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| Our Goju Ryu Lineage |
 Kanryo Higaonna was born in Naha, Okinawa on March 10, 1851.
(Some sources list the year as 1853) Despite being born as a descendant of
a prominent family line, his family was impoverished. They earned their
meager living transporting firewood from the Kerama Islands in a small
junk.
At the age of 10, he began helping his father in the family
business. He was small for his age, but very quick and nimble, and showed
a keen interest in the fighting arts at an early age. At the age of 14,
the same year his father was killed in a fight, he began his formal
training in Chinese Kempo with Seisho Arakaki, who had studied the Fukien
style. He longed to travel to China and study there, and eventually
achieved that aim in 1866, when he convinced the owner of a ship bound for
China to grant him passage.
After a year in residence at the Okinawan
settlement in Foochow, he was introduced to Ryu Ryuko (Also known as Xie
Zhongxiang). He was not allowed to train right away, and had to follow the
age-old custom of personal service to his master by attending the garden,
cleaning and doing odd chores. After he had satisfied his master's
expectations, he was accepted as a disciple.
He assisted him at his
trade as a bamboo craftsman by day and trained in the evenings. Training,
as was the norm at that time, was very severe. He trained in Sanchin kata
and developed his musculature through weight training with the traditional
implements we see today in Okinawan styles. Training also included hojo
undo, ude tanren, uke harai, kakie and ne waza. The training took it's
toll, but he was to gain a reputation among the locals as one of Ryu
Ryuko's most skilled students.
It is believed that he spent the first
5 or 6 years practicing Sanchin kata only, and was later taught Saifa,
Seiyunchin, Shisochin, Sanseru, Sepai, Kururunfa, Seisan and Suparinpei.
He was also trained in the use of several traditional weapons, and herbal
medicine.
After 13 years of training, he left Foochow and returned to
Okinawa, and began private lessons to the sons of the man who had granted
him passage to China. He went back to his old job as a merchant, but his
reputation was growing. Sailors and travellers from China brought back
stories of his prowess that they had heard there, and before long, many
would seek to become his disciples. Training was severe, as he had
learned, and only a few who began would continue for long.
In 1905 he
began teaching at a public high school, and was considered along with Anko
Itosu to be the foremost karateka in Okinawa. He is responsible for
developing the Naha-te style, and many of his students went on to form
their own systems based on his teachings.
He died on December 23, 1915
at the age of 63. His legacy lives on through his followers, most notably
Chojun Miyagi, the founder of Goju Ryu, and Kenwa Mabuni, the founder of
Shito Ryu. |
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 Chojun Miyagi was born in Naha City, Okinawa
on April 25th, 1888 to an aristocratic family. They were in the
import/export business, and owned 2 ships which made regular trips to
mainland China, placing them among the wealthiest families in the area.
He began his formal training at age 11, in the dojo of Ryuko Aragaki.
At the age of 14, he was first introduced to Kanryo Higaonna, and after a
period of doing chores for Sensei Higaonna to earn his place, 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 Sensei Higaonna on his student's
performance. He trained for 13 years in this manner until the death of
Kanryo Higaonna, developing into a powerful karateka.
Sensei Miyagi
then travelled to China, no doubt an opportunity afforded him by the
nature of the family business, not to mention the luxury that wealth gave
him in being able to pursue his art full-time. His quest was to locate
Master Ryu Ryuko, whom Higaonna had studied with. He was unable to locate
him, though, but did pick up some of the local arts of the Fukien area of
China, notable the kata Rokkishu, which was instrumental in his creation
of Tensho kata.
One of his travelling companions during his time in
China was the white crane stylist Gokenki, who moved to Okinawa in 1913.
He became a close friend and training partner to Chojun Miyagi, and they
would continue their association upon returning to Okinawa.
He
continued to train in the methods he learned from Sensei Higaonna at
several institutions, always under severe and demanding conditions. He did
not confine his training to the dojo, either. Every waking moment (and
while asleep, perhaps!) was spent in pursuit of the art, always remaining
vigilant to his surroundings, always planning and ready for whatever might
occur.
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. He began to visualize the future of the Okinawan fighting
arts, and in 1926, at the age of 38, set up the Karate Research Club,
along with Chomo Hanashiro (Shuri-te), Kenwa Mabuni (Shito Ryu) and Motobu
Choyo, spending the next 3 years training in basics, kata, fitness and
philosophy. Others who frequented the club included Johatsu Kyoda,
Seikichi Uehara, Shimpan Gusukuma, and Gokenki. In 1929, he was invited to
Japan by Gogen Yamaguchi, who would promote the Goju style in Japan.
Jigoro Kano (founder of Judo) began visiting Okinawa in 1927, and was
so impressed with Sensei Miyagi, 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 Sensei Miyagi, 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. In the same year, he presented his article "An Outline
of Karate-Do".
The following year, Sensei Miyagi was appointed as head
of the Okinawan branch of the Butoku-Kai Association, and travelled to
Hawaii later the same year to introduce karate there. Upon his return to
Naha, he was awarded a commendation from the Ministry of Education for
outstanding service in the field of physical culture.
In 1936, he
returned to China for more study, this time in Shanghai. After his return
in 1937, he was awarded the Japanese equivalent to the commendation he had
received at home. In 1940, he created the beginner's kata Gekisai Dai Ichi
and Gekisai Dai Ni.
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 Sensei Miyagi'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 is here where
An'ichi Miyagi, Seiko Higa, Meitoku Yagi, Ei'ichi Miyazato and Seikichi
Toguchi and, for a short time, Teruo Chinen trained, along with many other
notable karateka
Chojun Miyagi died on October 8th, 1953, of either a
heart attack (the most popular explanation) or a cerebral hemorrhage at
the age of 65. His legacy lives on through his senior students and the
untold karateka whose lives he continues to influence. |
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 In 1963, Meitoku Yagi, most senior
student of Miyagi Sensei, was chosen by Miyagi Sensei’s family to receive
the Menkyo Kaiden (naming him official successor of the system) along with
the masters karate gi and belt. He was chosen by virtue of his extreme
loyalty to Miyagi Sensei, his character, and his knowledge and ability in
Goju-Ryu.
Sensei Yagi was born on March 6th, 1912. He is a descendant
of the original "36 families" who arrived in Okinawa from China in 1392
and established a settlement here. He began his training with Miyagi
Sensei in 1926 at age 14. Initially, he had to do chores for his teacher
to prove his loyalty and seriousness of desire to train. Once he had
earned his way to become a student, he started his training.
For the
first year of his training, he was taught only Sanchin Kata. Every student
was required to be proficient in Sanchin before they were allowed to begin
training other kata. The training sessions were long and brutal but he
never gave up. When he visited the local bathhouse, the local men would
often comment about the bruises on his body, saying they could tell that
he was training with Miyagi Sensei.
In his youth, Meitoku Yagi was
known as "the makiwara breaker." He could break a typical punching board
at will, and occasionally sought out a particularly tough makiwara to
break when others said that it could not be done.
Sensei Yagi remained
a faithful student of his master, training and learning from him right to
the point of Miyagi Sensei’s passing in 1953. After Miyagi Sensei’s death,
Sensei Yagi continued to teach in the Daido district of Naha.
Sensei
Yagi formed not only the Meibukan School of Okinawa Goju-Ryu (his
immediate karate family) but also the Okinawa Goju-Kai (an association
that includes and helps propagate all Okinawan Goju-Ryu styles).
He is
one of very few karate-ka to ever receive the 4th Order of Merit. Emperor
Hirohito presented him with this title, "Living National Treasure" on
April 29, 1986, for his outstanding contributions to karate.
Through
tireless training and studying of kata and technique of Goju-Ryu as well
as other systems, Sensei Yagi has developed kata and training methods,
which we now use in the Meibukan. These wonderful insights into the
training of karate-do are one of Sensei Yagi's most precious gifts to
those fortunate enough to be in the family of Meibukan Goju-Ryu.
Sensei Yagi is now retired from active teaching, but is still very
active in the capacity of an advisor for the Zen Okinawa Karate-Do Renmei
and the Okinawa Goju-Kai. He resides in Naha-Shi, Okinawa in his home
which shares location with the Okinawa Hombu Meibukan Dojo.
Sensei
Yagi has ensured the integrity and continued vitality of Goju-Ryu
Karate-Do by teaching his disciples the ways of Goju-Ryu as he learned
them from Miyagi Sensei. He has cultivated many fine men into skilled
karate-ka.
It should be noted that very little was known of Sensei
Yagi outside of Okinawa until the mid 80's. Most of the Okinawan karate
following came as a result of Sensei Gogen Yamaguchi and his organization.
Sensei Ken Tallack played a major role in bringing the Yagi lineage,
system and history to North America and outside. |
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 July 6, 1998 marks the twentieth
anniversary of the passing of one of Canada's first and greatest masters
of Karate, Bob Dalgleish.
Robert Marshall (Bob) Daigleish was born
November 6, 1942 in the small Northern Ontario city of Thunder Bay, the
oldest son of Slim and Phyllis. Stricken with psoriasis as an infant, Bob
spent much of his first two years of life in restraints designed to keep
him from over scratching himself. Hands and feet tied to the sides of his
crib, Bob would carry an intense dislike to being restrained or tied down
with him for the rest of his life
In the late 1950's Bob was introduced
to Karate at the Thunder Bay YMCA by an American who had learned overseas.
Bob's formal training started when he and his mother moved to Toronto
around 1958 and he was able to join the legendary Tsuroka Karate Dojo With
classmates like Benny Allen, Monty Guest and other pioneers of Karate in
Canada, Bob formed part of the nucleus that would go onto spread Karate
throughout our nation.
Reaching the age of 18 in 1960, young Bob
enlisted for a stint in the Royal Canadian Navy which would take him to
various ports of call. Bob sought out Karate Dojos wherever he went, and
somewhere along the way was introduced to Goju-Ryu.
Leaving the Navy in
1964, Bob who had been trained as a draftsman, returned to Toronto to seek
gainful employment. Bob was never much of one to stay in one place for too
long, and travelled frequently to New York where he would stay for months
at a time. California, Arizona, Kansas and other Midwestern states were
also on his travel agenda In New York City, Bob became a student of the
Maestro of Goju-Ryu, the first American Tenth Degree, Peter Urban. I
recall seeing photos of a demonstration done in a room that looked like a
medieval dungeon that Sense Bob (as he was known) told me was a popular
bar in New York City. This demonstration was apparently part of a series
that Maestro Urban and his Chinatown Dojo were giving throughout 1964-65
to help popularize the fledgling art of Goju-Ryu Karate. Peter Urban had a
tremendous influence on Bobs life, and through him, generations of
Canadian practitioners of Karate as it was USA Goju that Bob was to
introduce to Canada.
That is not to say that Bob wasn't also influenced
heavily by Robert Trias and his USKA brand of Shorei-Goju. He certainly
was. Also by Hidetaka Nishiyama, Richard Kim, Gosei Yanaguchi and also the
legendary Gogen Yamaguchi who Bob met in Hawaii. But it was Urban
Goju-Ryu, which of course derived directly from Japanese Goju of Yamaguchi
Gogen, that formed the main part of what Sensei Bob introduced to
Canada.
Bob was friends with Benny Allen from the old Tsuroka Dojo
days. Sensei Allen had left the Tsuroka dojo and formed the Eastern Karate
club with Sensei Quoi Wong in a location on Hagerman St. in Toronto around
1964. Eventually Mr.'s Allen and Wong went their separate ways, with Benny
Allen keeping the name Eastern Karate. Bob trained in this Dojo, and was a
senior student, often taking classes for Sensei Allen. Sensei Allen moved
the Dojo to a location on Dundas St. near Keele underneath a pool hall.
Bob was a regular instructor there in 1967, when he wasn't on one of his
journeys, introducing Goju-Ryu for the first time in Canada. This is where
students like Wally Slocki, Teddy Marton, Jimmy Fields, Tony Foecetti,
Bill Hind, and others did their under black belt training.
Bob was
teaching with Benny Allen in a couple of locations at this time, one at
the Dundas St. Dojo in Toronto, as well as at the Eastern Karate Club in
Hamilton. Frank Wishart, Tim Collingwood, Vince Castellano, Frank
DiLorenzis and Don Warrener did much of their under-Black Belt training in
that Hamilton branch. The first time I saw Sensei Bob was at a Canadian
Karate Kung-fu tournament held in Toronto in 1967.1 was amazed at this
tall (6 foot 5 inch) skinny (160 lbs..) Tattooed (a leftover from his Navy
days) man who was out on the Kata floor with his shirt off breathing like
an animal and looking like a wild man. My 12 year old mind was astounded,
but I had no idea what a profound affect this man would have on my
life.
Bob settled in Sudbury Ontario in 1970 with his wife, the former
Miss Ruth Beaumont of Massachusetts, who I will always think of as one of
the most beautiful people I have ever known. The population of Sudbury was
unknowingly blessed with the appearance of one of the leading Karate
Masters of his time taking up residency there. Business was slow at first,
and initially Bob and Ruth did whatever they had to in order to get by.
They had a small Dojo on the main floor of their house where they lived
upstairs. Students who came were treated to a level of one on one training
rarely seen these days.
In November of 1971 I was riding a freight
train from Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury. It was pretty cold, and I really
hadn't had much to eat since the 2 hot dogs I was given by some young
employee of the rail line I was riding the night before. He probably
should have kicked me off but instead he let me ride in the 3rd engine
from the front which had the advantage of being much warmer than the empty
box cars. He strictly admonished me about getting out of the car before it
got to the station or the local Train Cops would get me. Keeping this in
mind, I jumped off into a snow bank as the train slowed to a crawl inside
the city limits of Sudbury.
Cold, hungry, broke(of course) and knowing
not a soul in the area I was really wondering what I would do that night.
I had enjoyed pretty good luck with youth hostels or being put up in
churches in various centres during my journeys, but I must admit I was
feeling rather down about my chances of finding a free meal and bed that
night. As I crossed the field covered in train tracks, picking my way
through the snow drifts, I looked up only to see what seemed to me to be a
sign from heaven. It was a Big Goju-Fist painted on the front of a
building with the red letters underneath proclaiming the Sudbury
Goju-Kai.
Having visited and stayed in Dojos all across Canada I was
absolutely elated to see this sign. Even though it was 9 at night, I
knocked on the door and hoped it would be answered. It was, but not by the
Sensei, rather by an old man who I would come to know as Slim, Sensei
Bobs' father. He informed me that the Sensei was out for the evening, and
after making a few phone calls, got me set up at the Sudbury Transient
Youth Shelter (too bad they are a thing of the past) and invited me back
for class the next morning
I arrived early and awakened the household.
(Oops) got changed and started warming up. I remember the trophies in the
room from the 1969 Uska Grand Nationals, All American Championships and
others from tournaments I had only read about in magazines. I started
hitting the Makiwara when suddenly it snapped in half (oops again).
Another student whose name was Tim arrived soon and we started hitting the
heavy bag. I was hitting it with a flying side kick when it suddenly
ripped off the chain and flew across the room (oops a third time) I was
just about ready to get out before the owner of the now destroyed
equipment found me, when he appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He said
"What happened to the post and the bag?" Looking up at his 6'5" frame
covered in a white gi closed by the first red and white belt I had seen, I
replied "I broke them". "Really? Far Out. Great Hit." came the answer.
This was the start of a long and varied relationship.
I left Sudbury
later that day, hitch hiking back to London, but I returned the next year
for a 7 month stay with Bob and Ruth Dalgleish, Bobs Dad Slim, and Israel
Segarra, the Yogi man. I know lots of other Bob Dalgleish stories, and
have heard many more, but this is my favorite, how he took in a 16 year
old transient, fed him brown rice and vitamins, clothed him,. shared his
art with him, educated him in everything from how to judge a Kata to how
to set up a class schedule, and asked for repayment how? Money was never
his driving force. All he ever asked of me was to be true to the
tradition. To be open and honest in my teachings. To keep an open mind. To
not pre-judge people or things. To do my best in my training, and help
others do their best in theirs.
Bob left us July 6th 1978, dying at his
mothers home m Thunder Bay. He had taught Karate in Canada when no one
else knew it. His student list reads like a who's Who of Ontario and
Canadian Karate Bill Hind, Don Warrener, Cezar Borkowski, Ron Yamanaka,
Don Gauthier, Don Benoit, Israel Segarra, Bruce Currie, Pat McCarthy, Guy
Ranger and many others who I cannot list here all called this man
Sensei.
Bob introduced many organizations to Canada, including the
USKA, the Goju-Kai, USA Goju, the Butokukai, he was a founding member of
Aiki-Kempo Karate and of course the Canada Goju-Kai. If you trace your
Karate lineage back through any of these people or groups, then you share
in the legacy of this man, the father of Canadian Goju-Ryu, Robert
Marshall Dalgleish, Sensei Bob. Thanks Bob. (Sensei Ken Tallack)
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