Paragons of Health: I Think Not

From the blog of Mario McKenna at www.mariomckenna.com

Watch the link to Higa Seko performing Supraimpei. It’s fascinating.

Ok, so this might come across as rude, perhaps even blasphemous, but this is not my intention. My intention is simply to ask some questions about two of the most important figures in the history of Goju-ryu, Miyagi Chojun and Higa Seko. Miyagi Chojun of course is the founder of Goju-ryu. A man whose life’s work was the creation and development of a system of Karatedo that he inherited from Higaonna Kanryo that is now practiced around the world. Higa Seko was an original student of Higaonna Kanryo and later a student of Miyagi Chojun who was the first to open a dojo and propagate Goju-ryu. There is no doubt in my mind that both men were dedicated, talented, and prolific teachers; producing many skilled students, and creating organizations that have survived long after their deaths. Having said that, why were Miyagi and Higa so feeble in their later years?

I’m sure many people have seen the footage of Higa Seko performing the kata suparempe from an unreleased documentary filmed in the 1960s. Higa would have been in his early to mid 60s when this footage was shot, yet he looks far more advanced in years. Admittedly when I first saw this footage I was utterly shocked and thought that Higa moved more like a man in his 80s or 90s than in his 60s. Similarly when I saw photos of Higa Seko during the same period, I thought that he did not look like he was in his 60s. His hair was white, his face gaunt, with rounded shoulders and poor posture.

Higa Seko seated left.

Miyagi Chojun looks similarly unhealthy, but in contrast to Higa Seko he appears overweight and bloated in his later years. Its unfortunate (or maybe fortunate) that we do not have any video footage of Miyagi performing kata or practicing with his students. I strongly suspect that it would be similar in quality to that of Higa Seko performing Suparempei. Miyagi’s declining health is reasonably well documented. Indeed, in an article originally published in the November, 1983 issue of Gekkan Karate-do, and later reprinted in 1998 in Karate-do Sousei Densetsu (also published by Gekkan Karate-do:pages 36 to 39), the life of Miyagi Chojun as seen by four people: Nagamine Shoshin, Yagi Meitoku, Miyazato Eiichi and Higaonna Morio was highlighted. What is interesting about this article are the comments by Higaonna Morio (via Miyagi An’ichi) about Miyagi’s health,

He would stop three or four times to rest (With respect to walking from the Naha Police station to his home (about 1 km) in his later years). Miyagi sensei also complained about the iron dumbbells that Miyagi An’ichi made. “These are too heavy for me”, he said.

Miyagi Chojun seated centre.

Although Miyagi and Higa were active at their respective homes and dojo teaching Karatedo to their students, I strongly suspect that both men were very inactive in their later years and it was their “exercise inertia” that partially contributed to the decline in their health – weight gain, hypertension, arthritis, coronary issues, etc. This is such a contrast to how these men probably trained when they were younger. In the same Gekkan Karatedo article, Miyagi’s personal training included:

• Standing up to his neck in the ocean or on top of mountains and training his breathing methods.
• Using the crest of wave as an ‘opponent’ to practice his combative engagement distance.
• Practicing his kiai on the sea shore.
• Practicing nukite against tatami and kakete against the arms of chairs.
• Performing push ups using only his index fingers.
• Using a mosquito net in place of a makiwara to practice punching and kicking.

We know that lack of regular exercise can have devastating consequences as summarized by this article at the Harvard Health Website. Its no wonder that Higa and Miyagi looked so unhealthy and older than their actual age. The lesson in all this is that regular Karatedo practice, even when you’re a teacher, is critically important. Not only for maintaining and improving the standard of your dojo, but also for your health and longevity.

Good training.