Bin Konno gives lecture on preserving the essence of Karate at Urasoe symposium

Bin Konno gives lecture on preserving the essence of Karate at Urasoe symposium

Bin Konno


 

December 17, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

A symposium for brainstorming policies to preserve and pass down traditional Okinawan karate to later generations, titled, “Where did karate come from,” was held December 16 at the Yui-no-machi Research Center in Urasoe City (hosted by the symposiums executive committee).

The symposium was attended by around 220 people from the karate world, and served to reaffirm the importance in preserving and passing down traditional Okinawan karate to future generations.

 

Author Bin Konno took the lectern to give his concerns that while karate has been added as an official event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he said, “If the sport is only talked about as a sport, we run the risk of people no longer practicing traditional Okinawan karate.”

He stressed that in order to protect against this, “We should continue to send the message that, ‘traditional Okinawan karate is culture,’ as part of the allure.”

 

Okinawa Karate Federation President Zenpo Shimabukuro critiqued, “The ‘sportification’ of karate deviates from its traditional Okinawan origin,” and further proclaimed, “The Okinawa karate world needs to be more unified and cohesive, with the intent of advancing the preservation and continuation of traditional karate.”

 

Other luminaries of the Okinawa karate community made resolutions such as, “There is value in keeping traditional Okinawan karate unchanged in perpetuity,” and, “We must strive to pass down Okinawan karate to later generations without losing its essence.”

 

(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)

 

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