Karate, as we know it today, is the age-old martial art of unarmed self-defence. In Japanese terms, Kara-te-do means the "way of the empty-hand".
Goju Kai Karate has been developed over centuries, tracing back to the unarmed fighting arts of China. These arts came from Okinawa, where they underwent development and fusion with Okinawan unarmed fighting styles. From here we can establish 4 main stages. Each stage represented by different Karate masters.
First there was Master Kanryo Higashionna who trained as a student of Master Woo (Ryu in Japanese). His Sensei (teacher in Japanese) was a practitioner of Chinese boxing and trained Higashionna for 15 to 20 years. After training in China, Higashionna returned to Okinawa in Japan to create his own style called Naha-Te.
The second stage was constructed around Chojun Miyagi Kensei, who was one of Master Kanryo Higashionna’s students. Miyagi coined the term Goju-ryu and further helped in the process making the Goju-ryu style globally recognised.
Gogen Yamaguichi Kaiso can be identified as the foundations of stage three. Gogen Yamaguichi was entrusted by Chojun Miyagi to promote and develop Goju-Ryu Karate-Do within Japan. From here he created the Japan Karate-do Goju-Kai Association (J.K.G.A.) and the International Karate-do Goju-Kai Association (I.K.G.A.).
Goshi Yamaguichi Saiko Shinan was Gogen Yamaguchi’s third son, who inherited his father’s legacy after his death. At the age of 8, Goshi Yamaguichi began karate and was awarded his first black belt 6 years later (14 years old)
