BRIEF HISTORY OF GOJU-RYU KARATE-DO
Karate-do is a mixture of Chinese martial art and traditional martial (some called Kobudo) in Ryukyu (now known as Okinawa) in Japan about 150 years ago. Karate-do literally means “the way of Empty Hands”. It is designed to fight without weapons. In fact, Karate is more than just a fighting art. It is a philosophy and a way of life. The essence of Karate is not to defeat others, but is to overcome yourself. A Karate practitioner not only seeks to perfect his techniques, but also seeks to perfect his character.
During Ryukyu age, weapons are not allowed for any peasant folks because of the government's power policy. These peasants who developed martial arts called Te, fought with bare foot and bare hands. On the process of spreading over in Ryukyu, difference kinds of martial arts were created, such as Naha-te, Shuri-te, and other Style's origins.
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Kanryo Higaonna 東恩納寛量 (1852-1915) was still in his teens when his father died. At the age of 14, he began his formal training in Chinese Kempo with Seisho Arakaki (1840-1920), who had studied the Fukien style.
Kanryo decided he wanted to entertain his studies his studies abroad in martial arts and he set his heart on traveling to Fuzhou, China for this purpose. It is said that he visited the port city in 1873 for fifteen years. |
Some Martial Arts historians explain his motives of visiting the city was to study the Chinese Martial Arts. Higaonna did, in fact, study a Southern Shaolin Chaun style with Sifu (instructor) Liu Liu Gung and remained there for 15 years, during his stay in that city.
As Explained by other historians, his initial reason for visiting China was the result of his political involvements. He arrived in Fuzhou in the year 1869 when he was 15 or 16. It is believed that Higaonna Sensei also studied the styles of Hung Gar-Shaolin Chuan, hard style Chinese martial arts of Chi-Chi and/or I-Chi as well with another master named Woo. He began his studies with Ryuruko in 1876 at the age of 23 in Fujian Province, China. He stayed for approximately 13 years. After he came back to Ryukyu, he combined both techniques and created a new style called To-dei. This martial art was the beginning of Karate.
During this transitional period, when this martial art was becoming more popular in mainland Japan, called Karate Kempou which meant Chinese Hard Fist System. Later during 1930s, Japanese practitioner changed the written characters to Karate (空手). The first word means [empty], and the second word means [hand]. Its implication is to symbolize a pair of bare hands in combat for the sake of self defense against the armed hands. However, it was a Japanese political attempt to transform the body of the art with metaphysical insinuation so that the name can eliminate its national identity. The word "DO" literally means "way" as for "a way of life".
As Explained by other historians, his initial reason for visiting China was the result of his political involvements. He arrived in Fuzhou in the year 1869 when he was 15 or 16. It is believed that Higaonna Sensei also studied the styles of Hung Gar-Shaolin Chuan, hard style Chinese martial arts of Chi-Chi and/or I-Chi as well with another master named Woo. He began his studies with Ryuruko in 1876 at the age of 23 in Fujian Province, China. He stayed for approximately 13 years. After he came back to Ryukyu, he combined both techniques and created a new style called To-dei. This martial art was the beginning of Karate.
During this transitional period, when this martial art was becoming more popular in mainland Japan, called Karate Kempou which meant Chinese Hard Fist System. Later during 1930s, Japanese practitioner changed the written characters to Karate (空手). The first word means [empty], and the second word means [hand]. Its implication is to symbolize a pair of bare hands in combat for the sake of self defense against the armed hands. However, it was a Japanese political attempt to transform the body of the art with metaphysical insinuation so that the name can eliminate its national identity. The word "DO" literally means "way" as for "a way of life".
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Goju-Ryu which originated from Naha-Te was established by Chojun Miyagi 宮城長順 (1888-1953) who was a disciple of Kanryo Higaonna. At the age of 16, Chojun Miyagi went to China and studied Karate under many renowned Karate masters. He also studied theory and completed special breathing way call [Kisoku no Donto].
Go (剛) means [hard] and Ju (柔) means [soft], thus idiom Goju suggests any variation of hard and soft aspect. As for a historical point of view a major body of system was imported from Fukien Province of China, which the system called itself [one half hard one hard soft style] in Chinese. The system also called Fukien Crane Chuan which was branched school from Five Ancestor Chuan. Karate-do (空手道) was named officially during the 1930s in mainland Japan. Traditionally, all the martial arts that were recognized among the field claimed their specific name of school or style in order to identify their lineage within the art. Unlike its custom, the art of Karate-do in Okinawa thus started claim to its name of style such as Goju-Ryu, Shito-Ryu. Ryu literally means stream which indicates lineage of branch. Among the various styles of Karate originally practiced on the Okinawa Island, Goju-Ryu is known as the earliest institute of Karate that named it’s school by its specific style. |
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In 1937, Gogen Yamaguchi 山口剛玄, a student of Chojun Miyagi, promoted the school of Goju-Ryu Karate in Japan. In 1950, he found the national organization of All Japan Karate-do Goju Kai in Tokyo, Japan.
Gogen Yamaguchi has developed what we called [modern Karate]. From a technical point of view, he had unified all Karate exercise by employing an extremely well-organized method. As a result of the introduction of free-style sparring, the art of Karate had become a more active and popular art in Japan as well as in other parts of the world. Although he studied such martial arts as Judo, Kendo, Iaido, Jo-do, and Kusari-gama (art of chain) in his younger days, Karate had from the beginning captured most of his enthusiasm. |
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