Since 1945, a small island in the Pacific has become familiar to many westerners.   The island, of course, is Okinawa.  Ravaged for centuries by the Japanese, Okinawa was also the site of the infamous Battle Of Okinawa that saw many people die on both sides near the end of World War II.  In fact, the United States government estimates death toll numbers at 90,401 Japanese soldiers; 35,000 American soldiers; and 62,489 civilians.

For the purposes of this article, we are not here for a history lesson but rather a look deep inside one of the arts that has brought the island into the martial arts limelight in recent years – the art Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate.  I decided to get to the bottom of many misconceptions and rumours.  So where better to go to than the man who is in the cross hairs of much of the controversy, Teruo Chinen.

Chinen began his karate tutelage under one of the two giants of Okinawan Karate, Chogun Miyagi.  The other, of course, was Gichin Funakoshi.  Chinen started training in the Garden dojo in 1950 when his uncle decided he needed to attain some discipline when he was getting failing grades in school.  In a recent interview, Chinen told of his run-ins with Miyagi Sensei who had him pull weeds from the bottom of the makiwaras in the Garden dojo during one of his first lessons.

But Chinen did not really learn his karate from Miyagi Sensei.  Instead, it was learned from the police officer who was in charge of a clean up at the dojo after a hurricane hit the small island.  This was none other than the man who inherited the seeds of Goju from the Garden dojo, Eiichi Miyazato.  "Miyazato Sensei was one of the most impressive people I ever met," said Chinen. "He was wonderful, kind, very talented, knowledgeable and the one to whom I credit my learning."

"When we moved to the Jundokan in Okinawa where the dojo now stands it was I who moved the makiwaras, the chi ishi, and the kongo ken from Miyagi Sensei's Garden dojo. Along with my friends, we carried them on our shoulders," said Chinen.  "It was nothing at the time to us, but now when I look back it was a very significant thing we did. This is why I call them the seeds of Goju as it is these training devices that have helped so many develop their talents in Goju.  This was a real honour when I now look back."

But what about the Master's uniform and his obi (belt).  Are they not  symbols of the inheritor?  "I guess that will depend on whom you talk to, but for me," said Chinen, "it is the seeds that are the important items, not the flower which is Miyagi Sensei's gi. This is only the flower and in time this will be gone, but the seeds will fertilize and grow more seeds. This is why I feel the seeds are the important part of goju. Personally, I believe that the uniform, which was given years after the master's death by his family, should be put in the Okinawan museum and not in someone's dojo for only a few to look at."

We then asked Sensei Chinen how is it that he has kumite in his Okinawan Goju while none of those on the island including the famous Jundokan teach kumite. "When I moved to Tokyo and became an assistant instructor at the Yoyogi Dojo, my sempai, Morio Higaonnna, decided that after watching kumite contests we needed to learn this aspect of Goju and we needed to incorporate it into our Goju if we were to be complete.  So that is exactly what we did, but we did not change or let up our training on the kata. We just trained harder."

"Personally I think that this is one of the best things that the Japanese has given to our Okinawan art of Goju and something we should be very grateful for.  The Goju Kai tournaments that we saw really impressed us with the kumite and there were several foreigners there at that time as well.  Peter Urban had a group from New York and this also impressed me."When we asked him about the kata and how can anyone study such few kata (only 12 ) for a life time without getting bored doing so,  he simply smiled and said, "Goju is different from other styles that have so many kata in that it is a deep style and not a wide style."  We asked him to explain more.  "When I say deep I mean that the moves in the kata are deep. To totally understand one move can take you years and years as there are so many variables to each move and these moves, which we call Bunkai Oyo, are the study of the moves in the kata and this can take a life time to learn. "

"In Goju if you show the opening move of the kata Sepai to the non practitioner, it is hard to visualize the meaning, but if you take a look at another style's  kata it is easy to understand a high block and what it is for.  To understand the opening move of Sepai is very difficult and I am still learning new applications for this move all the time."

Who is Busaganashi?  "This is a very interesting question.  When Miyagi Sensei went to Fukien on one of his trips with his friend Gokenki to buy Oolong tea, he bought a scroll of  Busaganashi and brought it back to Okinawa but it was destroyed in the war.  So, after the war, one of the students who was on a trip to the Philippines had a picture of Busaganashi and asked a local sculptor if he could carve a three-dimensional statue like the picture and he did.  Then, the student brought it back and gave it as a gift to Miyagi Sensei and he graciously accepted it and put it at the deep side of the dojo in the Jundokan where it sits to this day."

In classical Okinawan Goju there has never been weapons taught.  Why is this?  "Well if I may correct you a little,  there was actually Kobudo taught at one point as I was part of the classes.  Miyazato Sensei invited Taira Shinken to our dojo and one day he showed up and began teaching kobudo.  I remember him coming through the door with a huge box on his shoulder and a bundle of bos on the other shoulder and we practiced kobudo with Taira Sensei.  But you are right in that it is not part of the regular training, but Miyazato Sensei did organize the kobudo training at our dojo.  My family also practiced Yamanni Ryu kobudo so I practiced all the weapons – bo, sai, and tonfa – quite a bit when I was younger."

Your training in some ways is somewhat like Sanchin in that it has been three battles for you:  (1) your early training in Okinawa, (2) your experiences in Tokyo at the Yoyogi dojo, and (3) your teaching and training in Spokane, Washington.  How did they differ and what were the greatest benefits from each of these aspects of your martial arts career?

"When I was training in Okinawa I was very young. I went to Tokyo when I was around 20 years old. My priority  was to train at the Yoyogi dojo and that took up much of my time. The training was the best as my sempai and I had to train on our own and not in classes with Miyazato Sensei like we had the honour of when we were in Naha. So, this time in Tokyo was a very important time in my life and one where I really believe I developed much of my skills.  In fact, I never owned a karate gi until I moved to Tokyo and my Sempai bought me a Tokaido karate gi. This is a very good memory I have.  Then, in 1969, I was supposed to go to Sao Paolo, Brazil, to teach, but I changed and came to Spokane, Washington where I live today.  This is where I started to develop my own students and I am very proud of how talented many of them have become. I also started my own organization, Jundokan International."

Back to Inside the art of Okinawan Goju. I noticed while watching your most recent series of DVD's by the same title as this article that you covered many different areas from basics to Bunkai Oyo to kumite and self defense. Why did you put so much into this project?  "Well, I saw a DVD the night before we started shooting the project of the Judo legend Kyuzo Mifune. He was over 70 years old when he did this project and he was truly a master of  Judo and one of the real legends of Judo, a 10th Dan from the Kodokan – need I say more. This inspired me to pull out all stops and give this project my 110% effort and I hope that people who purchase these DVDs will be educated by them. "

In your dojo kun you have 8 phrases. Can you elaborate on these and where they came from?  "Well these are the words of Miyagi Sensei. Miyazato Sensei formalized them after the master passed away and I have taken them and now use them as our dojo kun.  I personally think that these are the ideals of what a Goju practitioner should strive for in his or her own life:

1.  Be humble and polite.
2.  Train considering your physical strength.
3.  Practice earnestly with creativity.
4.  Be calm and swift.
5.  Take care of your health.
6.  Live a plain life.
7.  Do not be too proud or modest.
8.  Continue your training with patience."

Thank you very much Sensei Chinen for taking the time to do this interview. We all really appreciate it. Is there anything you would say to those who are training in the martial arts as a suggestion.? "I think I would only say to them don't be a window shopper and by this I mean do not change senseis at the drop of a hat. Stay with one sensei for your life time and learn from one person.  I believe I am a good example of this as I have had only one Sensei, Miyazato Eiichi, for my entire life. He was the best. This may sound prejudiced, but this is why I believe he is the inheritor of Okinawan Goju."