This is Why I am Here...

I came to Okinawa in August 2012, last year.  What brought me here?  Well, there were a number of things but there is one that really put its hook in me.  I really came here because it is the birthplace of karate.  I knew that if I could land a job in Okinawa, that it would mean at least 5 years of immersion in a fighting art that has grabbed me from the start.  I didn’t start practicing as an 8 year old like many others.  I started my karate practice when I was 28.  I am now 31 and will be 32 in September of this year, 2013.  Inexperienced?  Yes, and it’s good for me to remember that.  But one thing I am not is a dim light.  If there is something I want to know, I find out.  I look for it until I have an answer.  Since coming to Okinawa, I have found many answers, but I know my search will never be over.

Before I arrived, I made sure to do my research and find out what karate dojos I could scope out and possibly join.  Since I had been training in Enshin Karate back in Texas, I wanted to find something that connected.  I loved my Enshin Dojo.  Fortunately, there were many Kyokushin Dojos on the island of Okinawa.  The founder of Enshin, Kancho Joko Ninomiya, had his roots in Kyokushin Karate.  There are branches of Enshin in Japan, but none in Okinawa.  I was completely content with this, as the sensei I found in Naha (which is where I was placed) was a student of Masutatsu Oyama.  Not bad.  Shichinohe-shihan is a great teacher and a great fighter. 

You may ask, “Why didn’t you join one of the Okinawan Karate Dojos, like Goju-ryu, or Uechi-ryu?” 

Well, the reason is pretty simple.  I like Kyokushin because there is an emphasis on sparring and it is a great test for stamina (and pain tolerance, hehe).  Right now, Kyokushin is what I do, but that doesn’t mean I deprive myself of the opportunity to watch and study many of the Okinawan styles that are so readily available in this magnificent place.  I intend to dive further into these styles after the Okinawa Prefectural Kyokushin Tournament on March 17^th.  The truth is, there is so much knowledge and culture here, you need to be 5 people.

So what is it like to train in a Japanese Dojo?  Wow, if I could only teleport you to a class.  Of course, different dojos are run differently.  I can tell you what it’s like to train under Shichinohe-shihan.  The biggest difference that comes to mind right now is the level of focus.  Now, just as a disclaimer, I have not trained in every single American dojo.  I have had some experience training in Texas “Soryu” dojo (the quotations are a whole other blog), and an Enshin dojo in the U.S.  The Enshin dojo is very similar to the Kyokushin Dojo.  Everyone here is FOCUSED.  They understand that it is the minimum expectation to give their full attention to what is happening in the dojo right then and there.  The questions are minimal and no one really laughs and jokes during class time.  We don’t talk about our problems too much and we don’t talk about how great we are or how great our teachers are.  There is virtually zero trash talking ANYWHERE.  Even the older senseis don’t reminisce about the past and brag about what they’ve accomplished.  They take the dojo kun very seriously. 

There are classes for adults and children during the week, which last a minimum of 1.5 hours, most of the time 2 hours.  On Saturdays, there is a fighter’s class.  This is when we go hard.  It is a class designed for fighters who are preparing for tournaments or who want to push their skill and stamina.  I am afraid of this class.  I get nervous the night before and am pretty edgy on Saturday morning…because I know what’s coming.  No mercy.  In this class, I have found much of what I didn’t think I had.  In this class, I have realized the importance of the mind and how to handle fear.  It had been a long time since I had felt fear like I did the first few times in that class.  I even wanted to quit, I was getting my butt handed to me so much.  But, I knew I hadn’t travelled to the other side of the world just to give up.  So I haven’t.  And I won’t. 

This blog is a way for me to communicate my experiences with you.  I am finally at the point where I have settled into my new environment and am ready to share.  I feel that there are many people back in the United States who are searching for more than what they are getting in their dojo, and they may not know where to look.  Okinawa is a good place, but don’t just believe what I say.  You decide for yourself.  Find the answers and don’t believe everything you are told.  There are too many people out there who want to fool you into thinking that one style (most likely theirs) is superior to all of the others.  This is bull.  Martial Arts is suffering in America.  It’s suffering because too many things have been left out or deemed “unimportant” by some American practitioners.  What many fail to realize is that they have cut the younger generation off from the endless spring of knowledge they were lucky enough to access at one point.  It is in my greatest interest to bring a piece of that knowledge to you, regardless of the things your sensei might say like, “Tradition isn’t worth a crap in real life.”  You have a right to decide that for yourself.  Keep an open mind and never stop persisting for the truth.