Ryu Ryu Ko, the Mysterious Teacher of Kanryo Higashionna

I was talking with one of my friends about karate history the other day and the topic of Ryu Ryu Ko came up. While some of the ideas were still fresh in my mind I decided I would write a post about him and the things I have been able to learn over the years.

Ryu Ryu Ko is well known as the teacher Kanryo Higashionna studied with while he was in China, but exactly who he was or even what his name means is still the subject of much debate. What little oral history has been passed down about him can be found in Karate Denshinroku by Akio Kinjo. Akio Kinjo was a student of Seko Higa who himself trained directly with Kanryo Higashionna in his youth. Even before his training officially started it was said Higa would often accompany his father Senshu to Kanryo Higashionna’s house and would listen to their stories as they drank sake. Senshu Higa was said to be a relative (possibly cousin) of Kanryo Higashionna. When Seiko Higa was around 13 he formally began training with Higashionna. Overall Seko Higa is said to have gained a rich oral history about many things including Kanryo’s time in China which he later passed down to his own students.

Besides Goju Ryu, Ryu Ryu Ko is talked about in one other major style which is Ryuei Ryu. The style’s founder Kenri Nakaima is also said to have trained with Ryu Ryu Ko although much earlier than Kanryo Higashionna. This has led some to speculate that there were actually two different Ryu Ryu Ko, and that the one who taught Nakaima, is not the same one who taught Higashionna. However, I believe they were very much the same person and as we get into things more this will be more clear.

This photo, often used for Ryu Ryu Ko, is actually another man named Xie Zhongxiang

Below is some of the oral history on Ryu Ryu Ko passed down by Seko Higa:

(1) Wai Shin Zan and Ru Ru Ko were famous as two great kung fu masters in Fujian province. 

(2) Wai Shin Zan was a military officer. Ru Ru Ko ran his own kungfu school as a chief instructor.

(3) Ru Ru Ko was not from Fuzhou. He immigrated to Fuzhou from other village or town. His house was near river or sea.

(4) Ru Ru Ko came the Ryukyu islands together with Wai Shin Zan as a military attaché of Sapposhi.

(5) Seko Higa's father and grandfather remembered Wai Shin Zan and Ru Ru Ko as the left and right hands of the Chinese Sapposhi during their visit to the Ryukyu Kingdom.

(6) After arriving in Fuzhou, China, Kanryo Higashionna visited Wai Shin Zan to ask for kungfu training. But Wai Shin Zan did not accept him, because military officers were not allowed to teach martial arts to civilians. So he recommended Higashionna to go to the kungfu school of Master Ru Ru Ko.

(7) Kanryo Higashionna was not taught anything at all by Ru Ru Ko for some period just after joining the kung fu school, but he had to do household chores for the Ru Ru Ko family. He only trained with implements or tools. When the river flooded, Kanryo Higashionna came to the home of Ru Ru Ko by boat and rescued his family. At the risk of his life, Higashionna saved Ru Ru Ko’s daughter from drowning when she was carried away by a heavy flood. He often talked about his memory of this very risky event to his disciples in Okinawa.

(8) When Kanryo Higashionna was getting ready to return to Okinawa, Ru Ru Ko was very old and had poor eyesight.

This last part actually makes perfect sense, as Kanryo Higashionna came to China several decades after Nakaima did. Ryu Ryu Ko would have indeed been quite old when he left. This is a direct contradiction of the idea that he was Xie Zhongxiang who was only one year older than Kanryo Higashionna.

The kanji from Ryuei Ryu provide a little clue as to his name. It is said the first character of the style, was taken from his name. 劉 would be typically read as Liu but if you pronounce it in Japanese it is Ryu.

There has been a lot of speculation about the name. Same have said Ryu Ryu is just a name repeated twice. Others have suggested it was possibly the nickname of Kanryo Higashionna while in China. Finally there is the idea that “ko”means big brother and is how Kanryo would have referred to his teacher. I personally don’t think any of these are true. 

It’s interesting to note the full name has been published by Tadahiko Ohtsuka in the Goju Kensha Kyohan in 1977. It is 劉龍公 and we can immediately see the first character is 劉 as in Ryuei Ryu. When you read this in Japanese the name reads, Ryu Ryu Ko. We can see clearly it is not a name repeated twice. It is merely a strange coincidence the two first characters would actually have the same pronunciation. In Chinese it is Liu Long Gong, who was the teacher of Kanryo Higashionna.

A scan of the lineage chart from the Goju Kensha Kyohan

In Akio Kinjo’s book, the same kanji can be found as well, though he also provides an alternative name of To Ru Ko.

 

Japanese karateka and researcher Takao Nakaya refers to Liu Long Gong as Ryu Ryu Ko in his publication Karate-Do History and Philosophy Sixth Edition.  Unfortunately though at this time, there are not many details available on exactly who Liu Long Gong was or what he taught. 

Today people like to focus on white crane and Xie’s teachings as some precursor to Goju Ryu when they likely have nothing to do with each other. The kata of his system have little to no resemblance to those of Goju Ryu or even To’on Ryu. Goju Ryu does however share many things with Ryuei Ryu. Ryu Ryu Ko was almost certainly not Xie Zhongxiang but likely a man name Liu Long Gong. 

You can read more about Ryu Ryu Ko and other notable Nahate/Goju Ryu individuals in my book History and Stories of Goju Ryu. 

Article Updated Nov 5 2021