Upon his return to Okinawa Miyagi began to teach from his home where the garden turned into an outdoor dojo. Later, he taught at the Okinawan Prefecture Police Training Center,the Okinawan Master’s Training College, and the Naha Commercial High School (where his teacher had once taught). However, his private teaching at his home remained strictly in adherence to the principles and traditions of the teacher, Kanryo Higashionna. Blending the strong snap techniques of the Okinawan style and the dynamic and free techniques of the soft Chinese Kempo, his style was complete. With his extensive martial arts training in Okinawa-te, Naha-Te and the hard-soft arts he learned in China, Miyagi Sensei developed a refined form of empty hand self-defense. He also organized the additional movements to strengthen the body through dynamic tension, exercise, and calisthenics.

He began to teach his new style of Karate to a large number of people in and around Naha, and to lecture and demonstrate throughout Japan Miyagi-Sensei subjected the art of Naha-te, as received from Kanryo Higashionna, to scientific examination. He mastered the basic Go (Sanchin) and the six rules and created the Ju form (Tensho), combining soft and hard movements. The principals of Naha-Te and the hard and soft styles of Chinese martial arts became the basis of the Miyagi school of Karate.

In 1929 one of Chojun Miyagi Sensei disciples, Jinan Shinzato, was in mainland Kyoto, Japan for a large martial arts convention to demonstrate Naha-te. After the performance he was asked to what school of karate he belonged. He was unable to answer the question, since ‘Naha-te. was not the name of a style. At his return he told Miyagi Sensei about the occurrence, who thought about the problem and decided that it should be advantageous to have a name for his martial art in order to promote and spread his system. He chose the name “Goju Ryu” (the hard-soft style), inspired by the “Eight precepts” of Kempo, written in the Bubishi. Quoting from the third verse of a Chinese Bubishi poem, Eight Poems of the Fist: “The way of inhaling and exhaling is hardness and softness.” It is from this that the art Miyagi studied and taught got its name. Goju-Ryu, the way of hard and soft.

The term Goju means hard-soft. Go is the Japanese word for hardness and Ju is the word for softness. Go-Ju are also the numbers “5 and 10”, which could be interpreted as half and half (half hard and half soft). After many years of studying, teaching and utilizing the principles his Sensei taught him, the Miyagi school of Karate was now called the Goju-Ryu school of Karate. This system is based on the Oriental concept that all hardness and stiffness is not good. At the same time, all softness and too much gentleness can also be harmful. The two should always complement each other as inseparable, but equal forces.

The teaching system, which he formulated, enabled karate to be taught in schools for the benefit of the young people, and to reach vast numbers of people throughout the world. In 1936 Miyagi became the first person from Karate to receive the “kyoshi” grade from the Dai Nippon Butokukai (Greater Japan Martial Arts Virtues Association).

The Second World War took a heavy toll on Miyagi, his family and deshi. During the bombing raids in the battle of Okinawa he lost many of his books, manuscripts and other martial arts relics. He also lost several students, one of them being his most likely successor, Ji’an Shinzato, was tragically killed during the bombings. Jin’an Shinzato, an exceptional talent and the one whom Chojun Miyagi would have probably chosen as his successor to the Goju school in Okinawa.

Chojun Miyagi passed away October 8th, 1953, leaving behind his family of 10 children, wife and a great martial arts legacy behind. He dedicated his entire life and fortune to Karate. He predicted that during the twentieth century karate would spread throughout the world. Today we can see that this prediction has been realized; karate is not only practiced in Japan, but it can be found throughout the world. Karate can no longer be referred to as a solely Okinawan or Japanese martial art, but it has become an art with no boundaries, an art for all nations and all peoples of the world. Even today Goju-ryu’s Chinese Gung Fu roots can still be seen in it’s Kata. Chojun Miyagi Sensei put a great deal of effort into spreading Goju-ryu; his ambition was to have karate at the same status as judo and kendo.

After Miyagi’s sudden death there was disagreement amongst the senior members concerning how Goju-Ryu should be taught and by no means did all accept Higa, Miyazato or Yagi as his successors. The senior students formed an organization named the All Okinawa Goju Kai, which was a reorganization of the old Goju Rui Shinko-Kai and established a promotional ranking system for the art of Goju Ryu Karate Do. Chojun Miyagi Sensei sought to teach because he believed that the more that people would know about self-defense, confidence, moral responsibility the better it would be for all of Okinawa and eventually the world.