Who are they?

Grandmaster Chojun Miyagi

Grandmaster Chojun Miyagi was born on April 25, 1888. He began training in karate under Kanryo Higaonna at the age of 14, in 1902. Like his teacher before him, because of his great natural talent and fierce determination, he progressed very rapidly. The training was severe beyond belief at times but he practiced ever harder with an enthusiasm unmatched by any of the other students. Chojun Miyagi became "uchi deshi" (private disciple) of Kanryo Higaonna. He studied with his teacher for 14 years before his teachers death in 1915. Chojun Miyagi, as successor to Naha-te pushed himself to the limits of endurance in his desire to emulate the extraordinary skill of his teacher. To this end, that same year (1915) he journeyed to Fuzhou, China, the city where his teacher had studied the martial arts, to further his research. This was one of three trips he made to China during his lifetime. On his return to Okinawa he began to teach the martial arts at his home in Naha. Later, he also taught at the Okinawan Prefecture Police Training Center, at the Okinawan Master's Training College, and at the Naha Commercial High School (where his teacher had once taught). Chojun Miyagi worked hard to spread karate throughout Okinawa and mainland Japan, and to earn Naha-te a status equal to that of the highly respected Japanese martial arts of Judo and Kendo. To achieve this he traveled frequently to mainland Japan where he was invited to teach karate at Kyoto University and Ritsumei Kan University. In 1933 karate was registered at the Butokukai, the centre for all martial arts in Japan. This was a milestone for karate as it meant that it was recognized on a level with the highly respected martial arts of Japan. Chojun Miyagi dedicated his whole life to karate. He was responsible for structuring Naha-te (which he later named "Goju-Ryu") into a systemized discipline which could be taught to society in general. This teaching system which he formulated enabled karate to be taught in schools for the benefit of the young, and to reach vast numbers of people throughout the world. However, his private teaching at his home remained strictly in adherence to the principles of his teacher, Kanryo Higaonna, and his teacher before him, Ryu Ryu Ko. The naming of Goju-Ryu came about more by accident than design. In 1930, Chojun Miyagi's top student, Jin'an Shinzato, while in Tokyo was asked by numerous martial arts masters as to what school of martial arts he practiced. As Naha-te had no formal name he could not answer this question. On his return to Okinawa he reported this incident to Chojun Miyagi. After much consideration, Chojun Miyagi decided on the name Goju-Ryu (hard and soft school) as a name for his style. This name he took from a line in the Bubishi (a classical Chinese text on martial arts and other subjects). This line, which appears in a poem describing the eight precepts of the martial arts, reads "Ho Goju Donto" (the way of inhaling and exhaling is hardness and softness).

Gogen Yamaguchi

(1909-1989) Gogen Yamaguchi was born January 20, 1909 at Miyakonojou, Shonai, Miyazaki Prefecture as the third son of Tokutaro. He was named Jitsumi. When he was thirteen years of age, he studied Goju-Ryu Karate Kempo with his instructor named Takeo Maruyama. He studied Law at Kansei University in 1928 and Ritsumeikan University from 1929 to 1937 and received Law Degrees. While studing at the University, he initiated the Karate club and invented its free sparring form. By this time, all karate schools in Okinawa and Japan practiced kata and pre-arranged application exercise and never attempted to practice free form of sparring. In 1937, he received the name Gogen from Chojun Miyagi and authorized him to promote the school of Goju-Ryu Karate in Japan. In 1950, he founded the national organization of All Japan Karate-Do Goju-Kai in Tokyo, Japan. Gogen received 10th Degree Black Belt from Chojun Miyagi in 1951. He was recognized as one of the greatest Karate masters in Japan. He was the founder of what might be called modern Karate, an advanced stage which illustrates both a technical and social elevation of the art of Karate. From a technical point of view, he had unified all Karate exercise by employing an extremly 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. In the general development of Karate, Gogen had contributed several distinguished services. First, he formed a group of Asian martial instructors. He then succeeded in bringing seventy Asian instructors to Japan and traveled throughout the country, holding exchange martial arts demonstreations. After the Pacific war, he succeeded in unifing all Karate schools into one union. As a result, the All Japan Karate Federation was established in 1964. In the United States, people refer to Gogen Yamaguchi as the "Cat." As a further recognition of merit, he was honored in 1969 by Emperor Hirohito of Japan with Ranju-Hosho, the Blue Ribbon Medal.