Chojun Miyagi was a pivotal figure in the transition of the old China hand system and modern karate. His primary teacher was Kanyro Higaonna, who had spent 14 years training in China and was in possession of the Bubishi, apparently quoting from it often.

Miyagi was the co-founder of the Ryukyu Tode-jutsu Kenkyukai (Okinawa Karate Research Club) in 1918 along with Kenwa Mabuni.

Miyagi was a driving force in trying to unify the various forms of indigenous Okinawan Ti and the old China hand system, into a central system for teaching while at the sane time trying to preserve and research the old China hand system that had been the basis of teachers such as Kanyro Higaonna, Anko Itosu & Seisho Aragaki, alm who had passed away with a few years of each other.

Miyagi made 3 research trips to China.

The first in 1915, where he travelled to Fujian Province with Eisho Nakamoto. During this journey, according to Miyagi’s own oral history, he visited the grave of Kanryo Higaonna’s teacher, Ryu Ryu Ko. Ryu Ryu exact identity remains a mystery, but according to the timeline based on Miyagi’s oral history, was most likely to have been and individual known as Liu Long Gong, a Fujian White Crane Boxing master, former Chinese military officer and bodyguard for the Chinese Sapposhi, who had visited Okinawa twice, once in 1838 and again in 1866, teaching Fujian White Crane boxing during his visits, further consolidating the transition of Fujian boxing methods into the local Okinawan Ti systems that had developed locally.

Miyagi’s second trip to China was thought to have taken place around 1916 shortly after the death of his primary teacher, Kanryo Higaonna. His second trip was also to Fuzhou where he was accompanied by the Chinese tea merchant, Go Kenki, who acted as his interpreter.

During this trip Miyagi visited several historical sites where his teacher. Kanryo Higaonna practiced Chinese boxing with Ryu Ryu Ko. It was during this trip that Miyagi observed a set of Chinese hand-rotation and breathing exercises known as Rokkishu. It is thought that Rokkishu may have served as the foundation for the development of the kata, Tensho, which he compiled after returning to Okinawa.

Miyagi is also thought to have visited both the Pakua Chan School & the School of Shaolin Chuan during this visit. Miyagi would have observed the contrasting methods between the soft, internal, circular methods taught in the Pakua Chan School and the hard, external methods fought at the School of Shaolin Chuan and many have speculated that this may have been the nucleus of Miyagi’s creation of the soft and hard aspects of his Goju-ryu system. Certainly, Miyagi refined his practice of Sanchin kata and created Tensho kata after this visit creating a contrasting combination to reflect both the hard and soft aspects of Tode.

Miyagi’s third research trip to China took place in 1936. He was again accompanied by Go Kenki. During this research trip Miyagi travelled to Shanghai. In Shanghai he stayed with Aniya Seisho, a former student of Go Kenki’s.

Miyagi stayed with Aniya at his house during his trip for the first ten days and afterwards with an unknown sponsor for the next six weeks. During his time in Shanghai Miyagi met with the Japanese ex-patriot community in Shanghai, demonstrated Karate-do the Japanese consulate and visited the Jing Wu Athletic Association where he observed the school’s curriculum and talked to its instructors about Chinese martial arts.

Chojun Miyagi was amongst the first of the early 20th century Okinawan Tode instructors to teach to the public. Miyagi taught Tode at the Naha Ordinary and Higher Elementary School (Naha Jinjo Koto Shogakko), the Naha Municipal Commercial High School (Okinawa Kenritsu Naha Shogyo Koto Gakko) school and at the Okinawa Police Training School (Okinawa-ken Keisatsu Gakko).

In 1926. Miyagi established the Okinawa Karate Kenkyu-Kai (Okinawa Karate Research Club) in Wakasa-Cho 300 metres of his home. Unlike the earlier Ryukyu Toudi Kenkyu-Kai (Ryukyu Karate Research Club) established together with Kenwa Mabuni in 1918, which was created to research and preserve the Tode of the great teachers who had passed within a few years of one another, the Okinawa Karate Kenkyu-Kai was a collaborative organisation designed to bring modern teachers such as along with Kenwa Mabuni, Choki Motobu, Kentsu Yabu, Chono Hanashiro and others, together for the purposes of creating a foundational methodology to teach Tode to the general public.

Miyagi is also credited with creating the first common methodology for the teaching of Tode including Junbi Undo (preparation exercises), Hojo Undo (complementary exercises), Heishu Kata (basic kata), Kaishu Kata (advanced forms) and Kumite (sparring).

Miyagi was instrumental in having Okinawan Karate recognised by the Dai Nippon Butokokai, the first Okinawan martial art to be registered and recognised on a level with the highly respected martial arts of Japan, and he was awarded the title of Kyoshi (Teacher/Instructor), making him the first karate teacher to receive such an honor.

In 1934 Miyagi was also appointed head of the Okinawan branch of the DNBK. It should be remembered that it was not until two years later, in 1936, that the kanji for Tode would be changed to read ‘Empty Hand’ and modern karate would develop its own unique path moving away from many of the principles from which the old China Hand system developed.

Like many of his contemporaries, Miyagi travelled to mainland Japan to spread karate there. He taught at the Kinugasa Campus of Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan abd established the Kansai University Karate Club in Osaka amongst others. Miyagi also travelled to Hawaii to teach karate there.

Compared to some of his contemporaries, Chōjun Miyagi left behind a relatively small body of written material. His written legacy primarily consists of two foundational texts, essays, and handwritten outlines about karate which include:

Karatedo Gaisetsu (An Outline of Karate): Originally written in 1934 and published in Japanese in 1936, this handwritten text is Miyagi’s most famous treatise. Originally titled “Ryukyu Kenpo Karatedo Enkaku Gaiyo,” it outlines the history, purpose, and physical principles of the martial art. He utilized it as an accreditation dissertation and to explain karate during a historic martial arts tour of Hawaii.

Budo no Kukyo (Tao of Karate): An essay Miyagi presented at the Meiji Shoten in Osaka in 1936, delving into the deeper philosophical goals of karate and its focus on character building and self-defense.

Breathing In and Breathing Out in Accordance With “Go” and “Ju”: Written around 1942, this essay detailed the physical and internal breathing methodologies that heavily define the “hard-soft” nature of Goju-ryu.

Within these documents, albeit brief in content, exists a bridge between Miyagi’s research into the nuclei of the old Okinawan China Hand system and the modernisation of karate. This makes Goju-ryu an important area of study for those wishing to grasp something of the Okinawan Tode, or China Hand system, from which modern karate developed.