Chojun Miyagi was born on April 25, 1888, in Naha, Okinawa. Miyagi's family belonged to the gentry. Having two trading ships, the Miyagi family was engaged in the importing of medicine from China, supplying both the government and private merchants. The family was one of the wealthiest in Naha. When Miyagi was 5-years-old, his uncle and successor to the main family passed away and Miyagi was adopted by his grandfather as the heir of the Miyagi family. When Miyagi was 11-years-old, his mother took him to karate master Ryuko Aragaki. Having lived through the hard and tumultuous years of the Meiji Restoration, and the Sino Japanese War, Miyagi's mother was convinced that a man had to be both mentally and physically strong to face the world as the head of a family. At Aragaki's dojo, Miyagi mainly trained using the makiwara (striking post), chishi (stone-lever weight), and nigirigame(gripping jar), which were used to strengthen and develop muscles. Aragaki eventually introduced his young student to Kanryo Higaonna in 1902. Master Higaonna was renown throughout Okinawa and many hoped to be his disciple. However, Higaonna was very particular about whom he trained and only chose a student if he felt they were capable of the discipline required for serious training. Miyagi performed the menial chores assigned with much enthusiasm and was ultimately accepted as a student. Higaonna's training was so severe that Miyagi contemplated quitting more than once. However, Miyagi renewed his commitment to karate and trained even harder on his own before his evening sessions with Higaonna. Even still, Higaonna's training was so harsh that Miyagi sometimes passed out while practicing the Sanchin kata. Miyagi had a great passion for karate and was a man of strong will and good character. Higaonna felt that his Naha-te legacy would be in good hands. Miyagi trained with Higaonna until the latter's death in December 1915; approximately 13 years.  Upon his master's death, Miyagi traveled to China in hopes of training with Higaonna's master, Ryu Ryuko. However, when he got to Fuzhou, all he could find was the dojo's outer wall and no trace of Master Ryu Ryuko's house. He soon found that most of the martial arts masters had fled to Singapore or Malaysia to avoid persecution during the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion (1900 1901). After returning to Okinawa, Miyagi created the Tensho kata based on the Chinese form Rokkishu. Tensho kata is characterized by soft and smooth movements as opposed to the "hard" movements of Sanchin kata. In 1921 the Crown Prince of Japan, Hirohito, visited Nakagusuku Bay in Okinawa as part of his European tour. A big ceremony was held in honor of the Crown Prince. Demonstrations of Shuri-te and Naha-te were given for the Prince. Miyagi was the representive of Naha-te. Gichin Funakoshi was the representative of Shuri-te. The Prince was very much impressed by the skills of the karate masters. Later, in 1925, at age 37, Miyagi demonstrated Naha-te for Prince Chichibu. Miyagi felt it would be necessary to unify and organize the world of Okinawan karate in order to preserve it as a cultural treasure for future generations. As such, Miyagi helped start the Ryukyu Toudi Kenkyu-kai (Karate Research Club), in Naha, in 1926, with co-founders Choyu Motobu (Tomari-te), Chomo Hanashiro (Shuri-te), and Kenwa Mabuni (Shito Ryu). The four instructors alternated turns in teaching their students. The club lasted until 1929. In 1927, Judo founder, Jigoro Kano, visited Okinawa, and Miyagi, again, demonstrated kata. Kano was very impressed at karate's advanced techniques and sophistication and he invited Miyagi to the mainland on several occaisions to demonstrate karate at many of the leading budo tournaments. In 1930, Miyagi sent his senior student, Jinan Shinzato, in his stead for Emperor Hirohito's coronation ceremony to demonstrate karate. After his performance, Shinzato was asked which school of karate he belonged to. Shinzato could not answer as at that time there was no need to have a name for each karate style. Back in Okinawa, Miyagi pondered this situation. Using one of the precepts of Chinese kenpo, Miyagi named his art the Goju Ryu (Hard/Soft Style). Later, in 1933, Miyagi formally registered the Goju Ryu with the Dai Nippon Butoku-Kai (Great Japanese Martial Arts Association). Miyagi spent the rest of the 1930s developing and spreading karate-do throughout Japan and the world. Then in 1940, in an effort to popularize karate and improve the physical education of the young, Miyagi created the two Gekisai kata. During World War II (1941-1945), Miyagi stopped teaching. Miyagi lost his third son, Jun, and his senior desciple, Jinan Shinzato, in the Battle for Okinawa. In 1946, Miyagi became a director of the Okinawan Civil Association of Physical  Education. He also began teaching karate in his garden and at the Police Academy. Karate began to spread throughout the mainland after the War and for a short time, Miyagi taught in the Kansai district. Miyagi passed away on October 8, 1953, leaving a great legacy behind. To pass on the Goju Ryu to future generations, he chose Meitoku Yagi to succeed him in Okinawa and on the mainland, Gogen Yamaguchi of the Goju Kai. Miyagi predicted that during the twentieth century, karate would spread throughout the world. This prediction has been realized. Today, karate can no longer be referred to solely as an Okinawan or Japanese martial art - it has become an art with no boundaries, an art for all nations and all peoples of the world. Back