All posts tagged: Kobudo

Naonobu Ahagon, Hanshi 10th Dan, Okinawa Karate & Kobudo Shorinryu

Published by

Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph  karate master Naonobu Ahagon at his dojo in Naha City. It was a great experience to meet another Okinawan icon. In October 2013 he was one of 7 karate masters to be given special recognition by the Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper for his contributions to traditional Okinawan karate. Ahagon-sensei is a master of both karate and kobudo (using traditional weapons). These include the kama (sickles) and sai. I took a few extra shots of Ahagon-sensei surrounded by some of this weapons inside the dojo. Starting from the far left you can see the eku (oars) then nunchaku, a pair of tonfa, and bo staffs. A big thank you to Sensei Mark Spear of the Black Bear Traditional Martial Arts Center in Connecticut for helping set up the shoot.

Nunchaku by the Numbers

Published by

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.

Shorinryu Karate and Ryukyu Kobudo Master Hiroshi Akamine

Published by

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.