About Us

Higashionna Kanryo was born in March, 1853, in Naha, the capital city of Okinawa during the time when Okinawa Island was still occupied by the Satsuma Clan of Japan.  Higashionna began his martial arts training in 1867 from Aragaki Seisho (1840-1920) of Kume. Three years later (1870) Aragaki had to go to China on business, so left Higashionna with another martial artist, Kojo Taitei, but Higashionna wanted to go to China as well to learn martial arts at the source. Kojo introduced him to Yoshimura Chomei Udun, who helped him make connections in China. In Fuzhou, he began his training in a school run by Kojo Kaho.

For three years Higashionna studied Monk Fist Boxing under a man named Wai Xinxian and another man named Iwah. Three years later, it is said that Higashionna became a live-in student of Xie Zhongxiang (also referred to as Ru Ru Ko) learning Whooping Crane Boxing. Xie was not much older than  Higashionna and himself a student of Wai Xinxian.

Around 1883 he returned to Okinawa and continued his family shipping and firewood business. With his business failing, he began teaching quanfa to Yoshimura Udun's sons. His reputation was well known in Naha and people flocked to his school, the courtyard of his family home. In October of 1905, Higashionna began teaching at the Naha Commercial High School. It is said that when teaching, Higashionna was an extremely hard taskmaster. Some of the students at his school went on to become influential masters of what came to be called karate, among them Miyagi Chojun, Kiyoda Juhatsu, Higa Seiko, Mabuni Kenwa, and Shiroma Koki. He died in December 1915 at the age of 63.

Miyagi Chojun was born in Naha, Okinawa on April 25th, 1888. He began his formal training at age 11, in the dojo of Aragaki Ryuko. At the age of 14, he was first introduced to Higashionna Kanryo, and after a period of doing chores to earn his place, he was accepted as a student.

Training was very severe, with a lot of running and strength exercises. It is said that he sometimes passed out performing Sanchin kata, so demanding was Higashionna Sensei on his student's performance. He trained for 13 years in this manner until the death of Higashionna Sensei, developing into a powerful karateka. Miyagi then traveled to China to locate Master Ryu Ryu Ko, whom Higashionna had studied with. He was unable to locate him, but he did pick up some of the local arts of the Fukien area of China, notably the kata Rokkishu, which was instrumental in his creation of Tensho kata.

In 1921, he was chosen to represent Naha-te in a presentation to the visiting crown prince Hirohito (who would eventually become Emperor), and gave an impressive performance. He repeated this in 1925 for Prince Chichibu. Jigoro Kano (founder of Judo) began visiting Okinawa in 1927, and was so impressed with Miyagi that he invited him to Japan in 1930 and 1932 to demonstrate at several tournaments. It was at one of these tournaments that one of his senior students, Jin'an Shinzato, was asked which school of karate he belonged to. Unable to answer (styles were only known by their geographical reference at that time), he approached Miyagi Sensei, who agreed that a name should be chosen for their unique style. There is a Chinese text called the Bubishi, a very popular historical reference among karateka of the day, and in it are the Eight Poems of the Fists. The 3rd precept reads "The way of inhaling and exhaling is hardness and softness." Go means hard and Ju means soft. Since his style was a combination of these ideals, he began referring to his art as Goju-Ryu, and in 1933 it was officially registered as such at the Butoku-kai, the Japanese Martial Arts Association.

The Allied occupation of Okinawa was a very turbulent time in the history of Okinawa and the art of karate. Many lives were lost, including one of Miyagi Sensei's sons, two of his daughters, and his senior student, Jin'an Shinzato. He was forced to forgo much of his training while his homeland was restructured after the war. In 1946, he was appointed director of the Okinawan Civil Association of Physical Education, and resumed his training, teaching the Police Academy and opening a backyard dojo, known as the Garden Dojo. It was there where Higa Seiko, Yagi Meitoku, Miyazato Ei'ichi, Toguchi Seikichi, and Miyagi An'ichi trained, along with many other notable karateka. Chojun Miyagi died on October 8th, 1953 at the age of 65, never having named a successor. His legacy lives on through his senior students and the untold karateka whose lives he continues to influence.

Toguchi Seikichi was born on May 20th, 1917 in Naha, Okinawa. He began his training in Goju-Ryu in 1932 with Miyagi Chojun Sensei, the founder of Goju-Ryu. He served with the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II as an electrical engineer. After the war, he returned to Okinawa and assisted in rebuilding his war-torn homeland. In 1952, Sensei Miyagi named him Executive Director of the Karate-Do Goju Association. Two years later he became the Vice-President of the organization.

In 1955, after the death of Chojun Miyagi, he founded Shoreikan Goju-Ryu and opened his Dojo in Koza City, Okinawa. Many servicemen trained here, among them a United States Marine named Jay Trombley. In 1962 Toguchi moved to Tokyo and served as chief instructor at Yoyogi Martial Training Society Karate Dojo. That same year he opened his Shoreikan dojo in Meguro Borough, Tokyo. Throughout the 1970's and 80's he made many trips to the United States, Canada, and Europe for instruction seminars and demonstrations.

Toguchi Seikichi died on Aug. 31. 1998. His accomplishments and credits are too numerous to detail here, but suffice it to say that he was at the center of Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate world. He was the last living Okinawan master to receive the title of 'Bushi' a title also held by his teacher, Miyagi Sensei.

Shodai Jay Trombley was born in Bellows Falls, Vermont on November 2, 1938. He began studying karate in Okinawa on October 19, 1955. He was stationed at Camp Hague while serving as a reconnaissance infantryman in the United States Marine Corps. A man named Joe White, who was a sergeant in charge of Mr. Trombley's recon unit, introduced him to Goju-Ryu. Mr. Trombley began his karate training with 3 other marines (George Costas, Joe Augustine, and Mike Dikin) along with many native Okinawans under Master Seikichi Toguchi. Over the next five years he trained in traditional Shoreikan Goju-Ryu Karate. Classes were 4-5 hours long, including sparring. It was a traditional dojo in Koza City with no air conditioning or heating. His expertise in Okinawan Goju-Ryu also includes a thorough schooling of traditional weapons which he acquired from Master Hohan Soken. After his original tour ended he extended his time, staying until 1960. (...continued below)

Mr Oliver began his Ketsugo Goju-Ryu training with Shodai Jay Trombley in 2002. After watching a two-day black belt test he signed up the next week. It was a demonstration of Sanchin kata, the central kata of Goju-Ryu, that impressed him the most. Training in all aspects of Ketsugo Goju-Ryu, Hanshi particularly enjoys working with traditional Okinawa weapons: bo, sai, tonfa, nunchaku, and kama. Instructing is an active part of training and Hanshi enjoys helping students understand the mental focus as well as physical aspects of karate. He feels that teaching karate allows one to continue a rich and traditional art form and is a testament to one's own instructors.

In June of 2012, Mr Oliver opened his own dojo, Oliver Karate Academy in Bedford Texas with his wife Ashley, another black belt of Shodai Jay Trombley's. As is tradition, when the head of a system retires he passes the system down to his highest ranking student. On October 6, 2016 upon his retirement, Shodai Jay Trombley promoted Mr Oliver to 9th Dan as official successor of the Ketsugo Goju-Ryu karate system.