Kanryo Higaonna (1853-1915)
In the 19th century, Kanryo Higaonna Sensei, who was already an accomplished master of the Okinawan martial art known as "Te" or "Di", travelled to Fuzhou in China, and mastered Southern Chinese boxing under the tutelage of a master known as Ryu Ryu Ko. He then returned to his home city of Naha in Okinawa to teach his, by now combined, system of martial arts. Amongst his students were notable characters such as Chojun Miyagi and Kenwa Mabuni.
Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953)
After Kanryo Higaonna's death in 1915 his top student, Chojun Miyagi Sensei, continued to teach the system and refined it into a format better suited to the Okinawan physique and culture. It was Chojun Miyagi who eventually called this system "Goju Ryu"; a name inspired by the Bubishi, an ancient manual of martial arts. In addition to running his own Dojo, he began teaching Karate Do to the Okinawan Police and frequently travelled to mainland Japan to teach at various Universities. The most promising disciple of Chojun Miyagi was Jinan Shinzato, but sadly he was killed during the Second World War. The most famous of Miyagi's students include Eiichi Miyazato, Koshin Iha, Seiko Higa, Seikichi Toguchi and Meitoku Yagi.
Eiichi Miyazato (1922-1999)
For many years the all-Japan Police Judo champion, Eiichi Miyazato Sensei trained in Goju Ryu Karate under Chojun Miyagi for the longest of all the seniors, from 1938 until his death 1953. At the request of his peers, the responsibility for teaching Goju Ryu was then passed to Eiichi Miyazato. In 1957 he founded the Jun Do Kan dojo in Asato, Naha City. In 1972 he retired from the Police force, built a new dojo and devoted the rest of his life to teaching Karate Do. Students of Sensei Miyazato included Nanko Minei, Keikichi Nakasone, Tetsunosuke Yasuda, Teruo Chinen and Morio Higaonna. Sadly, Eiichi Miyazato Sensei passed away on 11th December 1999.
Koshin Iha
In 2000 Koshin Iha Sensei, another of Chojun Miyagi's notable students, accepted the responsibility of leading the JunDoKan.