokenki. In this second trip he studied some local Chinese martial arts. He observed the Rokkishu which was a set of hand exercises rather than a formal kata, which emphasizes the rotation of the forearms and wrists to execute offensive and defensive techniques. These he then adapted into the Tensho Karate. From the blending of these systems and his native Naha-Te a new system had emerged. However, it was not until 1929 that Chojun Miyagi named the system Gojo Ryu which means hard soft style.

Return to Japan

After several months in China, Chojun Miyagi returned to Naha where he opened a dojo. He taught for many years, gaining enormous reputation as a Karate Ka. Despite his reputation, his greatest achievements lie in popularizing and the organization of Karate teaching methionds. In recognition of his leadership in spreading Karate in Japan, his style, Goju Ryu, became the first style to be officially recognized by the Dai Nippon Butokukai.

He introduced Karate into Okinawa police work, high schools and other fields of society. He revised and further developed the kata Sanchin, which is the hard aspect of Goju and he created the Tensho Kata which is the soft aspect. These two kata are considered to contain the essence of the Goju Ryu. The highest kata, Suparumpei, is said to contain the full syllabus of Goju Ryu.

The kata Shi Sho Chin was Miyagi's favorite kata at the end of his years. Tensho was influenced by the Whie Crane kata Ryokushu, which he learned form his longtime friend Gokenski.

With the goal of unification of various Karate styles, which was in fashion at the time, he also created more Shurite-like katas like Gekisai Dai Ichi and Gekisai Dai Ni in the year 1940. He took techniques from higher forms like Suparumpei and upper blocks uncommon for Goju Ryu at the time and he incorporated them into shorter forms. It is said that he created these katas to bridge the gap between the Sanchin and Saifa katas, which contain much more complex moves when compared to Sanchin.

Death and legacy

Miyagi had his first heart attack in 1951 and then died from a second hearth attack in Okinawa on October 8, 1953. Some of Miyagi's more notable students were, Seko Higa (his oldest student and also a student of Kanryo Higaonna), Miyazato Ei Ichi (founder of the Jundokan dojo), Meitoku Yagi (founder of the Meibukan dojo (who eventually accepted Miyagi's gi and obi from Miyagi's family), Seikichi Toguchi (founder of Shorei-Kan Goju Ryu), and on the Japanese mainland Gogen Yamaguchi (founder of the International Karate Do Goju Kai Association and who after training with Miyagi, became the representative of Goju Ryu in Japan.

At a later date Gogen Yamaguchi invested much time studying Kata under Meitoku Yagi. He also trained other students who went on to create their own styles, such as Shimabuku Tatuso (Isshinryu).

 

Gogen Yamaguchi

 

Jitsumi Gogen Yamaguchi (Yamaguchi Gogen born on January 20, 1909, died May 20, 1989) was a world renown Grandmaster of Japanese Karate Do and founder of the International Karate Do Goju Kai Association. He was one of the most well-known of all Karate Do masters to come out of Japan.

 

Early Years

Gogen Yamaguchi was born on January 20, 1909 in Miyakonojo Shonai, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, near Kagoshima City on the island of Kyushu. In his 5th year of primary school, Yamaguchi commenced his Karate Do training under the guidance of Takeo Maruta, a carpenter joiner from Okinawa. Maruta was a Goju Ryu practitioner.

Gogen Yamaguchi was named Jitsumi Yamaguchi by his father Tokutaro who was a merchant and later a school teacher and superintendent; his mother was Yoshimatsu. Jitsumi was their 3rd son and there were ten children in the very large Japanese family.

 

“The Cat”

Gogen Yamaguchi was also famously known in the world of Karate Do as ‘the Cat’; he was a very small man, just over five feet tall and 160 pounds, however he projected the impression of great bulk and an aura reminiscent of the samurai era. He was first dubbed ‘the Cat’ by American Gi’s for his gliding walk and flowing hair. He alone was primarily responsible for the spread of Goju Ryu throughout the world today whereby hundreds of thousands of practitioners have experienced some form of training within traditional and non- traditional Karate dojo.

According to Gogen Yamaguchi himself when interviewed by French magazine Karate journalist Rolland Gaillac, April 1977 edition, he stated: “Even today, young man, if you were to face me in combat, I would be able to determine in a second the strength of your Ki. Immediately I would know if you were a good opponent. It is this quality, and no other, which has given me the name of “The Cat.”

 

Early Training in Kyoto

Gogen then began the serious study of Karate Do with Sensei Takeo Maruta after his family relocated to Kyoto. Maruta was also a carpenter of joiner by trade and was himself a student of the legendary Chojun Miyagi of Okinawa. Gogen Yamaguchi studied directly with Chojun Miyagi later in 1929, after he and his then- current teacher and friend Jitsuei Yogi wrote to Chojun Miyagi and invited him to come to Japan.

 

Gogen Meets Chojun Miyagi

Chojun Miyagi visited the university dojo of Kansai, Osaka, Ritsumeikan, Kyoto, and Doshisha Universities, whilst Gogen was attending Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. There he studied Law and in 1930 Yogi together with Gogen Yamaguchi co-founded the Ritsumeikan Daigaku Karate Kenkyu-Kai. Ritsumeikan Karate Do Kenkyu-Kai was the first university Karate club in western Japan and was infamous for its hard style training and fierce Karate fighters. Both Yogi and Yamaguchi attended Ritsumeikan University during the time Chojun Miyagi visited, and Chojun Miyagi stayed in Yogi’s apartment.

Chojun Miyagi later gave Gogen Yamaguchi the responsibility for spreading Goju Ryu in mainland Japan. In the early 1930’s Gogen designed what would become the legendary signature Goju Ryu fist. It is said to be modeled after the right hand fist of Chojun Miyagi.

 

Introduces Jiyu Kumite and Forms the All Japan Karate Do Goju Kai Federation

After graduating from Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto in 1934, Gogen designed and introduced Jiyu-Kumite which has become known today as sport and tournament fighting kumite. In 1935 he officially formed the All Japan Karate Do Goju Kai Karate Do Association (which later split into the JKF Goju Kai and the J.K.G.A.). Also in 1935 Gogen began his travels with the Japanese government as an intelligence officer and his first son Norimi Gosei Yamaguchi was born (Gosei is the current leader of Goju Kai USA).

 

WORLD WAR II

During his military tour in Manchuria in World War II, Gogen was captured by the Soviet military in 1942 and incarcerated as a prisoner of war in a Russian concentration camp. It was here that he battled and defeated a live tiger according to his autobiography. Gogen Yamaguchi was originally targeted for hard labour in the POW camp however he had impressed the Russians who discovered who he was and requested that he teach Karate Do to the Russian soldiers. It was then that, ‘the prisoner became the master of the guards, who became his students’.

In 1945, Gogen returned to Japan where he re-opened his initial Karate Do dojo in Nippori which was later destroyed by fire, and advertised with a sign outside reading Goju Ryu Kai. Many people thought his school was closed forever and that he had been killed in the war. Accordingly Gogen held large exhibitions in Tokyo which showcased the various Chinese and Japanese martial arts that he had experienced. His school reopened and moved at a later date to the Suginami-Ku area of Tokyo. Here he quickly expanded throughout a network of independent Goju Ryu dojo. The rapid growth and expansion was reinforced by Gogen’s energetic and forceful persona which resulted in a worldwide network of Karate schools which he alone built into a powerful martial arts empire.

Registers the Name Goju Ryu, Opens his Honbu Dojo

Gogen Yamaguchi established the Goju Kai Headquarters in Suginami-Ku, Tokyo, Japan, nearby to the busy shopping precinct of Roppongi. It was also at this time that he registered the name Goju Ryu formally with the Butoku-kai (official government body and Headquarters for the Japanese Martial Arts).

By 1950 Goju Kai Headquarters was officially relocated to the Suginami Tokyo School which contributed to an almost tripling of membership to 450,000. Five years later he officially chartered the I.K.G.A.

Later in 1964, Gogen Yamaguchi along with other founder members Otsuka Hironori from Wado-Ryu, Nakayama Masatoshi from Shotokan, Mabuni Kenei and Iwata Manzao of Shito-Ryu, unified all the Karate dojo in Japan to form the All Japan Karate Do.

 

Goju Ryu Kai Spreads Throughout the Western World

By 1966 his organization comprised of more than 1,200 dojo clubs and 600,000 members within the Goju Kai system. Peter Urban had opened his New York Dojo and initiated the spread of the style throughout the USA. In Australia, Paul Starling (the most senior Caucasian pupil graded by Gogen Yamaguchi in his lifetime) had been training for four years with Gogen’s first Australian student Mervyn Oakley.

Death and Legacy

  Prior to his death he was decorated by the Emperor of Japan in 1968 with the Ranju-Hosho, the Blue Ribbon Medal of the fifth order of merit, for his enormous contribution to the spread world wide of the Japanese martial arts. For many years Gogen Yamaguchi was listed in the Guinness Book of Records regarding his rank and achievements.

According to his obituary, “His name was a household word in Karate circles, and he appeared in all the major Martial Arts magazines and publications, both in Japan and the western world.”

Sensei Richard Kim

 

Sensei Richard Kim (born November 17, 1917, died November 8, 2001) was an American Karate teacher. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, he began studying judo at the age of six, under Kaneko. Around the same time, he also began studying Karate under Arakaki Ankichi.

 

Before World War II, his service in the mechants marines took him to East Asia. He

cited many martial artists as teachers, including Tachibana, Chen Chen Yuan, and Choa Hsu Lai. His training includes Karate Do, Judo, Shorinji-Ryu, Kempo, Daito-Ryu, Tai Chi, Ba Gwa, and boxing.

While in Japan, Kim Studied Daito-Ryu under Kotaro Yoshida and lived with him for seven years. Kim stated that he had in his possession the Daito-Ryu scrolls and had been granted the Dato- Ryu menkyo kaiden.

Kim also studied and taught Japanese and Okinawan weaponry.

In 1959, Kim began teaching martial arts in San Francisco, California. He traveled extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe teaching wherever he went. As well as teaching the physical aspects of the martial arts, he taught the philosophy, history, strategy, and spiritual aspects.

Sensei Richard Kim wrote a monthly column for Karate Illustrated magazine, and a number of books including: The Weaponless Warriors, The Classical Man, and an instructional series on weaponry (Kobudo).

He was named Black Belt Magazine’s “Karate Sensei of the Year”, in 1967, and was later inducted into the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame.

He was the director of the American Amateur Karate Federation and Vice-President for the International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF).

At his memorial service, Hidetaka Nishiyama of the ITKF presented Sensei Richard Kim with the rank of Ju-Dan (10th degree Black Belt) posthumously.

Sensei Kim’s students continue through a number of organizations: the Kokusai Butokukai is the international organization that Sensei Rickard Kim started as the Busen Butoku Kai and is made up of: Zen Bei Butoku Kai (founded by Richard Kim in 1959), Butoku Kai Canada, Butoku Kai France, Germany, Spain, Poland, Finland, and Scotland.

The Bu Toku Do was founded by Don Warrener, a senior student of Sensei Richard Kim. The Zei Bei Butokukai International was founded by Brian Ricci and Frank Gaviola who were two of Richard Kim’s senior students.

His most notable students were Sensei Peter Urban, Benny Allen, Don Warrener, and Wallace Platt.

He is responsible for introducing weapon katas to our system in Ontario as well as throughout Canada and the USA.

Gichin Funakoshi

Gichin Funakoshi (born Novermber 10, 1968, died April 26, 1957), was the founder of Shotokan Karate, and is attributed as being the "father of modern Karate".

Following the teachings of Anko Itosu, he was one of the Okinawan Karate masters who introduced Karate to the Japanese mainland in 1922.

In 1939, Funakoshi established the first Shotokan dojo in Tokyo, Japan.

He changed the name of Karate to mean “empty hand” instead of China hand” (as referred to in Okinawa); the two words sound the same in Japanese, but are written differently.

He taught Karate at various Japanese universities and became honorary head of the Japan Karate Association upon its establishment in 1949.

His teachers were Anko Asato and Anko Itosu.

He trained in Shorei Ryu, Shorin Ryu and Shotokan Karate. He was a 5th Dan, which was the highest rank at the time.

His most notable students are Hironori Otsuka, Gigo Funakoshi (his son), Isao Obata, Shigeru Egami, Teruyuki Okazaki, Tetsuhiko Asai, Masatoshi Nakayama, Hidetaka Nishiyama, Tsutomu Ohshima, Taiji Kase, Mitsusuke Harada, Hirokazu Kanazawa and Won Kuk Lee.

He published several books on Karate including his autobiography, Karate Do: My Way of Life. His legacy, however, rests in a document containing his philosophies of Karate training now referred to as the niju kun, or “twenty principles”. These rules are the premise of training for all Shotokan practitioners and are published in a work titled The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate. Within this book, Funakoshi lays out 20 rules by which students of Karate are urged to abide in an effort to, “become better human beings.”

Funakoshi’s Karate Do Kyohan “The Master Text” remains his most detailed publication, containing sections on history, basics, kata, and kumite.

 

The ultimate aim of Karate Do lies neither in victory or defeat But in the perfection of the character of its participants.

 

Gichin Funakoshi