SEMINARS

Seminars

 

Training takes place in the Okinawa Prefectural Budokan (above), located at: 52 Onoyama-cho, Naha City, Okinawa, Japan 900-0026 This is on National Hwy. 58, oceanside, just south of the Meiji Bridge in Naha. Asahibashi, Tsubogawa, and Onoyama Koen monorail stations are all within easy walking distance. Subject to availability we use the large 2nd floor karate dojo.

Teachers are selected for their ability and experience, and many are famous for their specialities. Arakaki Sensei’s private dojo was nicknamed, “The Clinic,” as a result of his extraordinary ability to correct technique, and thereby radically improve a student’s speed, balance, and striking power. Higa Sensei can pull anyone off their feet with apparent ease, and also teaches how to avoid this. Kuba Sensei has an arsenal of kata applications (bunkai) that are impossible to resist, and brutally effective. Higaonna Sensei is known for his phenomenal power and technical excellence.

While our seminars focus on core karate principles, (many of which are never taught in the West) it spends little if any time on the repetition of basic technique. The purpose of the training we offer is to expand and improve each student’s ability—regardless of  their grade and experience—in the areas of efficiency of movement, speed, striking power, and comprehension of kata and its applications.

Over the 5 day seminar period there are 2 seminars each day; 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. & 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. Each seminar is taught by a high grade instructor (8th -10th Dan) with assistants.


Higaonna Sensei teaching the applications of Goju Ryu karate kata (bunkai) during our Okinawan Budokan Seminars in 2009.
To see an Okinawan TV show about the CFA Okinawa seminars 2010, please click here.


Seminar Schedule April 2012

The Okinawa Prefectural Budokan, 52 Onoyama-cho,
Naha City, Okinawa, Japan 900-0026.
Morning sessions are 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Afternoon sessions 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Spring Training Group 2012
March 31 - April 10.

Please click here for a detailed schedule for both events.
The members entrance to the Budokan is at the rear, away from Hwy 58. You can also enter from Onoyama Park close to the lake and Torii gate at the rear of the Budokan if you are walking from Tsubogawa or Onoyama Koen monorail stations.

Remove your shoes as you enter, and store them in one of the racks provided to the right of the vestibule. Take the stairs to the upper floor, and the double doors to our dojo are on your right. Behind the tiered seating in the dojo are the locker/changing rooms. Accommodations for the instructors are on the opposite side of the dojo (tatami rooms). The dojo is large, well-lit, and airy. The excellent wooden floor was designed for martial arts training. Please warm up beforehand so you are ready to start training when the seminar begins. 

  

Instructors

Isamu Arakaki, 10th Dan Hanshi, Kobayashi Ryu. A student of Yuchoku Higa,  Arakaki Sensei is the President of the Okinawa Karate-Do Rengokai.

Minoru Higa, 10th Dan Hanshi, Kobayashi Ryu. The nephew and long time student of Yuchoku Higa, Minoru Sensei is the current head of the Kyudokan Dojo in Tsuboya, and a Vice-President of the Rengokai.

Morio Higaonna, 10th Dan Goju Ryu, student of An’ichi Miyagi. Probably the best known karate instructor in the world, and the author of numerous DVDs and books on Goju Ryu Karate.

Zenpo Shimabukuro, 10th Dan Hanshi, Shorin Ryu, Seibukan. A student of Zenryo Shimabukuro, his father, who was the premier student in the 1930s of karate legend Chotoku Kyan. Zenpo Sensei is a Vice-President of the Rengokai.

Katsuhiko Shinzato, 9th Dan, Kishaba Juku Shorin Ryu, is a Professor Emeritus (Linguistics) of the Kokusai University who has also taught during his long and illustrious career at Stanford (US) and Reading (UK) universities. He is the co-author of the award winning volume Kobudo & Karate Encyclopedia

Kiyoshi Takamiyagi, 10th Dan Hanshi, Uechi Ryu, is a professor at Meio University and a lifelong student of Uechi Ryu. He is the co-author of the award winning volume Kobudo & Karate Encyclopedia, and also wrote the famous “Blue Book” at the request of Kanei Uechi Sensei.

Ryuko Tomoyose, 10th Dan Hanshi, Uechi Ryu. (Intangible Living Cultural Asset). A student of Kanbun and Kanei Uechi, as well as Chojun Miyagi, and a living part of the history of Okinawan karate. Tomoyose Sensei’s father was responsible for persuading Kanbun Uechi to make his karate, Pangai Noon, (as Uechi Ryu was then known) public during the 1920s. 

Tsuyoshi Uechi, 9th Dan Isshin Ryu. A student of Kichiro Shimabuku, and the leader of the movement that succeeded in having Isshin Ryu recognized as a traditional Okinawan Karate style.

Seisho Itokazu, 9th Dan Konan (Uechi) Ryu, 8th Dan Matayoshi Kobudo. Apart from being a superb karate-ka and having one of the best conditioned bodies I have even seen, Itokazu Sensei is also the Kancho of Matayoshi Ryu Kobudo

Yoshio Kuba, 9th Dan Goju Ryu. A student of Seikichi Toguchi, Kuba Sensei is well-known for his mastery of the applications of the Goju Ryu kata, and his ability to apply them to great effect. Being an acupuncture therapist undoubtedly gives him a advantage in this field.
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