The History of USA Goju Ryu...
Goju Ryu karate had its origins in the Fukien
Providence, of China. In the late 1800's, Master Kanryu Higashionna
(1853-1917), brought the art (known as Shorin Ryu), to the island of
Okinawa. After training for a time in Chinese Boxing, Master Higashionna
developed a self defense system called Naha-Ta; a combination of Naha (an
Okinawan city), and Te (a bare-handed fighting technique).
One of the master's famous students, Chogun Miyagi, studied with the Master
while on Okinawa, and later on, traveled back to Fukien Providence for
additional study. Miyagi returned to Okinawa in 1917 (about the time of
Master Higashionna's death) Miyagi then further modified the art, adding
katas, and formalizing the system.
Realizing that the theory of a "One Strike Kill" would not be well accepted
in the educational programs of the day, Sensei Miyagi began developing an
art that combined soft movements (breathing katas) with dynamic tension
exercises (hard movement). In this manner, karate was used not only for
spiritual enlightenment, but for exercise, and for self defense.
Around 1930, Master Miyagi also gave the style the name, Goju, (meaning
'hard-soft style'). This is one of the first systems possessing the name not
denoting it's place of origin. Master Miyagi died in 1953. Among Master
Miyagi's better known students are: Seiko Higa; Seikichi Toguchi; Meitoko
Yagi; and Gogen Yamaguchi. Sensei Yamaguchi went on to become the Headmaster
of the Japanese Goju System. Meitoku Yagi became the recognized leader of
the Mei Buken school of Okinawan Goju.
1953 was also the year a young sailor was introduced to karate, in Yokohama
Japan. His name was Peter Urban. After training for one year with Richard
Kim, Peter Urban traveled to Tokyo and was introduced to Gogen Yamaguchi,
where he was accepted as a student. In 1957, Peter Urban opened a small Dojo
in Tokyo, and competed in the all-Japan College Championships that same
year. In 1959, Urban moved to America, and opened his first American Dojo,
in Union City, N.J. The following year, he opened another school on 17th
street in Manhattan.
Peter Urban was reportedly one of the men responsible for establishing
structured tournaments in America, one of the first of those being the North
American Karate Championships in 1962, held at Madison Square Garden. Three
years later, at the age of 31, Urban's first book; The Karate Dojo, was
published. Urban opened his famous Chinatown Dojo in 1967, making Japanese
karate open to the public.
In the early 1970's, Urban returned to Japan to ask of Gogen Yamaguchi
permission to establish in America, a karate system separate from Japan's.
Yamaguchi refused, saying the rules of Bushido stated that no white man
could achieve Nirvana. Urban, dissatisfied with the decision, retorted that
these same rules stated that Japan could never lose a war. This statement
offended the Sensei Realizing this, Urban prepared to follow samurai custom,
to cut off his pinky finger in apology.
He was stopped by Yamaguchi's oldest son. However, the damage was done.
Urban returned to America, and incorporated himself as the founder of
American Goju.
