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TRADITIONAL OKINAWAN KARATE IN EDMONTON
International Okinawan Shōrin-ryū Seibukan Karate-dō Association (IOSSKA)
国際沖縄少林流聖武館空手道協会
人に優しく己に厳しくそういう精神が厳しい稽古の中で培うものである。
This spirit of being kind to others and being strict with oneself is cultivated through rigorous training.
Shimabukuro Zenpō, Kaichō IOSSKA and Intangible Cultural Asset of Okinawa.
NEWS
Happy Father's Day to the fathers of the Seibukan Karate Dojo and all the other good dads out there!
“It’s important to be kind. You can’t know all the times that you’ve hurt people in tiny, significant ways. It’s easy to be cruel without meaning to be. There’s nothing you can do about that. But you can choose to be kind.”
For twenty years, I worked among people who took satisfaction in being deliberately cruel. Zenpō Sensei and Lucy taught me that I can still choose to be kind. I'm sure I still thoughtlessly hurt people, but I'm trying.
Our dojo member Mondo graduated from the University of Alberta with First Class Honours. What an excellent and accomplished young man!
卒業おめでとうございます!
躾 shitsuke means forming good habits and character through guidance and teaching.
The kanji 躾 combines 身 ("body") and 美 ("beauty").
The idea is that proper training leads to graceful conduct.
6h
Pride is beautiful
A teacher posted that they made a student mop up mud he repeatedly tracked into the school. The student's mother screamed that her son had been humiliated by being treated like a janitor.
In our dojo, we run the length of the floor to clean it after every class, in part to teach that a janitor is as deserving of respect as a doctor or a lawyer or a CEO, and more deserving than a trillionaire.
The worth and dignity of a human being are not determined by a job, a big house, or awards like a FIFA Peace Prize. They are determined by a person's character, by their openness, decency, humility, kindness, ethics, and commitment. They are determined by how they treat others and the world they live in.
Character is revealed on the dojo floor; character is built by cleaning it like a janitor.
Katia's mother is visiting from Brazil and she came to watch her daughter train. After class, we got her in an action pose.
At the 11 second mark, there's a glimpse of our dojo seniors Craig and Clayton at the 2025 Karate Day demonstrations in downtown Naha.
Canadian boys as faces of Okinawan culture!
Practicing karate for Canadians is valuable because it comes from an Okinawan culture distant from Canada. It affords a different perspective on ourselves, our lives, and our society, on what we have always taken for granted.
Karate teaches us about what we are and what we can be.
This is Murphy. She's celebrating Pride Month. Her best friend is Emma, but she loves gays and straights, trans people and cis people. She only cares if they are kind and good and share their treats.
One of my favorite photos of Zenpō Sensei and me.
I followed the wisdom of Seneca: "Choose a master whose life, conversation, and soul-expressing face have satisfied you."
Onuma Hideharu Sensei said, “Feel pity for people who have never failed, because their commitment to learn has never been challenged.”
Have no pity for me. I have proven my commitment to learning.
Some martial artists, proud of themselves as fighters, sneer at dance as effete. I think Martha Graham understood and articulated the way of karate much better than they ever could.
Zenpō Sensei once said to me, "Some foreigners come every year, and every year I have to correct the same mistakes."
I'm trying very hard not to be that karateka. I'll always make mistakes, but I want my mistakes to be new ones. In our dojo, that's the path to becoming better at karate and better as a human being.
A version of the quote has been widely attributed to Augustine of Hippo, although that is likely apocryphal. Nonetheless, the meaning has never been truer or more needed than in 2026.
Stilles bescheidenes Leben gibt mehr Glück als erfolgreiches Streben, verbunden mit beständiger Unruhe.
A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness.
Albert Einstein, 1922
The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, in his influential book, After Virtue, defined a practice as a socially established cooperative activity through which participants pursue standards of excellence and realize internal goods—in karate terms, timing, judgment, technical mastery, self-discipline, transmission of tradition, and appreciation of excellent kata—as opposed to external praise and prestige.
Craig holding the calligraphy that Clayton commissioned in Okinawa to celebrate Craig's promotion to shodan. It reads 粉骨砕身, which means "an absolute commitment to training" (literally, "pulverizing the bones and crushing the body").
In our dojo, sempai (seniors) take care of their kōhai (juniors).
Kodawari こだわり is an uncompromising, relentless pursuit of perfection, a personal dedication prioritizing quality, precision, and passion over shortcuts, profit, or external recognition.
It's in karate. It's in calligraphy. Wim Wenders' brilliant Perfect Days showed it can even be embodied by a toilet cleaner if they're very serious about their work.
Kodawari often overlaps with craftsmanship, discipline, aesthetic precision, authenticity, and personal integrity. And the personal integrity of kodawari is bound up with its intrinsicness, with rejecting public recognition or acclaim, even for milestones.
I hope that teachers will not forget to convey the meaning of Okinawan traditions. I am thinking particularly of こだわり (kodawari) which is the commitment to preserve values, mentality, and to aspire to peace, as well as everything that represents the cultural heritage that we hold from our predecessors.
Shimabukuro Zenpō Sensei
Do not think that one has to be sad in order to be militant, even though the thing one is fighting is abominable.
Michel Foucault
We don't give away rank. It took the guy in the middle eight years of dedicated training to earn his black belt. The karateka beside him are a few months into their journey.
I am proud of all three.
Zenpō Sensei told us, "Seishinsei 精神性 is what you feel in your heart about karate."
The Seibukan Karate Dojo is proud to announce that Craig Hallex was promoted to shodan (first-degree black belt) today.
The easy way is not the karate way. It is not my way.
Shimabukuro Zenpō, 10 dan
Teaching karate to phys-ed students at Strathcona High School.
Such a privilege to work with this wonderful generation of young people, with the terrific support of the expert teachers of this school.
Canada has been shaped by its diversity of people, of perspectives and experiences.
Louise Arbour
Governor General-Designate of Canada.
Karate has no race, no borders.
Shimabukuro Zenpō
10 dan Seibukan; Intangible Cultural Asset, Okinawa.
I teach that this is far, far better than any karate rank, any trophy or medal or prize or award, any academic grant, or any other achievement, real or imaginary, large or small, that someone boasts about on social media.
We train in our dojo trying to become a little more like those two men. And like the guy who just won't give up. But not like all the people who just pass by.
This trip to Okinawa, Zenpō Sensei told us, "This is your second home."
That made us happier and prouder than any award or plaudit could.
At the Zōjō-ji temple in Tokyo, there is a garden of hundreds of stone child deities. They are numbered so that they can be sponsored or adopted by families grieving the death of a young child, a stillbirth, or a miscarriage. The red bibs and hats are meant to give each deity warmth and protection.
Great training with Ohashi Sensei and Arthur Sensei at the Kanagawa Seibukan dojo.
Today Lucy and I fly to Tokyo after a month of training with the finest Seibukan sensei in the world and our cherished friends here.
名残惜しいですが、沖縄を離れます。大変お世話になりました
(We’re sad to leave Okinawa. Thank you very much for everything.)
In what's become a happy tradition for our visits to Okinawa, we had lunch with Zenpō Sensei. This time, we were delighted that his wife Michiko-san joined us. We had a wonderful time, as always, listening to Sensei's stories and learning more about his life, his karate, and his island.
Michiko-san said she wants to take us to Northern Okinawa to see how the ocean looks so different there. We can't wait!
Lucy was promoted to nidan by Zenpō Sensei last night and we are justly proud of her.
Hamazato-san turned 75 , so I gave him a Canadian present. Old guys gotta stick together.
Lucy and an Okinawan sunset.
After our last class this trip at Ozato dojo. Kudaka-san, a professor of philosophy who knew that I'm studying Japanese, gave me an edition of Nitobe's Bushido in both English and Japanese.
This is the kindness and generosity we experience every time we visit Okinawa.
The Canadians with Zenpō Sensei and Zenshun Sensei at Ōzato dojo.
I am very proud that my students made the effort to come all the way to Okinawa to train with the best Seibukan teachers in the world.
Zakimi Castle, Yomitan, Okinawa.
Karate is a way of fighting.
But people often misunderstand the nature of the battle.
Some martial artists idolize Bruce Lee, but our dojo finds inspiration in Yo-Yo Ma, who said, "It was only through decades of musical exploration that I came to understand my responsibility as a human being."
None of us will ever be the Yo-Yo Ma of karate, but we seek the same understanding.
At the end of every class, I bow to my students and say to them, "Otsukaresama deshita." It's a phrase ubiquitous in the Japanese workplace and translates as "Thank you for your effort." But it also means "You must be tired," "I see you," and "We're all in this together."
To every good, brave person standing up for human rights in Minneapolis, Portland, Alberta, or anywhere else on the planet: otsukaresama deshita.
The dojo's senior student, Clayton, is a fish biologist, so my wife, who's a black belt, crocheted this for him. It's displayed at his office now. Yes, that fish is also wearing a black belt.
Lucy and Murphy studying the Seibukan book.
Craig and Clayton at the Karate Day demonstration in Naha on 26 October 2025. They radiate the rigor and discipline of Seibukan. I am very proud of how they represented the dojo in Okinawa.
Seibukan karateka on Karate Day 2025, Naha Okinawa.
Our dojo members are beside and behind Zenpō Sensei, who is in the center, wearing a cap.
The Seibukan banner that hangs in our home, signed by Zenpō Sensei, Zenshun Sensei, and Zenei Sensei.
Training in Okinawa
Lucy and Doug with Zenpō Sensei and Zenei Sensei, May 2025.
We go to Okinawa regularly because Zenpō Sensei is unequivocal that it is necessary:
Karate is from Okinawa, so you must go back to Okinawa and see what we do; every karate technique you must correct in Okinawa. Make sure you visit your sensei and feel all Okinawan people.
Please visit Okinawa, to feel traditional Okinawan karate, and eat Okinawan food and breathe Okinawan air. Many things you have to experience in Okinawa.
Our dojo funds instructors and senior students to travel to Okinawa to learn from the finest Seibukan sensei in the world. In October 2024 three went there, as the Canadian representatives at the 62nd anniversary celebration of Seibukan. Craig stayed for two weeks; Lucy and Doug were there for a month. It was demanding, illuminating, and marvellous.
Lucy and Doug are in Okinawa right now, where they will train for four weeks. It is their ninth trip since 2014, despite not going for four years because of the COVID pandemic. They will be joined by three other members of dojo who will be taking their first trip there. Three other dojo seniors went in October. It was Clayton's fourth trip, Craig's second, and Jared's first. They later joined by Genna later in the month.
Our members get to Okinawa often, because we think it's essential. Our purpose is to be a bridge between the karate and culture of Okinawa and good people in Canada seeking to move with more grace through life.
Araha Beach, where we stay in Okinawa.
In what's become a happy tradition, we had lunch with Sensei at a Chinese restaurant. We loved the conversation over good food, as Sensei reflected on karate, Okinawa, and his life.
When we were in Okinawa, Zenpō Sensei told us he would never change kata. Our dojo will always follow his example; we will, to the best of our abilities, be faithful to the tradition that has been passed down to us.
Our last training session this trip was at the Urasoe Dojo this very wet morning. Kyan-san gave us this beautiful sampler that she wove herself. Weaving is a traditional Okinawan art form.
We get treated so well here by such good people. Lucy and I are going to miss them so much as we head home. "Ichariba chodee": "Once we meet, we become family."
Our Edmonton Dojo
9000 km from Okinawa, we are doing our best to uphold the great tradition of Seibukan karate-dō.
The yūdansha of the Seibukan Karate Dojo.
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