nago

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Okinawa Soba (Buckwheat Noodles)

The association to which I belong does not allow black belt testing until the age of 15 which used to be pretty standard across Okinawa, but in recent years you are starting to see kids with a black belt although still very rare. I have not seen anyone under 15 with a black belt at a tournament here in the last 3 yrs or so. The "junior" black belt rank (black belt with a horizantal white stripe all the way around) in more comman for those under 15. They cannot exceed this rank and must re-test for shodan once they reach that age. Cheers.

Generally.......Here in Okinawa kids up to highschool age wear thier full gi to class. It is hard, on any given day, not to drive down the road in the evening and see kids walking to some dojo somewhere. Highschool and above usually wear their pants with a t-shirt and change in the dojo. Of course there are exceptions to everything. Cheers.

I agree with all above. I would watch some classes up front. The style of Karate in this case is not as important as the instructor. I bad instructor can ruin any style so I would concentrate on the instructor when coming to a decision. Cheers.

PanGaiNoon is not actually the name of the original style Kanbun sensei learned in China. It is a phrase used to describe the style meaning "half hard/half soft". It was used in the name of his original dojo and is still used by some here in Okinawa and around the world to designate their association as there are so many active Uechi-Ryu associations today. The actual style name of the style brought from China is believed to be Nanpa Toro Ken or Nanpa Shorin Ken.

You see it quite often here in Okinawa. It just requires conditioning, mental focus and most importantly a good holder/swinger. Which ever you prefer!

Seizan san, I seen one picture of him wearing the red belt. Sensei said it was taken at the time it was awarded to him. Not sure from which federation/association. Sensei said Kanei Sensei said he felt embarassed to wear the red belt and prefered his normal belt. I spoke with both Kansho and Kanji in the last couple of weeks. Both of thier schedules are crazy due to their jobs. Kanji is suppose to give me a call this month about coming to my dojo and working out on his off nights we he is not teaching or working. Let you know if it works out. I will have to speak with Sada sensei about the belts when I see him.

In return I as well meant no disrespect. I was trully interested in your ranking system and what the system is. I have been on Okinawa for around 21 years and always welcome new information. This is a rough place to hang out if you have grown tired of questions. For it is through the questions we ask eachother from which we learn. That is all I was asking. Thank you for the information.

Seizan san, I am also intersested to know the style. I am not familar with that striping system here in Okinawa although I know it is used by most mainland styles.

Seizan san, I just purchased a belt to be sent to the states for an OkiKuKai member. It was for 9 dan and he wanted 4 stripes. Apparently this is a new thing in OkiKuKai - 4 stripes for 9th and 10th dan. I have not seen it anywhere else. They seemed to know about it at Shureido when I put the order in.

sensei8 san - Very interesting. What is your Ryu Ha?

In Okinawa if there is one stripe on both sides of the belt it is for 6th dan, 2 stripes on both sides is for 7th and 8th dan, three stripes on each side is 9th and 10th dan. Some 10th dans where the red belt, but most do not. I do not know any 10th dan in Uechi-Ryu that wears the red belt. There are no stripes on a 5th dan and below. Mainland Japanese Karate has the stripe on only one side of the belt. Each stripe represents a dan. Some associations use these systems some do not.

4 baseball bats......tape them in a square formation.....kick with a gedan mawashi geri using the shin.

Here is an articla for you: http://www.dragon-tsunami.org/Dtimes/Pages/article33.htm That should help a little with the history. As far as a 5 dan in five years? Never happen in Okinawa/Japan dont care if you train 24 hrs a day 365 days a year. Even an uchi-deshi who lives in the dojo and trains daily takes around 2 1/2 to 3 years to shodan.