Following the kata tournament, 2 days of seminars will be held as part of the 1st Okinawa Karate International Tournament to be held August 2018 in Okinawa.
The names of the instructors have been published on the official website of the tournament.
Among the prestigious scheduled instructors are 14 Shuri-te kei & Tomari-te kei masters, 8 Naha-te kei masters, 8 Uechi-ryū kei and 9 kobudō masters.
Since 2001 and for 15 times, the Nippon Budōkan Foundation has dispatched martial art delegations abroad. So far, they visited Cuba, Turkey, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Poland, Brazil, Netherlands, Mexico, Germany, India, Thailand, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Australia introducing Japanese martial arts.
This year from November 8-15, in relation with "The 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Malaysia", 9 modern budō arts organizations (Kyūdō, Aikidō, Shōrinji Kenpō, Jūkendō, Karatedō, Naginata, Judō, Kendō and Sumō) and three kobudō* arts styles (Suiō-ryū Iai Kenpō & Masaki-ryū Kusarigama-justu, Yagyū Shinkage-ryū Heihō Kenjutsu, Okinawa Gōjū-ryū bujustu) visited Kuala Lumpur with Kōmura Masahiko as the head of the delegation. Mr. Kōmura is the president of the mentioned foundation.
Okinawa Gōjū-ryū was represented by four people led by Kuramoto Masakazu, IOGKF member and instructor at the Higaonna karate dōjō. Together with other martial school groups, they performed three times and held workshops for local enthusiasts. At the final venue, the Panasonic Sport Complex, each group performed in front of an audience of 2000 people.
* To be understood as old martial arts of Japan and not only as weaponry based martial arts.
(Photo@IOGKF)
The Okinawa Karate Information Center has been active since May 2017.
As of October 31st, it received 60 requests from individuals and organizations representing a total of 184 people from 20 countries, requests that were matched with local dōjō and instructors.
All 184 people studied and researched Okinawa karate and kobudō with 32 dōjō owners and instructors.
The percentage of requests by region is Europe 38%, the Americas 27% and Asia 35%.
The number of people by area is a breakdown of 48 people from Europe (23 projects), 101 people from Asia (21 projects), and 35 people from the Americas (16 projects).
Countries from where originated most inquiries are in order Japan, France, Germany and the United States.
About half of the trainees are Shōtōkan-ryū karate enthusiasts. Therefore, about half of the 32 instructors who welcomed visitors are leaders of Shōrin-ryū, Sukunai-hayashi-ryū and Matsubayashi-ryū.
November 18, the “Okinawa international cooperation and exchange festival 2017” was held at the JICA Okinawa International Center located in Maeda, Urasoe City. The ODKS participated with a booth introducing the activities of the ODKS and the OKIC and a demonstration.
This festival introduces the activities of organizations involved with international cooperation and international exchange in Okinawa. It is also a window to the countries of the trainees currently training at JICA Okinawa. This year again, the most popular event was the cuisine corner with stalls where foreign cuisine could be enjoyed.
Not only JICA trainees but also a lot of local citizens came to visit the ODKS booth established in the gymnasium, asking many questions on karate and the organization’s activities.
In September 1997, the Okinawa Prefecture and the Chinese Fujian Province concluded a sister Prefecture Province treaty. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of this conclusion, the Okinawa Prefecture sent a delegation of 73 people among which many karate masters led by the Okinawa Governor. They were in China Fujian and other places from November 9 to 13 for a series of visits an receptions. (Above photo)
In Naha City's Matsuyama Park stand the Higaonna and Miyagi Monument and the Kume Village Birthplace Monument (above photo) which was erected to commemorate. Also, next to Fukushu Park is Kuninda Terrace, a facility that introduces the history of Kume formely called Kuninda. The terrace has created a map of important sites to visit in the area that we are releasing with the Kuninda Terrace’s approval.
If you are a practitioner of Gōjū-ryū or Nahate related styles, don’t miss to visit the terrace and the area.
