In 1867, Higashionna began to study Monk Fist Boxing (Luohan Quan) from Aragaki Tsuji Pechin Seisho who was a fluent Chinese speaker and interpreter for the Ryukyu court. In the 1880’s, Higashionna returned to Okinawa and continued the family business. He also began to teach the martial arts in and around Naha. His style was distinguished by its integration of both go-no (hard) and ju-no (soft) techniques in one system. He became so prominent that the name “Naha-te” became identified with Higashionna Kanryo’s system. He was noted for his powerful Sanchin kata. Students reported that the wooden floor would be hot from the gripping of his feet.
In 1867, Higashionna began to study Monk Fist Boxing (Luohan Quan) from Aragaki Tsuji Pechin Seisho who was a fluent Chinese speaker and interpreter for the Ryukyu court. In the 1880’s, Higashionna returned to Okinawa and continued the family business. He also began to teach the martial arts in and around Naha. His style was distinguished by its integration of both go-no (hard) and ju-no (soft) techniques in one system. He became so prominent that the name “Naha-te” became identified with Higashionna Kanryo’s system. He was noted for his powerful Sanchin kata. Students reported that the wooden floor would be hot from the gripping of his feet.