Goju Ryu Karate History

The history of Goju-Ryu begins with Chojun Miyagi Shihan who is Fuseishutsu no kensei (unparalleled saint).

Miyagi Shihan was born in the Meiji era 20 (1888) in a famous house in Naha city in Okinawa. He had practiced karate since he was 14 years old with Kanryo Higashionna Shihan. In the Meiji era 36 (1904), when he was 16 years old, he was ordered to go to Fuku-ken-sho in China and practiced Chinese Kempo.

In China, Miyagi received rough and strict training. At the same time he studied the theory from old books. After he came back from China, he compared Chinese Kempo and Okinawa-te. Miyagi adopted his unique and effective way of breathing, which he called Ikibuki, a way of preliminary exercise which is necessary for mastering Karate-do. Ikibuki is also a supportive scientific exercise, which is related to the structure of the body and to its movement.

After that, Miyagi continued studying and re-organized both Chinese Kempo and Okinawa-te's merits and added his own ideas. This is how Goju-Ryu was born. The name of Goju-Ryu was extracted from "Bubishi" which is a Chinese documentary record.

There is one of eight phrases of Kyo in the Bubishi which is called Hogoju. Because it means "the method of absorbing and releasing Go and Ju," the style was named Goju-Ryu.

Miyagi taught karate at an Okinawa police training school, in a Naha public business school, an Okinawa Shihan school and an Okinawa health centre. In the Showa era 4 (1929), Miyagi was invited by a karate club in Kyoto University and by the Kansai University, to become an advising teacher. He was then invited to teach permanently as a Shihan by the Ritsumeikan University. Over time Miyagi spread his methods throughout Japan and took the initiative of Goju-Ryu.

By that time, (Gogen Yamaguchi) was recognized by Shihan Miyagi and was left the responsibility of spreading Miyagi's method of guidance, become a family of Goju-Ryu, and organize the - All Japan Karate-do Goju Association.

Moreover, Shihan Miyagi was invited to Hawaii by Shimpo Company, where he taught karate for one year and contributed to Goju-Ryu Karate-do in and outside of Japan. After the Second World War, Miyagi went back to Okinawa and quietly worked for the Civil Administration as a physical education coach. In the Showa era 28 (1953), in October. he passed away.

Goju-Ryu Karate-do is composed by Yo, which is positive. and In which is negative as the letters Go and Ju indicate. This is the reason why the fundamental idea is so unique and has beauty.

The eternal life of the universe develops with positive (Yo) and negative (In) working together. This is the same for the life of human beings. Life has Yo and In. or Go and Ju, both sides for all our lives, sometimes connected by becoming the will and the harmony. The ancients who chose karate as a means of fighting, endured their strict and rough practice in order to protect themselves and to win.

You can see that Goju-Ryu is still keeping a primitive form for actual fighting when you practice the Sanchin and Tensho katas, which represent Go and Ju. In Sanchin, you make the whole body, all the nerves, etc. extremely tensed and don't let your guard down even for a moment. On the other hand, in Tensho, you don't show a gush of fighting spirit; you keep it inside of your body and wait for a chance to use it. As a result Tensho draws a gentle curve and flows. The technique of Goju-Ryu is its own unique method of breathing called Ikibuki. The technique can be changed from Go to Ju or Ju to Go and while you make movement without distraction, you still go along with the movements of the opponent. If the opponent comes by Go, you respond by Ju and restrain him. If the opponent comes by Ju, you go by Go and temper him. Ikibuki is the way of breathing that controls conscious breathing from ordinary unconscious breathing. You go with the movement and breathing of the opponent and lead your physical condition to most advantageous situation. It is useful for concentrating your muscles and mind.

Goju-Ryu has many postures which use the names of animals like the cat, dog, crane, tiger and dragon. In Ikibuki, you imagine that a lion is roaring. When animals stand ready for fighting, they are on their guard and all their power is concentrated for fighting. That form does not have anxiety or fear. They are just thinking about defeating the enemy. There is no desire of self-gratification and no dishonesty. You can say that they are desperate. The reason that the colour of the old Budo is very strong in modern Budo is that we see the importance in the forms and the Ikibuki of these animals. These aspects are the original aspects of Go, however, it is not perfect to emphasize the aspect of Go, in other words, the height of the form. If a strife of Go is one side, there has to be Ju on the other side which avoids a strife. That is how character building can be accomplished by Goju-Ryu.

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