Kanryo Higaonna Sensei was born in Naha-Shi, Okinawa in 1853. Higaonna Sensei, although muscular, was not very large overall and made up for his lack in size by being lithe and quick. From his earliest years he possessed a hunger for training in the art. He began his training at 14 years of age with an Okinawan man who had studied the Fukien style of Chinese Kenpo. In 1877, he achieved his dream of traveling to China to study the arts when he was granted passege onbroad a ship bound for Port Foochow.

He lived in the Okinawan settlement in Foochow for a year before finally being introduced to a local Kung Fu master named Ryu Ryu Ko. Sanchin Kata and weight training were instrumental in his early training. The training was severe and definitely a true test of Higaonna Sensei's will. He persevered regardless of the training's intensity and eventually became one of Ryu Ryu Ko's strongest students.

Upon returning to Okinawa after 13 years of training in Foochow, Higaonna Sensei repaid the man who granted him passage to Okinawa by privately teaching the art to his son. Higaonna Sensei's reputation as a master of Tou-Ti quickly spread throughout the local community from China. Many would come to him in hopes of becoming disciples, but he taught as severly as he had learned and it was rare that a student continued for more than a short time.

Because Higaonna Sensei lived in Naha, people knew his teachings as "Naha-Te" or The Hands of Naha. His style become known as "NAHA-TE".

Kanryo Higaonna Sensei died in October 1910, at 62 years of age in the presence of Chojun Miyagi. Many of Higaonna Sensei's students carried on to develop their own styles founded on his teachings. His legacy continues through the achievements of these students and those who would eventually follow them. The most prominent of them were Chojun