The flight coming over from Houston was a disaster.Unfortunately, the lady who sat next to me was sick and with no exaggeration, coughed horribly about 6 times per minute-for the entire 12 hour flight. Finally the stewardess made her put on a mask which only created an echo.....

We arrived at Narita with no issues and a fairly easy navigation of the group through immigration and customs. We made a quick stop to the kaiten sushi restaurant on the 5^th floor and then headed down to the terminal for the flight to Okinawa.

As luck would have it, we had an American couple behind us with a toddler that screamed the entire flight to Okinawa. This kid had a set of lungs that would rival any heavy metal singer and he used them non-stop to Okinawa.

Once in Okinawa, we were warmly greeted by Gibu Sensei, members of the Butokukan as well as my exchange student Rio Yamazato. After pictures, we loaded everyone and their bags in the bus hotel and Izumi Sensei headed us in the direction of Koza. Izumi Sensei brought the bus around and with great team work, we got all of the baggage and their owners packed in for the ride to Koza.

We arrived at the Deigo Hotel and got quickly checked in so that we could head to our traditional first meal with the Kyans at the Lemon Grass.  We were greeted warmly and sat down for the usual course of delicious appetizers and Okinawa dishes. We stayed until about 1 am and then headed back for our usual gathering on the rooftop for Naihanchi Kata and beer. None of us had any difficulty sleeping.

Most of the guys woke around 5:30/6:00 and took off for a morning run and Crossfit/Yoga session to fight off jet lag. Izumi Sensei drove Joe and I to Fuji Rent A Car to pick up one of the two vans that we would be using for the trip. Upon returning, Izumi Sensei left for work and we headed down to Tomari to Shureido. All first timers to Okinawa have to see and do certain things, and so we made our first stop to Shureido so that everyone could stress themselves out by deciding whether they wanted to eat the rest of the trip or spend most of their money on all of the great things in the store.

After everyone christened themselves with the Shureido shopping spree and a major dent to their trip funds, we began to head to Shuri Castle when we made the correct call that we would not have enough time before we had to meet Gibu Sensei at the Hombu dojo at 1:30. Joe navigated us to the Naha Mall and we all went our own way for lunch. I ended up being surprised by Rio (my third "daughter") who works in the Starbucks on the first floor and saw us walk by.

We made to the Hombu Dojo where we met Gibu Sensei and then followed him in his car to the Urasoe Community Center. There we had an incredible demonstration by the troupe of Urasoe’s elementary and middle school Taiko/Eisa core. Maikawa Sensei is the head teacher for this group and also the Naha and Ginowan troup, all which have over 250 members that demonstrate around the world and for many events on Okinawa.

One could see the obvious parallels with taiko/Eisa with karate and there were even Pinan kata postures that were used in many routines.

The children were amazing and very enthusiastic about their performances. After their practice, Marissa was asked to demonstrate karate and kobudo and then we were all invited to try our hand at Taiko.

One of my favorite performances of any Okinawa trip is watching shishi mai(lion dances) and the middle school students performed a dual performance. For those of you who have not seen it before, it requires a tremendous amount of rehearsal and agility for the performers under the costume. If you are "bitten" during the performance, it is said that you will have good luck!

That evening, Gibu Sensei and the Butokukan members threw us a kangeikai and we were treated to an opportunity to catch up with friends and seniors. Daigo Sensei's son Taisai was the MC "vice president" and read in English his father's welcome speech.

We had more food than you can imagine and the evening was filled with many speeches, introductions and humor. The party eventually came to a close and went to Maekaru san's house where he has a dojo for taiko. They also meet there to make the costumes and store a lot of the props and supplies.

We all took advantage of the snorkeling and had the opportunity to interact with lots of interesting sea life, including a brief but exciting exchange with a poisonous sea snake.(in ankle deep water!) Those of you who are not snake friendly, don't worry about your next excursion to Okinawa, they are very placid and only bite when they are provoked.

Once at the hotel, everybody quickly got changed and we navigated the back streets to Izumi Sensei’s dojo. Izumi Sensei is always gracious to let us use the dojo while he is at work so that we can get in extra practice between the normal scheduled classes. It was entertaining to see everyone's smile just grow and grow as they entered the dojo as I remember my reaction the first time I laid eyes on this beautiful dojo. We took pictures for a little bit and lined up for kata practice so that we could tweak things before the first practice at the hombu dojo. We always joke to people about the heat in the Koza dojo but no one believes us until it is too late. Everyone gets caught up in the dojo's beauty and layout but when training starts, the dojo transforms into the mouth of a dragon and pushes everyone's mental balance with full humidity and heat.

Izumi Sensei came in after work and joined us for practice. He and I both took turns calling and correcting kata while the other would join the group. Izumi Sensei took the opportunity to "check" everyone's kata by performing shime. Everyone's stances were tested by his shin kicks to the inside and outside of the legs as well as receiving full contact punches to the abdomen.

After, we quickly changed at the hotel and met him at Lemon Grass. His friends Toguchi san and Uchimasu san met us. Ukemasu san was a part of "The Great Okinawan Turtle Battle of 2010" and we had a chance to catch up. The food is always amazing at the Lemon Grass and we were treated by Izumi Sensei to a feast of pigs feet, sashimi, steak and Ukemasu brought a shakogai for us to try. The shakogai are a type of large clam that are extremely sharp and their shells have been know to cut off fingers of careless divers. The beautiful interior of the shells are also used to make jewelry.

Brian Kavanaugh was getting ribbed by the Okinawans because the shakogai was a little too chewy for his taste and they kept giving him things to eat for comedy relief. Brian was good natured about it all and we enjoyed some good laughs. Ukemasu san made a nice dipping sauce made from the Buffalo Wild Wings hot sauce I brought for the owners and mixed it with togarashii and soy sauce.

While kata alone is not the end-all of training methods, it allows for teachers to see strengths and weaknesses within their students. A student's ability to perform kata with the proper tension, weight distribution, speed variation, and correct strength mechanics are some of the many things teachers look for when watching.

This is one of the many special examples of how the Butokukan is a family. Our Okinawan family members are always looking out for us whether it is at a meal, seeing a special demonstration of Okinawan culture or just pushing us physically on the dojo floor. In the Butokukan, although there is a heirarchy in the dojo organization, everyone is treated like a family member. The most senior people treat the lowest ranking member or visitor like they are just as important as the senior group. Unfortunately, other Western teachers create walls around Okinawan teachers that only they and a few can climb and leave students to only watch from the grass.

Aragaki Sensei contacted her sister and it was arranged for us to use the Tomari Keinokan near Shureido where the Tsuna no Hiki (Tug of War) practices are held for that area.

During the hour session, we were each allowed to try a number of sayings related to not only karate philosophy but life in general. Everyone was very grateful for the experience and many students purchase some of Sensei's personal shodo that were on display.

Mayor Matsumoto, 43, was a very charismatic man with very strong English speaking skills which he gained from living in California for two years. He was interested about our travels to Okinawa and seemed very appreciative that we spend as much time learning about Okinawan culture as we do training in the dojo.

Having been a participant on a number of Gibu Sensei's kumite workouts, it was a brutal cascade of constant movement and definately pushed us all to our physical limits and beyond. Although still a young man in Okinawa terms, Gibu Makoto Sensei is in his top physical form. One would think that his younger years as a full contact champion would be behind him but I saw an even stronger and more fit teacher than I have trained and fought with before. He truly exemplifies how all teachers should be-training harder than your students.

Through the haze of dehydration and sheer exhaustion on my part, Gibu Sensei told me that we were all going to go see his bo teacher. What??? Here was something I wasn't expecting. Gibu Sensei was being cryptic about things but told me that he trained every Tuesday with his bo teacher in Urasoe and that we were going to go see the practice. Unsure of what was going on, we waddled in our soaked gis to the bus to go to our unknown destination and event.

I have to say that at the time of this writing, I am still dumbfounded at the next hour. This was a real curve ball and I did not understand what was happening so I had no answers for my students. "Just get in the bus and we will figure out what is going on."

We drove to a small, backyard lot near the Urasoe City Hall and still confused, exited the bus to the smells of burning mosquito repellent and one spotlight illuminating a small area in someone's backyard.

It was only until I caught a glimpse of a familiar face from Chris Wilson's Karate Masters Photography project that I began to lose all control of my polite language and started to run towards the figure holding a bo.

As it turned out, Gibu Sensei has been as student of Tomimoto Yukou Sensei, one of the only teachers of Maeda Bo on Okinawa. Every Tuesday, about 10 students gather at this small grass lot to train with Tomimoto Sensei under the stars. After brief introductions, Tomimoto Sensei began to demonstrate arching movements with a very heavy bo that seemed to cut through the heavy humidity. He then asked me to execute a few strikes towards him and demonstrated very quickly the effective circular attacks/counters that are used within the curriculum. Afterwards, Tomimoto Sensei then asked if someone from our group would demonstrate some of our kobudo and Kareem performed Kubo No Kun. As a teacher, we are all hard critics of our students but I can't remember ever being so proud while watching his demonstration.

Tomimoto Sensei then had one of his English speaking students demonstrate the basic kihon of Maeda bo but don't let me mislead you, they were only kihon by name. The sheer speed and power that was demonstrated cannot be described and again, these were not toothpick bos that so many use to hide their poor bo skills. These were tree trunk bos! He then gave us a history lesson on the origins of Maeda bo and how the techniques differed from other Ryukyu Kobudo. Never, mind you, did they ever talk of superiority over other systems, just how their techniques were different.

Gibu Sensei thanked his teacher for letting us attend and then told us that it was time to head back to the dojo for further training. I don't know how many flies I allowed to cohabitate in my dropped jaw but I can't remember the last time on Okinawa where I was held in a constant boyish giggle. I thanked Gibu Sensei for truly an unforgettable privilege that he gave us.

We then joined up with the rest of the crew at the entrance to Heiwa Dori and let everyone have a couple of hours to explore the countless kiosks and shops.

A few of us made our way through Makishi market and after taking advantage of the many samples of food offered, we went up to the second floor to have a lunch of wonderful Okinawan food.

Through the intense heat, we let the kids stretch us out and then ran through the kata syllabus. Afterwards, we continued with ude tanren drills and then Izumi Sensei took us through his Naihanchi tanren creation with Ikeda San.

Although humorous to reminince about, I cannot ever describe the heat in the dojo. Surrounded by other concrete structures, the Koza Butokukan seems to ventilate all of the community's heat through the dojo and the humidity is always at 100%. It is a true test of spirit when you have to breathe vapor in 95 degree temperatures during your training.

Goat Sashimi

Whale

Sea Snake Soup

Somen with Squid Ink

http://www.whiteriverphotostudio.com/

My friend Miguel DaLuz met us with a visiting group of French university Shotokan team and we all got down to working on nunchaku basics and Kinjo Sensei's version of Maezato no Nunchaku called Kubagawa No Nunchaku. Although similar in pattern to Maezato, there are some differences in the techniques and we were all very excited to learn it.

Kinjo Sensei took me to the side and personally worked with me on Kanegawa no Kama. Kinjo Sensei is an amazingly open teacher who not only is very meticulous with details but constantly weaves in application so the student understands the muscle movement correctly. I was incredibly lucky to have Kinjo Sensei correct my kata as I had been doing many things incorrectly up to this day.

He then took a few of us who practiced Maezato no Tekko and corrected our kata while also showing us various bunkai.

Some the tanren were familiar as we do many in the dojo but some were specialized to Uechi Ryu. It was incredible not only how strong the Kinjo brothers were but how expertly they understood alignment when receiving each others techniques. I can't imagine a father being more proud of these talented men and they possess some of the best kobudo technique of their generation.

Satoshi Sensei and Kenta Sensei did a brilliant bo kata performed in mirror image followed by Satoshi san demonstrating Tsuken Sunakake no Eku and his father performing a Uechi Ryu kata.

After pictures, we quickly changed and Kinjo Sensei invited us up to his home to see his kobudo collection. Over 700 nunchaku, 40 sai, 40 tonfa and countless timbe and others.

He graciously gave me a second surprise gift of his handmade replica of Taira Shinken's personal tonfa.

Gifts from Kinjo Sensei

We were treated to a home-cooked meal of beef curry rice by one of his dojo moms and we all sat down for a well needed dinner and a chat with the members of the dojo.

And so in the months leading up to the trip, with as much gentle persistance as I could muster, I persuaded Gibu Sensei and other Butokukan members for us to gather at Katsuren Castle and conduct a memorial keiko in our teacher's honor.

I know this was an emotional struggle for all of us who were close to O'Sensei but after it was over, I think we collectively felt that he was smiling down on us. Gibu O'Sensei was a warrior and he was a man who trained alongside his students. So it was no surprise that as thankful as he might have been for the gesture of our training, he made sure it was a very hot morning so that none of us could take the easy way out. He wanted us to be warriors as well and there is no time to choose your training environment.

Afterwards, Gibu Sensei gave a short speech and with heavy hearts, we all took some quick pictures and then made our way down the hill to our cars.

Tamaki Sensei and Sunagawa Sensei took us all out to lunch in Uruma on the bridge near Hama Higa Island and we had a short time to buy some gifts to take back home.

Izumi Sensei came to hotel around 2 pm to drive us to Mihama where he was giving us our sobetsukai(Farewell party). He had been planning this gracious party for many months and recruited Ukemasu san and Toguchi san to help with the cooking and heavy lifting.

Izumi Sensei had imported beef from Ishigaki Island that is identical to Kobe steak and brought a keg of Orion as well as a tub of enough superman juice to make us forget any bumps and bruises we had accumulated this trip.

We were situated next to the main entertainment stage for the Port Festival and were able to listen to some very talented singers. After a full contact frisbee football match in the swimming area and some fun interactions with the group in the next tent over, we were entertained with a wonderful fireworks display.

Izumi Sensei drove Joe and I to the airport the next morning where we were met by Gibu Sensei who treated us to coffee and a snack before we headed to the gate.

The feeling of sadness for the loss of my teacher was equaled by the proud feeling I had of my students and other members of our group. Once back in the states, people would remark with amazement that "how difficult it must have been to take 20 people!" My response was that you could not have taken a better group of individuals and the trip was amazing because of them.

I hope that they will all be as changed by the trip to Okinawa as I always am.