This kata was originally called Rohai and was developed by Kosaku Matsumore in the Tomari te tradition. Itosu sensei then took the core kata and developed three variations. These three kata can still be seen today but in Shotokan karate Funakoshi sensei took the three kata of Itosu sensei and reversed his master's creation process, distilling the three kata into one again (though this is vastly different to the original developed by Matsumora sensei and in fact is almost unrecognizable as having developed from a common kata when compared to the Shito ryu and Wado ryu versions of Rohai. It should also be mentioned that the Shito and Wado versions also differ from one another). Funakoshi sensei also took this chance to rename the kata Meikyo, which means 'bright mirror' and is said to refer to the need to constantly polish one's basic techniques even when learning more advanced waza. The kata blends movements that are unique with others that are the most fundamental to Shotokan.

Following Kanazawa sensei you can see Funakoshi sensei himself doing the kata way back in 1924.