Okinawa Goju-Ryu

History of Okinawa Goju-Ryu

Founder Sensei Chojun Miyagi

Sensei Morio Higaonna

IOGKF Foundation

IOGKF was officially founded on August 12, 1979, at the same time that the 1st international workshop was held, in POOLE, England (from August 12 to 24, 1979). At the opening ceremony, Sensei Morio Higaonna said:

“Since the death of our founder, Sensei Chojun Miyagi, Goju-Ryu has branched internationally, and due to many new ideas, the original principles are being lost.

For this reason, one of the main purposes of this organization is to seek and gather all our counselors in Okinawa to recover the traditional Goju-Ryu of Okinawa, as it was practiced and taught by Sensei Chojun Miyagi.”

Currently the IOGKF is represented in more than 60 countries around the world, and it has more than 75,000 practitioners. Master An´ichi Miyagi was the honorary president of the IOGKF.

Master Morio Higaonna led and expanded IOGKF from 1979 over 35 years as the head of the IOGKF and in 2012, Sensei Higaonna took on an advisory role within the Federation and appointed Sensei Tetsuji Nakamura as his successor and chief instructor of IOGKF International.

In 2022, at the age of 84, Master Morio Higaonna ceases his position of supreme master at IOGKF. IOGKF aims to pursue its original purpose as it was in 1979. The IOGKF International Honbu Dojo changes its location to Burlington, Ontario, Canada, where Sensei Tetsuji Nakamura lives.

IOGKF Members