Chojun Miyagi
Miyagi Chojun was born on April 25, 1888. Miyagi began his study in Budo at the age of 12. He too first began learning martial arts from Aragaki Seisho, in 1900. Aragaki Sensei introduced the young Miyagi to the rudiments and fundamentals of Budo. Aragaki Sensei taught him Yobi-undo, Kigu hojo undo, kihon waza, etc. After two years of training Aragaki Sensei introduced him to Higaonna Kanryo Sensei. Under the tutelage of this Master, Miyagi underwent a very long and arduous period of training learning the complex system of Naha-Te.
At the age of 14 he began training in Naha-Te with Higaonna Kanryo. Like his teacher before him, because of his great natural talent and fierce determination, he progressed very rapidly. The training was severe beyond belief at times but he practiced ever harder with an enthusiasm unmatched by any of the other students.
Miyagi Chojun became "uchi deshi" (private discipline) of Higaonna Kanryo. He studied with his teacher for 13 years before his teacher's death in 1915. Miyagi, as successor to Naha-Te, pushed himself to the limits of endurance in his desire to emulate his teacher's extraordinary skill. In 1915 he journeyed to Fuzhou, China, the city where his teacher had studied martial arts nearly a half decade earlier, to further his research. This was one of three trips he made to China during his lifetime. On his return to Okinawa he began to teach the Martial Arts of his home in Naha. Later, he also taught at the Okinawan Prefecture Police Training Center, at the Okinawan Master's Training College, and at the Naha Commercial High School (where his teacher had once taught).
Chojun Miyagi worked hard to spread Karate throughout Okinawa and mainland Japan, and to earn Naha-Te a status equal to that of the highly respected Japanese Martial Arts of Judo and Kendo. To achieve this he traveled frequently to mainland Japan where he was invited to teach at Kyoto University, Kansai University and Ritsumei Kan University. In 1933, Goju-Ryu Karate became the first Okinawan Martial Art to be registered at the Dai Nippon Butoku-Kai, the center for all Martial Arts in Japan. This was a milestone for Karate as it meant it was recognized on a level with the highly espected Martial Arts of Japan.