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."
Early life
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 Gōjū-ryū karate at Chōjun Miyagi's garden dojo (training hall) in 1954, one year after the founder of Gōjū-ryū, Chōjun Miyagi's passing. Here he's been taught by the Chojun Miyagi's third (after Seiko Higa and Meitoku Yagi) oldest student : Eiichi Miyazato. Here he also meets An'Ichi Miyagi who taught the younger students and whom Morio Higaonna recognizes as his first and main instructor in the Gōjū-ryū system.
Morio Higaonna follows Miyazato to his new Jundokan dojo, opened in 1957 and the same year he obtains the black belt from this.
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).
Promoting Goju-ryu across the world
In April 1967, Morio Higaonna Sensei assumed the position of karate Shihan (Teacher) in the Nihon University College of Humanities and Sciences.
In May 1968, Morio Higaonna Sensei accepted an invitation by the YMCA and traveled to Spokane in the US to conduct a series of demonstrations and lectures on the subject of karate. The trip was a success and Morio Sensei received an award from the Mayor of Spokane for his well-acclaimed efforts to promote karate in the US.
On 10 October 1970, Morio Higaonna was invited to represent Goju-Ryu Karatedo at a special demonstration, during the first World Karate Tournament organised by WUKO. This event took place in the Tokyo Budokan in Japan. Morio Sensei received a special letter of appreciation from WUKO for his demonstration.
Morio Higaonna Sensei was once again invited to demonstrate in the Third World Karate Tournament organised by WUKO in 1972. Once again Morio Sensei received a special letter of appreciation from the organisers.
In May, 1975 Morio Higaonna Sensei accepted an invitation by the French Karate Association to conduct a teaching tour in France for younger practitioners as well as for Yudansha (black-belt) practitioners. In 1977, Morio Higaonna Sensei was once again invited to teach in France by the French Karate Association.
In July 1979, Higaonna founded the International Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-do Federation (IOGKF) in Poole, England. He was 7th Dan at the time, through Eiichi Miyazato.
In 1980, Higaonna married a US student, Alanna Stevens, and their son Eric was born in November that year. The family lived in Okinawa from May 1981 to May 1985, then in Tokyo from 1985 to 1987.
In 1980, the Japanese Government invited Morio Higaonna Sensei to give a special demonstration during the official state reception ceremony held in honour of the President of Mexico's state visit to Japan. The demonstration was held in Akasaka in Tokyo.
In July 1981, the IOGKF held its first World Budosai and Tournament in the Budokan in Naha-city, in conjunction with the 60th Anniversary of Naha-City's founding. (The modern city government was founded on 20 May 1921, though Naha as a port-town had existed since medieval times.).
In 1982, Morio Higaonna Sensei founded his own dojo in his own home in Naha, Okinawa. His dojo was known by the name of “Higaonna Dojo”. In the following decades, this dojo would be the port of call for many senior black belt members of the IOGKF and other schools and styles seeking to train in the traditional Okinawan way.
When the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) aired the documentary “Way of The warrior” in 1983, the episode on Karate featured Goju-Ryu and focused on Morio Higaonna Sensei, his training methods and his concepts on karate. The program was widely watched and very well received.