Given that there is a great amount of detail on the
life of
Miyagi Chojun this article is necessarily brief.
Chojun Miyagi was born on April 25, 1888 in the Higashi Machi
district of Naha.
Orphaned at a young age he was adopted by a distant
relative.
His
family was aristocratic and like many wealthy families in
Naha made their fortune through trade. His family
owned two large boats which transported tea and
herbs to and from China.
It is believed that Miyagi began his study of
Naha-Te in 1900 at the age of 11. He started his training
with Ryuko Aragaki, who recognizing the talent of his young
student, soon felt compelled to introduce him to the more
famous Naha-Te Master Kanryo Higaonna.
This occurred in 1902 and at the
time Miyagi was 14.
Eventually, and indenpendently wealthy, Miyagi would become
Higaonna’s "uchi deshi" (or indoor disciple)
and would financially support his teacher’s family throughout
the rest of their lives. He studied with Higaonna until the
formers death in 1915 (a total of 14 years).
By
comparing what Higaonna’s most senior disciple Kiyoda
Juhatsu (founder of To’on Ryu) also learnt, it is possible
to determine what Miyagi was taught at this time: Sanchin,
Seisan, Suparinpei and Sanseru kata, as well as the use of
various traditional hojo undo training implements such as
the Chishi, Ishi Sashi, Nigirigame, etc...
Like
his teacher before him and in pursuit of more knowledge, Miyagi
traveled to Fujian, China in 1915 with a Chinese friend known
as Go ken ki. He stayed in China for two years in search of
Higaonna’s Sempai Ryu Ryu Ko. Unable
to find him he studied other martial arts from Fujian province.
It
is probably on this trip that Miyagi learnt or compiled the
other kata which would form his system, including: Seipai,
Sieunchin, Saifa and Kururunfa.
It
is not certain what style he trained in but forms bearing
the same names exist in a variety of Fujian based systems
including: Five Ancestors (Ngo Cho Kune), Southern Emperor
Fist (Tai Cho Kune) and White Crane (Bak Hak Kune).
About
this trip Miyagi would later say in 1936: “I went to
China knowing that it was there that I had to go for more
advanced Kung-Fu training.” (Miyagi Chojun, 1936). On
his return to Okinawa in 1917 he began to systematize and
teach his martial art and his fame grew.
Here
is a brief outline of the rest of his life:
-In 1921 he was chosen to demonstrate Naha-Te in front of
the Crown Prince Hirohito.
-In 1925 he repeated this performance in front of Prince Chichibu.
In
1926 he was one of the founding member of the Karate Kenkyukai
or Karate Research Club along with other notable Masters such
as Kiyoda Juhatsu (To’on Ryu) and Mabuni Kenwa (Shito-Ryu).
In this research club he would modernize many of Karate’s
training methods, invent jobi undo exercises, and experiment
with such things as boxing equipment and jiyu kumite.
He
was also one of the Masters present when this club met in
1936 and decided to change the characters for the name Karate
from To-Te, or China hand,
to Karate, or empty hand, which did much to popularize Karate
as a Japanese martial art.
In
1930 he was invited by Jigoro Kano to give demonstrations
in Japan at the Butokukai.
In1932 he was again invited by Jigoro Kano but could not make
it. Instead he sent his senior student Shinzato Jin'an to
replace him.
When
Shinzato was asked what style of Karate he practiced, he was
embarrassed because he only new his art under the name of
Naha-Te and so decided to call it Hanku Ryu (meaning half
hard style). On his return he told
Miyagi about his indiscretion and Miyagi decided that the
style should be called Goju Ryu (hard soft style) instead.
This name was taken directly from the third verse in The Eight
Poems of the Fist found in the famous martial arts manual
the Bubishi.
In
1932 he was teaching at: Kansai University, the Prefectural
Men’s Teachers College and, like his teacher before
him, at the Naha Commercial High School.
In 1933 the name of Goju Ryu was officially registered as
a form of Japanese Budo by the Butokukai. At this time the
Butokukai was the regulating body of all the different Martial
Arts of Japan.
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