My Journey to Okinawa

Group Photo in the Hombu Dojo

Every Martial Artist who practices Karate has the ultimate dream of going to Okinawa to train. People train really hard their entire lives and build up to train in Okinawa but I was fortunate enough to receive this opportunity very early in my Martial Arts career.


Since I started training in Karate in 2010, I had the dream of going to Japan. There was always something about this place that intrigued me, even before my training began. It could have been the fact that I was a huge Batman fan and in the comics Bruce Wayne the alter ego of Batman travels to Japan for Martial Arts training. I made a promise to myself that no matter how long it took, I would go to Japan  at least once in my life.


But Japan doesn't let you do that, you can't just go there once. People who have traveled there fall in love with the place and many decide to move there permanently. It has this effect on you. Japan mesmerizes you. I went there to train with the Yagi family as a Brown belt and they welcomed me with open arms and treated me like family. I wish I had the space for all the stories, I could write pages for all the amazing things that happened to me.


I plan on going back in 2017 as a Black belt for a seminar that takes place every 5 years in Naha, where members of the Meibukan organization gather from around the world. Naha receives thousands of Martial Artists from almost 15 different countries for this seminar. It's a family made by blood and sweat.

Some Friend's I made on my Amazing Journey

Okinawa's Lion Guardian