Okinawa Soba and a visit to the Okinawa Karate Kaikan

Last night’s dinner in our room, courtesy of the nearby grocery store: Wagyu beef with rice, tamago and burdock root salad. We also shared a salad. Awamori finished it off. An excellent meal.

We like Tissage, Nest Hotel Naha. Our room is very nice with a sitting area with comfortable chairs, an incredible price, good breakfast and parking for our trikes. Looking down to the lobby from the 2nd floor where we eat breakfast.

Barry has been craving really good Okinawan Soba and we also want to go for a ride and visit Okinawa Karate Kaikan. Barry found what sounds like a very popular and off the beaten track Soba restaurant. We’ll start there.
The soba restaurant is called Takara and it exceeded our expectations. We had a meandering ride up, down and around for about 6 Km before we found it. It is set in a lovely garden with seating outside to wait for your name to be called…it is super popular and a wait list is the norm. Trust me, it is worth it.

This flowering bush is In the Dicot family meaning a flowering plant with 2 embryonic leaves or cotyledons in the seed. Sorry, don’t know the name of this plant.

It is a beautiful sunny day for sitting in such a lovely garden awaiting our turn. Several families and couples are waiting as well. We like the vibe here. You can choose traditional Japanese dining, sitting on the floor or Western style at a round bar in another room. We chose the Western option thinking it might be faster, plus today we don’t feel like sitting on the floor.

We are enjoying sitting at the bar. In the centre is a huge planter with a tropical plant which adds to the charm. The condiments are, from the left…chopped shallots, pickled ginger, seasoned pepper, Awamori with garlic.

A cosy, funky spot. Ramen and Soba restaurants share one characteristic…..patrons, while eating, are bent over with their face close to the bowl, enjoying their meal. It seems like a solitary experience yet it is a shared one.

Barry’s choice was the “special soba…..with three types of meat, including Pork belly and cartilage.

Adding some Awamori with garlic to his soba.

Diners in the Japanese seating section of the restaurant.

Highly recommended, if you are in the neighbourhood.

The restaurant is set in a neighbourhood and located in a former bungalow home. It has been adapted lovingly to be a soba house and it oozes local charm.

Papaya trees in the garden of Takara Soba restaurant

The restaurant is on a small and curving road in a quiet neighbourhood. There is so much foliage and flowers at the road that you could miss it if you didn’t have the address or a map.

We have reached the Karate Kaikan and conveniently located across the road is the Karate Hotel for people who come for seminars or training.

Karate is a unique part of Okinawan culture. The martial art was born in Okinawa and is now practiced by over 130 million people around the world. On Okinawa Island alone, there are more than 400 Dojos. The dream of many Karate enthusiasts is to visit the birthplace of the sport… with around 7,000 coming visit to Okinawa annually. October 25 is recognized as Karate Day. Around this time, it is bustling with Karate students from around the world.

We enjoy visiting the Karate Centre. It is set in a beautiful location with great views. The facility is incredible with a special dojo and the museum is excellent with interactive displays and a short film about the history of Karate in Okinawa.

Part of our interest in Karate stems from friends at home, Leslie and Chris, who have a passion for karate, teach classes and both hold black belts. We have watched the impact they have had on members of the community from children to adults who have come to their classes.

We recommend the Museum….cost is only 200¥ or for seniors (like us) it is 100¥. The film is a good place to start as it explains the roots of karate and how it developed in Okinawa. Great care has been taken to explain the core values of Karate and the dedication it takes to learn and grow in the sport.

Having visited Karate Kaikan , we have learned so much and understand the commitment and history better. We appreciate the defining statement of Karate that is repeated throughout: “There is no first attack in Karate. Karate begins and ends with courtesy.”

Interactive stations like this give you an opportunity to try a move and understand the complexities.

In the past, fitness training for the sport required strapping heavy steel weights on their feet or wearing sandals made of steel and walking for a distance.

Mary Ellen tried this…wow, it is so heavy. Each sandals weight 2.5 kg. Pretty hard on the knees…didn’t last long.

Tetsu Geta have been a staple of Okinawan and Chinese martial arts training for centuries. These iron sandals allow for detailed training of the muscles in the legs, feet, and toes, in ways not possible with standard ankle weights, machines, or with bag and pad training. Our sandals are weighted and sized to allow users to increase the resistance as your kicks get stronger. I tried stepping with these on the interactive display and I didn’t get far. Seriously heavy.

Barry tried the heavier sandals, 5 kg and he did better than me, but he too had to stop sooner than he hoped..

Barry is finding success in extinguishing the candle. This exercise guides you on technique and accuracy in performing the punch, a basic Karate move. If successful, you extinguish the candle.

The next few photos show another martial art called Kobudo Okinawa. It means Old Martial Way of Okinawa which refers to the weapon systems of Okinawan martial arts. These include the Bo, a 6’ long staff, shields and spears, weighted chains, etc.