All posts tagged: martial arts

Tuari Dawson – Māori martial arts

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Portraits of Tuari, a master of Māori martial arts. He is holding a patu, which was made by his father-in-law.It was a real honour and a delight to photograph Tuari, and I am so pleased he could make his way up to my studio in Motobu. My goal is to visit him in New Zealand, as Tuari has offered me the opportunity to document Māori martial arts on location in beautiful Aotearoa. For those interested in the technical specs…. I photographed Tuari in my studio with the Sony A7RIV and the 70-200 GM2. The keylight was a Profoto D2 strobe with a gridded soft white beauty dish. The rim lights were two 1×4′ gridded softboxes with Proheads powered by a pro-7A 1200W generator. The background is a black felt on a Manfrotto / Lastolite EzyFrame. On his previous visit to Okinawa, I did a quick interview with Tuari and took some pics of him on the local beach here in Motobu. It is always a pleasure to hang out with Tuari, often swapping anecdotes of …

Denny Tamaki – Governor of Okinawa & student of Uechi-ryu karate

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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 …

Ryoichi Onaga 1948 – 2024

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RIP Ryoichi Onaga 1948 – 2024 A student of Eichi Miyazato, Ryoichi Onaga taught Okinawa Goju-ryu karate for half a century in Murcia, Spain. A 10th-dan Hanshi, Onaga Sensei was also Vice Chairman of the Okinawa Goju-ryu Karatedo Kyokai. Through an introduction from Norihiko Masuda Sensei I was able to photograph Onaga Sensei on August 20th 2021. Condolences to his family, friends and students around the world.

2023 Highlights

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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 …

Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate #7 Tsuguo Sakumoto

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Tsuguo Sakumoto, 7 times consecutive world champion, and coach to 9 world champions including Arata Kinjo, Takuya Uemura and Ryo Kiyuna. He is 9th-dan in Ryuei-ryu karate. Ryo Kiyuna is one of Japan’s best chances to win a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 (2021) Olympics so Sakumoto Sensei is more than ever a very busy man. Luckily he liked the portraits of him I shot in 2014 so we managed to get to interview him last September for the Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate Series. You can learn more about the series, and even how to support is here: https://travel67.com/the-karate-masters-portrait-project/sensei-documentary/

Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate – Doug Perry

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In the latest video in the series I’m making about karate, 83-year-old, 10th-dan Shorin-Ryu, Doug Perry talks about his life in the Marine Corps and martial arts, and his love of Okinawa. Also includes a conversation with his son Colonel Jason Perry.  Thank you to all the sponsors and supporters you’ll see listed at the end of the video I couldn’t do it without you! Please get in touch if you’re able to help with this project! https://travel67.com/the-karate-masters-portrait-project/sensei-documentary/ Currently going through the final checks for two more videos. Will release Seikichi Iha Sensei’s interview hopefully in around a week from now, and then Tsuguo Sakumoto’s interview a week later.

Karate Masters Kanji Uechi and Sadanao Uechi

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Uechi-ryu is one of the main styles of Okinawan karate. Literally translated it means Uechi style, its name coming from its founder Kanbun Uechi (1877-1948). At 19, Kanbun Uechi went to Fuzhou City in China to study martial arts. He studied a style known as Pangai-noon and after 13 years returned to Okinawa. Many years later he began teaching Pangai-noon karate in Japan, and in 1940 the style was renamed as Uechi-ryu karate jutsu. Kanbun Uechi’s son Kanei Uechi (1911-1991) was the second generation of the style. His grandson Kanmei Uechi (1941-2015) was the third generation. And today his great-grandsons Kanji Uechi and Sadanao Uechi continue the Uechi-ryu legacy. Motobu is the hometown of Uechi-ryu’s founder Kanbun Uechi. A couple of years ago a statue of the Kanbun Uechi was built in the Yaedake Sakura no Mori, Cherry Blossom Park, in Motobu Town. Motobu is also where we now live, so Kanbun Uechi often overlooks us as we picnic in the park 🙂

Success and Sponsorship

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Now that the first three episodes of Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate have been published to YouTube I can happily say that the feedback I’m getting has been really positive, and its popularity on YouTube is growing with each video! The first video had 5000 views in its first month, the second video had 62,000 views in its first month, and the third video has had 86,000 views in its first two weeks! I’m in the final stages of the edit of the fourth video with Sensei Takeshi Tamaki, and hope it will be released on May 22nd. This endeavour is possible because of sponsorship and support by the international karate community. If you see the value of undertaking this project, please consider become a main series sponsor, series sponsor, or supporter. More details here. Sponsors and supporters are listed in all subsequent episodes of the series. If you’d like to help, and get in touch before May 21st, I can add you to the credits for Episode 4 before the final file creation and …

Kenichi Yamashiro 9th dan Matayoshi Kobudo

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On Friday evening we travelled down to the very south of the main island of Okinawa to the dojo of Kenichi Yamashiro. He is the 83rd sensei to be photographed for the project, and it was fascinating to meet him. Kobudo is the weapons system of Okinawan martial arts and is often studied alongside karate. Arguably kobudo is an intrinsic part of traditional karate, or perhaps traditional karate is an intrinsic part of kobudo. Yamashiro sensei trains with a wide range of weapons, including some which I’d never seen before such as the spinning bo staff. Hopefully in the future we’ll be back again to interview him for the Sensei: Masters of Okinawan Karate documentary series. All images captured using the Pentax 645Z and 90mm lens. Lighting using the Profoto B1 and softlight reflector. A big thank you to Gary Hughes for assisting with lighting, Yuki Willson and James East for interpreting, and Mike Clayton for help setting up the shoot. A huge thank you to Kenichi Yamashiro for inviting us into his dojo and …

Sensei – Masters of Okinawan Karate #1 Arakaki Toshimitsu

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This video is the first in a possible series of interviews with Okinawan karate masters. The sensei discuss their lives and share advice on training. The first master is Toshimitsu Arakaki, Hanshi 10th-dan, Matsubayashi-ryu Karate (Shorin-ryu). 新垣 敏光 範士十段 松林流空手 （小林流）He is the teacher of my good friend James Pankiewicz who arranged for the interview to take place. (James runs the famous Dojo Bar in Naha City, and the Asato Dojo across the street. Check them out when in Okinawa!) This pilot video is an opportunity to see if there is much interest in making this a series of videos rather than just a one off. Potentially interviews could take place with several karate masters and include more footage of them training or their everyday lives. Will all the videos be on YouTube? Yes! The idea is for the videos to be available for free on YouTube to anyone who wants to watch. Hopefully individuals, dojos, or karate organizations would be willing to help sponsor the project to make it viable, but this would only …