Jundokan Goju-ryu
順道館剛柔流An Okinawan Goju-ryu dojo opened in Naha by Miyagi's direct student Ei'ichi Miyazato, known for transmitting kata without sport modifications.
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About Jundokan Goju-ryu
Jundokan is an Okinawan dojo and, in a broader sense, a lineage of Goju-ryu carrying the legacy of Ei'ichi Miyazato (5 July 1922, Naha – 11 December 1999). Miyazato was among the earliest direct students of Chōjun Miyagi, the founder of Goju-ryu, training under him from roughly the age of thirteen until Miyagi's death in 1953, with a break only during the Second World War. Alongside karate, he was also a top-level judoka: around 1950–1951 he became Okinawa champion, held seventh dan from the Kodokan, chaired the Okinawa Judo Federation, and was posthumously awarded eighth dan. After Miyagi's death, the Goju-ryu committee elected him almost unanimously as official successor in February 1954, a decision confirmed that April by the general assembly of the Okinawa Goju-kai; he also inherited Miyagi's training equipment. He opened his own Jundokan dojo in the Asato district of Naha — sources disagree on whether this was 1956 or 1957 — housing it in a three-story building where he also lived. The school is known for its emphasis on Miyagi's complete system: the breathing and tension of the kata Sanchin and Tenshō, hard conditioning on traditional equipment, and precise transmission of kata without sport-oriented modifications. Jundokan produced a number of teachers who carried Goju-ryu to the world, among them Teruo Chinen, Morio Higaonna, Masaji Taira and Mike Clarke. The dojo still operates today and is considered one of the reference addresses of Okinawan karate.
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