Morio Higaonna
| Morio Higaonna | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 25, 1938 Naha, Okinawa, Japan |
| Residence | Naha, Okinawa, Japan |
| Style | Goju-ryu Karate |
| Teacher(s) | Tsunetaka Shimabukuro, An'ichi Miyagi, Ei'ichi Miyazato |
| Rank | 10th dan Goju-ryu karate |
| Spouse | Alanna Higaonna |
| Children | Eric Higaonna |
| Notable students | Ken Ogawa, Yozo Ito, Steven Bellamy, Harry Cook, James Rousseau, Kato Tomoyuki, Bakkies Laubscher, Kazuo Terauchi, Leon Pantanowitz , Tetsuji Nakamura , George Andrews, Takashi Masuyama, Miko Peled. |
| Website | http://www.iogkfhonbu.com/ |
Morio Higaonna (東恩納 盛男 Higaonna Morio?, born December 25, 1938) is a prominent Okinawan karate practitioner who is the founder and former Chief Instructor of the International Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate-do Federation (IOGKF). He is a holder of the highest rank in Goju-ryu karate, 10th dan. Higaonna has written several books on Goju-ryu karate, including Traditional Karate-do: Okinawa Goju Ryu (1985) and The history of Karate: Okinawan Goju Ryu (2001). Martial arts scholar Donn Draeger (1922–1982) reportedly once described him as "the most dangerous man in Japan in a real fight."
Higaonna was born on December 25, 1938, in Naha, Okinawa. He began studying Shōrin-ryū karate at the age of 14 with his father and then with his friend Tsunetaka Shimabukuro. It was Shimabukuro who recommended that Higaonna learn Goju-ryu karate at Chojun Miyagi's garden dojo (training hall) in 1954, one year after, the founder of Goju Ryu, Chojun Miyagi's passing. In the late 1950s, he began training under Ei'ichi Miyazato, the most senior student of Miyagi. While the most senior instructor in the dojo at the time (1954-1957) was Eiichi Miyazato, the senpai (senior student) who taught junior students was An'ichi Miyagi, and Morio Higaonna recognizes An'ichi Miyagi as his first instructor in the Goju-Ryu system.
Higaonna was awarded black belt status by Miyazato in 1957. In 1960, he moved to Tokyo to study at Takushoku University. On December 30 of that year, Higaonna was promoted to the rank of 3rd dan at the first all-style dan grading of the Okinawa Karate-do Renmei. He was invited to teach at Tokyo's Yoyogi dojo, where he attracted a large following of karateka (practitioners of karate). He was awarded the rank of 5th Dan in April 1966. In January 1967, Morio Higaonna Sensei received his Menkyo Kaiden (免許皆伝).
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