HIGAONNA KANRYO SENSEI
March 10, 1853 - October 1915

“It was Kanryo Higaonna Sensei who dedicated his life to the art of karate and brought it from China to Okinawa. He is the teacher to whom all Goju Ryu practitioners around the world owe their art.”
– Ilan Oppenheimer Sensei
Higaonna Kanryo Sensei was born in the village of Naha on March 10, 1853. He belonged to the lower gentry and went by the name “Machu” as a small boy.
From childhood Machu showed great interest in the fighting arts and was eager to learn as much as possible. Despite his small size for his age, Machu could move very quickly and his body was extremely limber.
At age fourteen Machu began to learn Chinese Kempo. His well-developed and strong body enabled him to master Chinese Kempo rather quickly. After only a short period of time, Machu was able to achieve a level of expertise in both skill and technique comparable to that of his teacher. Hat a young age he became well known as a master martial artist in Naha. However, Machu was unsatisfied with his level of skill and longed to go to China and study the Chinese martial arts and culture. Unfortunately, his father had six children to look after and was unable to offer him financial assistance. But Higaonna Kanryo Sensei did not give up hope.
With some persistence and determination, Higaonna Sensei reached his goal. Through his instructor, he was introduced to the owner of a ship, in the port city of Naha, and convinced him to grant him a passage to China. His dream to study in China, restricted to the well-to-do at that time, was finally fulfilled. At age sixteen he left Naha for the Chinese port of Foochow where he stayed at an Okinawan settlement called the Ryukyu-kan. It took almost a year for Higaonna Kanryu Sensei to be introduced to the master of Chinese kempo, Master Ryu Ryuko.
Even after Higaonna Sensei was introduced, he was not immediately accepted as a disciple. The Chinese masters would take the time to study the personality and character of candidates before accepting them. Thus, Higaonna Sensei was given tasks of tending the garden and cleaning the rooms of the master and did these tasks earnestly and enthusiastically over a long period of time. Impressed by his attitude, Master Ryu Ryuko finally accepted Higaonna Sensei as his personal disciple.
