The best in the world from 50 countries show their stuff at the Okinawa Traditional Karate Ceremony

The best in the world from 50 countries show their stuff at the Okinawa Traditional Karate Ceremony

Grandmaster Morio Higaonna demonstrating the “Tenshou” – August 4, at the Okinawa Budokan in Naha


August 5, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo

The 8th Okinawa Traditional Karate Ceremony (hosted by the International Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate-do Federation – IOGKF) held their demonstration event at the Okinawa Budokan in Naha August 4, the final day of the even which opened July 29.

Celebrating the 40th year of the federation’s founding, the event drew over 1,000 participants from around 50 countries.

There were Karate demonstrations from Grandmaster Morio Higaonna as well as the elite performers from each of the federation’s countries, with audiences watching the kata with rapt attention and responding with applause.

This festival had previously been titled “The World Martial Arts Festival.” This year, as part of the effort to have traditional Okinawan Karate registered on the UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization) intangible cultural heritage list as a ceremony, the even was renamed The Okinawa Traditional Karate Ceremony.

Sydney Ryanholst, 47, who came from the Netherlands, said, “In the past I studied other martial arts, but I wanted a style that fit me better, and discovered traditional Okinawan Karate.”

(English Translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)

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