The Okinawan Karate-Do Institute of Traditional Karate (OKD-ITK) is a ryu. Students who pass the probationary period are joining not only a Dojo but also a family. Once a student is admitted to the Ryu they are a member for life as long as they have not done anything illegal or dismissed for a serious protocol breach. We believe that the study of the martial arts is a life long pursuit. Earning a black belt (Yodansha) is not the end of a journey but only the beginning of one’s formal study. For this reason we have a limited number of openings in the dojo for new members making us a small school. We would rather work with a smaller corps of dedicated students who are willing to study long term than a larger corps of students who seek only to earn a black belt.
The okd-itk’s primary focus is on hard, disciplined training whether it is in a standard or traditional class format. In a traditional class format a group of students train together, however each student is working on something different depending on which techniques he or she needs to develop.
Even though the training can be quite rigorous at the okd-itk, the Dojo is open to both genders as well as those with no previous martial arts training. Neither the training nor the Dojo environment will overwhelm most aspiring students who are seeking better fitness or health. New students are integrated slowly to the 90 minute training sessions.
We do not participate in any MMA style activities nor participate in martial arts tournaments although there are many fine Martial Artists who do. We don’t believe that spending time training for outside venues is the best use of our training time. We believe the focus of our training, like that of our founder Miyagi Chojun Sensei, is to continue to build warriors. It is through continuous training of the martial arts we seek not only to develop our members’ techniques but their character and spirit as well. The warriors we seek to develop are ones of protection whose skills are used only in self-defense from other predators, as opposed to warriors of aggression in whose skills are used to dominate others and be predators. In this modern age of peacetime in our society, we display our warriorship by giving back to the community in the form of charitable acts and service.
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The page reflects the philosophy of the OKD-ITK and is provided for the insight into our organization for people interested in traditional martial arts training. Every Dojo has its own training philosophy and the aspiring student should use this to determine which Dojo they feel would be right for them