Detailed Itinerary

Arrival day

You will receive a full day of orientation. The purpose of which is to teach members how to use the monorail system, how to get to the training places we use, how to feed themselves, change money, and generally feel comfortable, safe, and self-sufficient in their new city and culture. Okinawans are incredibly friendly, helpful, and courteous. If they see someone in difficulty they will immediately step in and help. The main organiser is of UK origin and therefore language is not an issue. Lunch (own expense) is at one of the major downtown shopping centres, and then we take a visit to Shuri Castle, the home of the Okinawan Kings for six centuries. On Sunday evening we eat together in a local restaurant, discuss the week ahead of us, conduct an informal question and answer session, and deal with any issues that are bothering members. By the time dinner is over most members feel comfortable and confident in their new environment, and ready to start training next day.

First training day

We meet at the hotel, walk the hundred yards or so to the monorail station, and take the train to Tsuboya. The Okinawa Prefectural Budokan (Hall of Martial Virtue) is a short walk across the causeway over the river from the station through Onoyama Park. Training starts at 10:00am in the morning and finishes at midday.After a two hour break for lunch we train again from 2:00pm until 4:00pm. In the evening members are free to take in the sights, an easy thing to do as we are located in the heart of the city and surrounded by restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and other places of entertainment. Okinawa is an extremely safe place, crime amongst the native population is almost unheard of, and it is very common to see young girls of 12-14 years old walking home alone late at night through the central city after the “cramming schools” close.

Training days

We will travel to the Okinawa City Budokan, renovated recently for the All Japan Gymnastics Championships, for morning and afternoon sessions. This is about a 30 mile journey in each direction for which we provide a private bus. Lunch is taken with the teachers at a local buffet restaurant (Soie) and the cost for this (as much as you can eat and drink) is around ¥800 ( £7.00). We maintain a very high teacher to student ratio in our classes, and all our instructors are 9^thDan or above certified by the Prefectural Government. Several have the status of “Living Intangible Cultural Asset,” an award bestowed by the Japanese Royal Family for distinguished service to culture. Typically, the chief instructor of a class will be a 10^thDan, Hanshi, and he will be assisted by several 9^thDans and 8th Dans. In the West there is a tendency to teach very basic karate technique through constant repetition of the same kick or punch, which is both boring and of questionable value. Our teachers show principles, methods, and actual fighting techniques. There is no contact or sparring in real karate because this would be far too dangerous. To put it simply, the students learn what works, how it works, and why it works. These teachers are extraordinary, the best in the world.

Saturday

We will organize an optional tour of southern Okinawa by private bus that costs ¥5000 ( £35.00) per member for fuel, the bus and driver. We visit monuments to famous karate instructors, the Royal Summer Palace (Shikina En), the Chinese Garden (Fukushu En), the Okinawa Peace Park (Heiwa Kinnen Kaikan), and either the Gyokusendo Caves or the Imperial Japanese Navy´s subterranean headquarters at Tomishiro. Members have a choice of taking their own packed lunch, or enjoying the excellent buffet at the Southern Beach Hotel in Itoman City. This features a wide array of Okinawan, Japanese, Italian, American, Mexican, and international dishes, pizza, salad bar, fresh breads, coffee, soft drinks, and a very large selection of desserts. The cost is ¥1700 – ¥2000 inclusive of tax. We leave our hotel at around 8:30am, and return at around 7:30pm.

^{Free Day}

We will tour the north of the island using the same bus/buses and visit Murasaki Village, the Chan Mi house site in Kadena, Manzamou, and the Ocean Expo Park in Motobu. This features a superb aquarium (Chura Umi), the Okinawan Village, botanical gardens, the dream tower, and many other exhibits, most of which are free. Again, members have a choice of taking a packed lunch or the fixed price, all you can eat buffet lunch on the beach at the superb ANA-Intercontinental Hotel in Manza. We leave our hotel at 8:30am and return at 8:00pm

Final farewells -last night

This evening we will hold our Sayonara party which is attended by members and their instructors. In previous years have held these events in an izakaya (the Okinawan version of an English pub), upscale Okinawan restaurants (Urashima  in Kume), in an awamori distillery owned by the family of one of my staff, and on the deck of a commercial tuna fishing boat in the East China Sea. Typically these events cost each member ¥3,000 ( £24.00) for a lavish meal with alcohol.

The Training Schedule & Private Dojos

We train from Monday to Friday two sessions per day. Students who are really keen to learn can train in the evenings too in a private dojo (the co-ordinator will arrange this for you)   which is considered an enormous privilege in karate circles. The instructors in these dojos are the ones that you read about in magazines, and see on the BBC, Discovery Channel, History Channel, etc. The vast majority of Okinawan and Japanese karate cannot train in these dojo, some of which are so old the founders of karate as we know it, trained there as young men in the 1920s and 1930s.

Accommodation

The hotel that we use is located close to Makishi station on Kokusai Dori (International Street) which is the main street of the capital city of Naha, and the centre of nightlife, shopping, etc. Members stay in a typical small Japanese single room with bath. The hotel is simple, clean, and ideally located. We have used it for many years, the staff are wonderful, and very important for karate people, they have washing machines and dryers in the basement!

Frequently Asked Questions