The History of Goju Ryu Karate Book by Morio Higaonna (Preowned)

"Within the text of the Bubishi there are eight Kenpo Haku (martial arts poems). A line from one of these poems reads:

Ho goju donto--the way of inhaling and exhaling is hardness and softness.

Given the nature of Chojun Miyagis karate, a style containing hard and soft techniques with the emphasis on breathing, Goju seemed to be an ideal name."

This volume results from more than three decades of intense research in Okinawa, Japan, and China. The magnum opus of prominent karate master Morio Higaonna, it is the only definitive and historically accurate account of Goju Ryu karate.

Table of Contents

1. An Historical Perspective of the Ryukyu Islands
2. Kanryu Higaonna
3. Back in Okinawa
4. Chojun Miyagi: The Early Years
5. Training, Marriage, Military Service
6. Final Years with Kanryo Higaonna Sensei
7. Chojun Miyagi's Research
8. The Karate Kenkyu Club Era and the Naming of Goju-Ryu
9. Miyagi Travels Abroad
10. Kyoto (Japan) Period
11. The War and its Aftermath
12. An'ichi Miyagi
13. An'ichi's Training Continues
14. New Year's Eve
15. Training Continues
16. Chojun Miyagi's Final Years
17. My Training Begins

Biographies and Interviews

• China
• Appendix
• Glossary
• Index

About the Author:

Morio Higaonna was born in 1938 in Naha, the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture. He began practicing karate when he was 14 years old at his junior high school. At the age of 15, in 1953, he became the student of An'ichi Miyagi, a student of Master Chojun Miyagi, the founder of Goju Ryu Karatedo. From this stage on Morio Higaonna dedicated himself to the training and practicing of Goju Ryu Karatedo. After having been taught by good instructors, his fascination with karate led him to devote his entire life to the enrichment of the spiritual depth and virtue of karate.
In 1960 Higaonna sensei entered Takushoku University in Tokyo. He began his training at the Yoyogi Dojo, however he was simultaneously engaged as an instructor (sensei) there teaching four classes a day totaling 1,000 students. Higaonna sensei taught at Yoyogi Dojo until May of 1981. During this time he established the International Okinawa Goju Ryu Karatedo Federation (IOGKF) which has trained over 20,000 students in 21 countries up to the present. Higaonna sensei is respected throughout the world as a "Master of Karate"', a master who is born only once every 50 years.

Length: 226 pages

Language: English

Publication date: 1996