We met American black belt teacher Ron Breines, who invited us to Master Masaki Kemiyagi’s dojo, one of Okinawa’s best karate masters.

I hadn’t watched to any demonstrations of the martial art and I confess I was impressed by the karate students: 20 students, including children. One of the moments of the class is the __________ – a series of synchronized movements that look like a dance.

Mater Ikimiyagi supervises and follows every student and the training aims at the body, motor coordination and breathing. The body connects to the spirit and the discipline was evident in every single move. What was even more evident was the level of discipline of each participant.

At the end, the master revealed the secret of Okinawan Karate: “a martial art aiming at peace”. In his words: “true strength is not on physical strength but the biggest strentgh lies in humility and tenderness of a person.”

Okinawan Karate is a unique martial art that presents an unmistakable character. It was born in Okinawa and was developed under the strong influence of Chinese kenpõ, a weapon-free system of body combat that is very similar to Kung Fu.