After photographing Seiei Nakaza sensei, I took a few shots of his senior student, Brian Hobson. It might seem strange to call a 7th dan black belt a student, but even those who have studied karate for decades often visit Okinawa to learn from the masters of the art.
On April 30th, I took portraits of Kiyohide Shinjo. He is a 9th-dan Uechi Ryu karate master and a nine-time all-Okinawa kata and kumite champion. He dominated karate to such an extent he was known as the Okinawan Superman. Shinjo-sensei has conditioned his body to be able to withstand huge blows without sustaining damage. He can smack his knuckles, fingertips and toes into pretty much anyone or anything. Shinjo sensei put on his serious face for the portraits, his whole body tense and ready to strike. I’m pretty sure opponents who witnessed this face were just about to lose their fight and quite possibly consciousness. This was the second time I have photographed Shinjo-sensei, the first time was in 2006. Read my Island Icons interview with Kiyohide Shinjo for Okinawa Living Magazine.
This week I drove up to Nago to photograph a master of Okinawan Kobudo, Yoshiaki Gakiya. Kobudo is the weapons system of Okinawan martial arts. As well as being experts in unarmed combat, kobudo masters learned how to use farming tools as weapons. In Matayoshi Kobudo, students study a wider range of weapons than most kobudo practitioners.Along with the familiar bo staff, sai, nunchaku and tonfa, they also use tools such as the kuwa (hoe) and surujin. Gakiya-sensei recently suffered from a major stroke so he can no longer practice kobudo, but it was an honor to see him put on his dogi jacket for a portrait. Gakiya’s top student, Neil Stolsmark, joined the shoot with his teacher. It was touching to see the level of mutual respect between these two men. Neil is immensely proud of his teacher, and Gakiya-sensei broke into a smile as he watched his friend and student stand before the camera.
67-year old Yoshio Kuba 9th-dan Gojuryu karate master, and an acupuncturist. I’m told his knowledge of pressure points allows him to be particularly effective when using many karate techniques.
Shaked Barzilay put together a short video showing James and I taking some portraits at the dojo of Masakazu Kinjo 9th dan Uechi Ryu Karate and Ryukyu Kobudo. You can see photos from the shoot here. Thanks very much Shaked.
Thought I’d show a few behind the scenes shots from the latest Karate Masters Portrait Project shoot with Shimabukuro-sensei. We assemble our mini studio inside the dojo of each master. I have a Profoto 7A power pack which plugs into the mains and then a single pro-head inside a beauty dish for light. Behind the karate master I set up a large Lastolite Skylite with black velvet to give a clean background, and so the look of the images will remain constant throughout the entire project. I use the Pentax 645D camera with a 150mm lens and mount this to a tripod, although some shots are handheld. James holds the light and moves it from side to side depending on the stance of the karate master. The flash is triggered by a Pocketwizard remote trigger on the top of the camera, that signals another Pocketwizard that’s attached to the power pack. I take a couple of simple headshots and then we ask the karate master to adopt their favorite stance or show their favorite technique. …
Shorin-ryu Seibukan Karate 10th Dan Zenpo Shimabukuro, the latest subject of the Karate Masters Portrait Project. Shimabukuro sensei was kind enough to take an hour out of his evening for the shoot, and told us how pleased he was that James and I are undertaking the project. This is always good to hear as the sensei we have photographed can help us connect with the other masters on Okinawa.
Masakazu Kinjo demonstrates that there’s more to nunchaku than just swirling them around the body. Use the end to jab and break your attacker’s ribs. Trap the attacker’s wrist between the two shafts of the nunchaku. Use your forearm to bend and twist the attacker’s arm. The step into the attacker to to take control. From here onwards it’s the simple and painful application of leverage. Twist locked arm and apply further pressure to elbow as required.
Satoshi and Kenta Kinjo, sons of master Masakazu Kinjo, and already highly respected karate experts.
Hiroshi Akamine a master in both Shorinryu Karate (no weapons) and Ryukyu Kobudo (a whole range of weapons). Lovely man based out of a new dojo in Tomigusku. On the wall of Akamine’s dojo there was an old black and white image of Akamine’s teacher posing for a photograph with a bo (staff). It isn’t part of the portrait series, but James and I thought it would be nice for Akamine to have a shot of him in the exact same pose many years later. The sepia tone was added in Photoshop to match the original image.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 