Strengthen your immune system with radio karate along with a Naha Tomari Elementary school teacher

Strengthen your immune system with radio karate along with a Naha Tomari Elementary school teacher

A screenshot of Bunshiro Nagamine hosting Radio Karate on YouTube for the Tomari Elementary School students (photo taken from YouTube)


May 25, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

By Kotaro Nagamine

In order to provide some energy for the children who are still stuck at home from school due to the coronavirus Naha’s Tomari Elementary School teacher Bunshiro Nagamine, 43, has been uploading “Radio Karate” videos to YouTube. In the videos, Nagamine has donned a karate mask and demonstrates karate fundamentals such as fukyu kata 1 in rhythm to stirring music.

Radio karate is traditional Okinawa karate paired with music and a voiceover providing instructions, a fun instructional exercise similar to Japan’s radio calisthenics. Nagamine is the third generation owner of the World Matsubayashi-ryu (Shorin-ryu) Karate-do Association’s Kodokan Nagamine Karate Dojo, and is a 3rd Dan black belt. His grandfather, Shoshin, was the founder of Matsubayashi-Ryu Karate. “Karate is not just for competitions, it can be used as a lifelong pursuit that promotes health, and I want to share this with the children.” Based on this idea, Nagamine started doing radio karate around seven years ago.

Tomari Elementary School teacher Bunshiro Nagamine performing karate without his “Karate Mask”


Due to school’s being closed, children have had the daily rhythm of their lives disrupted, and he decided to upload the videos to help children stay in shape.

The children at Tomari Elementary do radio karate before the morning meeting. The students have responded with things like, “It gives me some spirit from the morning and I feel good,” and “I am proud that I can do karate.”

School principal Masatoshi Dana said, “Radio karate is a fun way to enjoy traditional culture, and it is useful in nurturing children.” Tomari Elementary re-opened to students on May 21. Nagamine said, “I want to have classes quickly, however I am still worried about the spread of the virus. I want them to use radio karate to boost their constitutions and bolster their immune systems.”

Radio karate has also been posted on the Tomari Elementary School homepage. It also started broadcasting on FM Naha at 6:30 a.m. every morning starting May 13, turning it into a bona fide “Radio Karate.”

(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)

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