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"Goju Karate-do : The Evolution Of A Martial Art"

by Sarah Daley

The history of Goju Ryu Karate-Do continues to this day. It is a work in progress and continues to grow and change as its practitioners grow and change. Though its foundations stem from the ancient its current form was developed by Chojun Miyagi in the early twentieth century. Ours is a modern art, another step in the evolution of a dynamic tradition.

Like the art itself, the name "karate" has undergone changes over the years. According to Bruce Haines, author of Karate’s History and Traditions , the current ideograph used to denote karate is a development of the twentieth century. (Haines, 20) The original ideograph used is the symbol for the T’ang dynasty. This character could be read either as "to" or "kara" and was used as an adjective meaning "China". "Te" meant, and continues to mean "hand" and was used to denote a fighting art originating in Okinawa strongly resembling the karate of today. (Haines, 20) In 1936 an Okinawan newspaper called Ryukyu Shimpo Sha brought together the karate masters of the time: Yabu, Kiyamu, Motobu, Miyagi and Hagani. At that meeting they decided to dispense with the old ideograph and to adopt the current form meeting "empty". This change was an attempt (in Haines’ opinion) to dissociate the art from its Chinese roots and also to show the connection to Buddhist philosophy by using the term "empty". (Haines, 21) In the words of Patrick McCarthy: "as such, kara not only represented the physical but also embraced the metaphysical; the deeper plane of an ancient Mahayana Buddhist doctrine surrounding detachment, spiritual emancipation, and the world within (inner void)". (McCarthy, 56) This change in the name, that which is used to define and describe the art, shows that evolution is a fundamental element of karate.

Goju Ryu as we know it today was not developed in isolation and the name evolved as the style developed. Chojun Miyagi’s primary Sensei, Higaonna, called his style Shorei-Ryu (Enlightened Spirit Style) but it was commonly referred to as Naha-te.(Bishop, 26)

Miyagi later went to China to study zen as well as White Crane gongfu. In the words of Richard Kim in Weaponless Warriors he then incorporated the "shorei ovements with Zen breathing as he had learned in China" (Kim,100). In Okinawan Karate Mark Bishop describes how the name Goju came to be used. He says that during a demonstration in Japan, Jinan Shinzato one of Miyagi’s top students was asked the name of the style. As the story goes, Miyagi replied by quoting the kenpo Haku "go-ju, don tusu" (hard-soft, spit-swallow) (Bishop, 28). However, in his book Goju Ryu Karate by the Cat, Gogen Yamaguchi states that Chojun Miyagi took the name from the Bubishi :"Goju refers to the natural combination of "Go" (Stiffness or Strength) and "Ju" (Softness or Flexibility). Herein lies the unique ideas of Goju School Karate". (Yamaguichi,152) Chojun Miyagi took the name from Article 13 – The Eight Precepts of Quanfa, the third precept: "Inhaling represents softness while exhaling characterizes hardness."(McCarthy,160)

The history of Goju Ryu stems from the history of karate. This history is, in itself, a study in evolution. According to many sources, Bodhidharma, an Indian Buddhist monk first introduced empty handed fighting arts to China. (Haines,30) He was a member of the Kshatriya, the warrior caste, highly trained in the ways of Dhyana, Zen practices and also exposed to many forms of combat. (Haines,30) There are many myths and legends surrounding Bodhidharma which make it difficult to sort out fact from fabrication.

However he is said to have brought ‘ vajramushti", translated by "one whose lenched fist is adamant" to China. (Haines,25) The connection is further substantiated by the fact that in Buddhist statues many of the postures bear a striking resemblance to karate techniques."(Haines,27) Tradition states that upon seeing the weak state of the Shaolin monks, Bodhidharma taught them physical exercises to strengthen their bodies as well as their minds. (Haines,31) Bodhidharma is credited with the introduction of Shihpa Lohan Shou, or the Eighteen hands of the Lohan to the Shaolin monks believed to be the basis of Shaolin ch’uan fa. This art is thought to be the seed that eventually grew into the karate of today.

This fighting system then began changing and expanding in China. The "eighteen
hands" introduced by Bodhidharma were then expanded to seventy –two hand and foot positions by Ch’ueh Yuan Shang-jen, a master of Shaolin Ch’uan a.(Haines,34) After he spent some time popularizing this style he traveled to the Shensi Province where he made further developments to the art with Li-shao, a fellow martial arts master. (Haines,35) The two reportedly expanded the art to one hundred seventy movements and gave some of them names such as dragon, tiger snake and crane. (Haines,35)

Several styles of empty-hand martial arts developed from these roots. For the purposes of tracing the history of Goju we will concentrate on the history of White Crane gongfu which can be directly connected to the lineage of Chojun Miyagi.

Article One of the Bubishi describes the origins of White Crane Gongfu. According to this article. Fang Zhonggang , a master of Monk Fist boxing was beaten and ultimately killed by thugs trying to take over his village. (McCarthy,62) His daughter, Fang Quiniang, vowed to take revenge for her father’s death. She is said to have witnessed a fight between two cranes and was inspired. She studied their fighting method and "came to understand the principles of hard and soft and yielding to
power."(McCarthy,62) She merged the principles of the birds’ fighting methods and
elements of Monk Fist boxing to create her own style – White Crane Gongfu. Along with the principles already described, Fang also incorporated spiritual development into her training saying that her art should only be used in self defence. She maintained that "it is only through discovering and then mastering the world within that the power of positive human force can be developed in harmony with nature and used to defeat any adversary."(McCarthy,63)

Minghe Quan or White Crane was reportedly disseminated by Lin Shixian.
(Whitehead,46) He traveled from a small rural town to Fuzhou where he taught his style. One of his students was Pan Yuba, who is responsible for teaching Xie Chongxian a shoemaker’s apprentice who was otherwise known as Ryuruko. Ryuruko combined the central elements of White Crane Gongfu with his own ideas to create his own style called Whooping Crane emphasizing palm strikes. In his article "The Black Ship of Karate-do -Patrick McCarthy" Colin Whitehead says that "Whooping Crane is an ideal system of self-defence for people of small stature as it advocates leg manoeuvres and body movement to avoid a direct assault. Boxers of this style specialise in striking the 36 vital points with forceful finger thrusts and palm techniques."(Whitehead,45) The style also uses ki energy to achieve the same effect as strength.

Kanryo Higaonna, Miyagi Chojun’s teacher, was among Ryuruko’s students.

Higaonna learned te from Master Aragaki but then went to China where he purchased tea (Kim,95). He stayed there for between seven and eighteen years and studied Whooping Crane Gongfu according to Patrick McCarthy. (Whitehead,45) When he returned to Okinawa the style he taught was not Naha-te or Whooping Crane Gongfu but, in the words of Patrick McCarthy in his translation of the Bubishi "an eclectic hybrid."(38) Describing the style in his Outline of Karate –Do, Chojun Miyagi said that "the only detail that we can be sure of is that a style from Fuzhou was introduced to Okinawa in 1828 and served as a basis from which Goju-Ryu karate kempo unfolded."(McCarthy,39) Higaonna was instrumental in advancing the art. Graham Noble in his article on Chojun Miyagi says that "In some way that is not too clear, Kanryo Higaonna blended Okinawa-te with the style he had learned in China. (Noble,6) Higaonna taught this "blend" of styles to Chojun Miyagi, who studied under him from the age of fourteen.

After studying with Higaonna for several years, Chojun Miyagi travelled to Fuzhou in
search of Higaonna’s teacher. Though he was unsuccessful in his quest to follow his teacher’s path, he, like Higaonna, was further influenced by White Crane Gongfu. According to Mark Bishop in Okinawan Karate he was influenced by his friend Gokenki, a tea importer who taught White Crane Boxing to a small group of students (Bishop,28). Shortly after he and Gokenki returned from Fuzhou he introduced Tensho "which he had adapted from the Rokkishu of White Crane."(Bishop,28) as well as Saifa having hand and leg movements resembling those of White Crane. He also initiated new training methods, emphasizing strength and endurance. For example, he would lift stones on the shore up to two hundred pounds. If he could not lift a stone he would come back day after day until he was able to lift it. (Noble,9) In Weaponless Warriors, Richard Kim describes some of Miyagi’s feats: Miyagi thrust his hand into a bunch of bamboos and pulled out one from the center. He stuck his hand into a slab of meat and tore off chunks. He put white chalk on the bottom of his feet, jumped up, and kicked the ceiling."(Kim,103) Miyagi’s training was "scientific and severe….No one could advance to the next kata without first perfecting the (simpler) kata. It was basics, basics, basics and more basics with kata thrown in between."(Kim,102) In other words, Chojun Miyagi not only amalgamated styles like his forefathers but incorporated his own values and ideas into the old training methods.

The history of Goju-Ryu karate does not end with Chojun Miyagi, it continues with all those who study the art and who make it their own. The preservation of the spirit of Goju lies in the willingness to learn from other martial arts and to incorporate the principles and techniques into our own to allow it to continue to grow and evolve.

Sarah's main focus is the study Okinawan GoJu and the application of Kyusho Jitsu to reveal practical applications and self-defence aspects of Karate, teaching principles rather than techniques. As well Sarah is very active in curriculum development and is a member of Karate Ontario and is working toward NCCP certification.