Morio Higaonna

Morio Higaonna, born on December 25, 1938, in Naha, Okinawa, is a world renowned Okinawan karate master, the founder and Chief Instructor of the Traditional Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-do Federation and founder of the International Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate-do Federation. He began Shorin-ryu karate at fourteen with his father, then moved to Goju-ryu at the Jundokan dojo, earning his black belt in 1957. He studied at Takushoku University in Tokyo from 1960, received the Menkyo Kaiden in 1967 and became a karate teacher at Nihon University. He holds the highest rank in Goju-Ryu, 10th dan, has written several books on the style, and demonstrated Okinawan Goju-Ryu at the World Union Karate Organization tournaments of 1970 and 1972.