An'ichi Miyagi was born in Naha on February 9, 1931. He lost both parents during WWII and, at the age of fourteen, was left to provide for his two younger brothers, obtaining employment at the Kadena military base. He and his two brothers lived a five-minute walk from Chojun Miyagi's home.
 
 An'ichi learned of Chojun Miyagi from a friend who worked at the base and became interested in studying karate. Together with three other friends, he went to Chojun Sensei's house to ask permission to learn from him. Having received permission, An'ichi began his training under Chojun Miyagi on February 1, 1948, at the age of seventeen.
 
After the war, life on Okinawa was a constant struggle. Food was so scarce that people had to work extra long hours to be ensured that they would have enough to feed their families at night. An' ichi miyagi sensei along with Chojun Miyagi's senior students; Meitoku Yagi, Eiichi Miyazato and Genkai Nakaim continued to train at the Chojun Miyagi Sensei's garden dojo.

The students began their practice with junbi undo, going into heiko dachi and exercising the toes and feet. Then they performed exercises to develop strength in their legs, followed by stretching exercises, then repetitive kicking drills, learning to snap their knees. They then moved on to exercises to stretch the wrists, elbows and shoulders, and to warm up the joints. Following that were torso stretches and neck exercises.
 
 "You must practice junbi undo correctly and with great care," Chojun Sensei would tell them. "If you practice this way, your punching and kicking techniques will come easily. They will also facilitate the performance of kata."
 
Following junbi undo would be the hojo undo, using tools such as the chikara ishi (chiishi). Then would come the makiwara, kakie and then the kata, Gekisai Dai Ichi.

When Chojun Sensei was sixty years old he realized the development of Naha-te had been the life's work of his teacher, Kanryo Higaonna, who in turn had entrusted it to him. Now that he himself was approaching old age and death he felt that if all were lost, his teacher's entire life's work might not survive. Chojun Miyagi was determined to pass the teachings on. Often times, after training, An'ichi would relax and listen to Chojun Sensei discourse at great length about history and technique. He often spoke of heaven and earth, of yin and yang and the relationship of man to nature, and of scientific and medical subjects. Then, sometimes he would become quiet and eventually say to himself in reflection, "Ah, if only Jiru (Jin'an Shinzato) were alive, then I could rest easily." Jin'an, An'ichi had learned, was Miyagi's top student, but had died in the war. Miyagi had intended to leave Goju-ryu in Jiru's hands.
 
For the next two years, from 1949 to 1951, An'ichi trained intensively everyday at Chojun's garden dojo. Miyagi Sensei began giving An'ichi extra chores, some that seemed to have no meaning. One typical example of these is that one night he told An'ichi to come the next morning at 8 a.m. to move the large and heavy garden stones from one side of his yard to the other. The next day, he asked An'ichi to move them back, then several days later to other areas of his yard. An'ichi realized later that Miyagi Sensei was observing his personality, confirming his student's determination to get things done properly.
 
Oftentimes, while training, Chojun Sensei performed the kata together with An'ichi, performing kiai with passion thus bolstering An'ichi's spirits. He also taught kata bunkai to An'ichi in great detail, and eventually went far beyond the basics to show him the hidden techniques behind each movement. After darkness fell, they would go into Chojun Sensei's house and continue practice, with Chojun Sensei often talking great lengths of time about the movements and their meanings. Then one night Chojun Miyagi confided to him. "An'ichi," he said seriously, "I did not even teach Jiru in such detail. I have passed the gokui (essense) of Goju-ryu to you. You must train hard and value this treasure I have given to you."
 
The outbreak of the Korean War suddenly brought a great deal of extra activity to the American bases on Okinawa. An'ichi's workload instantly increased and at times he was not able to make practice in the evening. On one occasion, he was absent for three consecutive days. Chojun Miyagi, became concerned and visited An'ichi's home early in the morning. An'ichi awoke in the presense of his teacher, and after hearing Chojun's concern, explained how busy he had become. He then apologized for not letting Chojun Sensei know earlier. Chojun Sensei, relieved that his best student would still carry on his training, smiled, then scanned An'ichi's messy room and told him to clean it up.
 
In 1952, Chojun Miyagi began admitting other students to the dojo, including Yuno Aragaki, Saburo Higa, Sosaburo Aniya, and An'ichi's younger brother Mitsuhide who, at 12, was the youngest student there. An'ichi was now a Sensei and would teach them junbi undo, basics, and kata, while Chojun Sensei would watch and occasionally correct them.

On October 7, 1953, An'ichi was the last to leave the dojo, bidding good night to Chojun Sensei and his wife. The next morning at work, An'ichi's coworker signaled him over. With a sombre voice, he said, "An'ichi, I have just heard the news on the radio that your sensei has died." Shocked, An'ichi bolted out of the building and ran directly to Chojun Miyagi's house. When he arrived he saw standing outside Chojun Sensei's family, friends, other students and teachers from different styles, and neighbors, all waiting to go in to pay their last respects. At the age of twenty-two, An'ichi went into his teachers house and said his last farewell to the great man.
 
After a few weeks had passed, the question of a successor to the dojo began to arise. Chojun's senior students gathered at the house of Genkai Nakaima. Present at this meeting were Seiko Kina, Meitoku Yagi, Jitsue Yogi, Eiichi Miyazato and Koshin Iha, among other senior students. Nakaima suggested that the leadership of the dojo should go to the most senior student; Seko Higa. Eiichi Miyazato claimed that while training at the Police Academy, Chojun Sensei had named him as his successor, and that he should take over classes there too. The meeting ended without resolution. Sometime later, Miyagi's widow visited the senior students and convinced them that Miyazato was the most suited administratively to run the dojo. After a respectful period of mourning, training resumed at the garden dojo. Eiichi Miyazato became administrative director, Koshin Iha was in charge of book keeping and An'ichi was the everyday instructor. 

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