Dan Antonsen has studied Goju-ryu karate in the Meibukan Dojo under Meitoku Yagi and Meitatsu Yagi. He also studies Ryukyu Kobudo under Hidemi Tamayose. He was recently awarded the rank of 8th-dan. James Pankiewicz and I interviewed Dan for Series 3 of the Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate documentary series. The preview for the episode is now on YouTube.
The karate interview series is back! Watch a 6 minute preview of Episode 1, then I give some updates on Series 3. Huge thank you to those who’ve already made donations as sponsors or supporters for Series 3. SERIES THREE SPONSORS Martin Pinto – Essex Goju Ryu Karate Series Three – Supporters Artur Carballo Justin Sheehy Olaf Steinbrecher Masaru Hoshi K.R. Ruiz Click here to learn more about the documentary series, and how you can help!
R.I.P. Jyosei Yogi, Kounan-ryu Karate & Okinawa Kobudo Renseikai, passed away at 91 years old. Fond memories of our shoot in June 2012.
We are embarking on creating Series 3 of Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate. We have filmed a fascinating interview with Tatsunori Matsuda of Okinawa Kenpo, and recorded the first pieces of B-roll. We’ve also got the go ahead to film interviews with Seisuke Adaniya (Matayoshi Kobudo / Shorin-ryu), Yoshio Kuba (Goju-ryu) and Kiyohide Shinjo (Uechi-ryu). The plan is to film at least 6 interviews with Okinawan masters in Series 3 so there are several other sensei that we will be reaching out to. We will also conduct several interviews with international karateka. I hope to start releasing the interviews in October 2025 around Karate Day and the Martial Arts Film Festival. If you’d like to watch previous interviews, learn more about the series, or support the project then please click the link below https://travel67.com/the-karate…/sensei-documentary/ Any questions just ask! A huge thank you to the organizations, dojos, and individuals who helped sponsor and support the first two series. SERIES TWO SPONSORS Martin Pinto – Essex Goju Ryu Karate Doug Perry – Okinawa Shorinryu Karate Cezar Borkowski …
Denny Tamaki has been the Governor of Okinawa Prefecture since August 2018. 2018年8月から沖縄県知事に就任した玉城デニー氏。 After becoming governor, Tamaki began studying Uechi-ryu karate under Yoshimitsu Matsusaki, of the Uechi-Ryu Karate Karate-Do Kenyu-Kai. Tamaki explained he started studying karate both for its health benefits and because of its cultural significance to the Okinawa Islands, the birthplace of karate. 知事就任後、玉城氏は上地流空手道を上地流拳優会の松崎賀充先生に師事する。玉城氏は、空手の健康効果と、空手発祥の地である沖縄諸島の文化的意義の両方から空手を習い始めたと説明した。 The Uechi-Ryu Karate Karate-Do Kenyu-Kai is now led by Kiyohide Shinjo Sensei, and I have photographed many of its masters. Although Denny Tamaki is a relatively new student of karate, as the Governor of Okinawa, he is the chairman of the Okinawa Dento Karatedo Shinkokai, and is chair of the committee to inscribe Okinawan karate on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. 上地流拳優会は現在、新城清秀先生が主宰し、私は多くの師範を撮影してきた。 玉城氏は空手の門下生としては比較的新しいが、沖縄県知事として沖縄電燈空手道振興会の会長を務め、沖縄空手のユネスコ無形文化遺産登録委員会の委員長も務めている。 In December 2023, I had the opportunity to attend the end of year training for the Matsusaki dojo, and photograph Denny Tamaki for the Karate Masters Portrait Project. 2023年12月、私は松崎道場の年末稽古に参加し、空手マスターズ・ポートレート・プロジェクトのために玉城デニー氏を撮影する機会を得た。 Although it was a cold blustery day in December, Denny Tamaki and Matsusaki Sensei were happy to head down to the beach for some final training, and a few more …
2023 was a year of consolidation and preparation. Travel was limited, but the months were filled meeting fascinating people, and documenting their stories. The biggest change was Jasmine turning five. She has graduated from baby seats to booster seats, Duplo to Lego, and Paw Patrol to Bluey. My mum and dad visited in autumn, and it was great to reconnect. Yuki was amazed at just how many cups of tea we drank. 2023 saw the return of several major events in Okinawa, including the dragon boat races, competitive sports, and local festivals. I’ve met so many wonderful people from all different backgrounds. It was a pleasure to meet, photograph, and interview the Māori martial arts master Tuari Dawson. Recording him singing on the beach was unforgettable. I’ve continued my project to document the masters of Okinawan karate, shooting both indoors on the black background and on location. The Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate series has grown in popularity with hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and Instagram. Series Two has included Okinawan icons such …
I’m very happy to announce that the full-length interview with Okinawan karate master Yoshimasa Matsuda is now available on YouTube, and also ad-free on Bujin.tv The episodes are taking longer to create than in the previous series, mainly as we are asking more questions and delving deeper into the experiences of the teachers. Matsuda Sensei used a mixture of Japanese and Uchinaguchi (the Okinawan language) in the interview so as well as being important from a karate perspective, I think the interview is also a good recording of an Okinawan switching naturally between the two languages. When you watch the episodes on YouTube please click the like button, subscribe to the channel, and make a comment about what you enjoyed most about the video. These things will all indicate to the YouTube algorithm that the video is worth sharing with others. You can learn more about the video series here: https://travel67.com/the-karate-masters-portrait-project/sensei-documentary/ I’d like to say a huge thank all those who are sponsoring and supporting this second series. SERIES TWO SPONSORS Martin Pinto – Essex …
Nobuko Oshiro of the Okinawa Karate-do Shorinryu, Taishinkan Association was awarded the rank of 9th-dan in January 2023. She continues to be the highest ranked female karateka in Okinawa. In 2015, I photographed her in her dojo, and amongst the sugar cane fields that surrounded her home in Sashiki Town. We are hoping that we will have the opportunity to interview her for the Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate series.
Another challenging year, but we were able to focus on the positives, and look to the future. Here are a few highlights. In March, I released the documentary I made about Murata-san and his amazing Toyota 2000GT, a unicorn in the automotive world. The Karate Masters Portrait Project continued, and we completed Season 1 of the documentary series Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate. 2021 was also the first time local media contacted James Pankiewicz and I about our goals to document Okinawa’s martial arts heritage. The Ryukyu Shimpo interviewed us for their website and discussed the project on their podcast. https://ryukyushimpo.jp/news/entry-1439603.html… In October, I was part of a BeOkinawa campaign to help promote tourism to Okinawa. It was interesting to be on the other side of the camera, and to work with a team of people who are also passionate about the Ryukyu Islands. In November, I had the amazing opportunity to record Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach’s Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology. Meanwhile we’ve …
Morinobu Maeshiro, 真栄城 守信 is 10th dan in Shorin-ryu Karate, and an Intangible Cultural Asset Holder in the Field of Okinawan Karate and Martial Arts with Weaponry. I photographed him for the first time at the Budokan in 2014, but I was pleased to be able to photograph him again in 2021, this time at his dojo in Naha City. After taking some new portraits, we set up the cameras and recorded a 45-minute interview with him discussing his life spent studying karate, his teachers, and his own philosophies. This will become Episode 1 of Series Two of Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate. After the interview, we then streamed an online seminar which was watched live by his students around the world. The seminar was also recorded and will be available on Bujin.TV from mid-December. You can learn more about the portrait project and the documentary series by clicking on the “Karate” tab on this blog, or by following this link. Thank you so much to Maeshiro Sensei for his time, and to Nicolás Pérez …
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 