James Pankiewicz News Today

fighting tradition. a history of ferocious resistance. but its nothing like what you might think. not at all. ♪ i took a walk through this beautiful world ♪ ♪ felt the cool rain on my shoulder ♪ ♪ found something good in this beautiful world ♪ ♪ i felt the rain getting colder ♪ ♪ sha la la la la sha la la la la la ♪ ♪ sha la la la la sha la la la la la la ♪ ♪ ♪ >> anthony: this is okinawa, just south of mainland japan. for all the relative rigidity of the ma...

>> anthony: what does it mean to be strong? it implies hardness, inflexibility. okinawa is a place with a fighting tradition. a history of ferocious resistance. but its nothing like what you might think. not at all. ♪ i took a walk through this beautiful world ♪ ♪ felt the cool rain on my shoulder ♪ ♪ found something good in this beautiful world ♪ ♪ i felt the rain getting colder ♪ ♪ sha la la la la sha la la la la la ♪ ♪ sha la la la la sha la la la la la la ♪ ...

>> anthony: yeah, sure. ♪ ♪ >> man: yes. ♪ ♪ >> james: go on, anthony. nicely done. >> anthony: in the end, its a less than smoothly executed judo move, kosoto gake i believe, that brings my opponent to ground.

Now it will age. its been in here with the snake maybe, like, three years. so all of the essence of the snake has gone out into the alcohol. >> anthony: there seems to be a conflict of interest here. you train, uh, karate very seriously. i mean, should you people be drinking? this is why im asking. where is the point of diminishing returns? >> james: there are not many teachers who dont drink. awamori is intrinsic to the okinawan culture. >> anthony: right. >> james: most enjoy awamori as part o...

More protective deposits around the bones. basically weaponizing even your weakest and smallest extremities. and it hurts even to watch. brutal. >> james: its bad, its bad. >> anthony: james pankiewicz, brit and black belt in shorin-ryu karate, moved to okinawa in 2009 to study budo, or "the way of martial arts." he acts as translator for most of the karate sensei on the island. earlier i met james and hokama sensei in makishi public market in okinawas largest city, naha. >> james: thats the tas...

Awful. human engineering. with a terrifying logic one attacks the weak point. all i know how to do in this situation, by the way, is pull guard and look for something to choke or lock. nope, apparently they dont know what tapping out means here because i was tapping like western god damn union. i thought he was going to push that 71-year-old finger right into my brainpan. >> james: there was a saying in the old days, that if there was a fight happening somewhere in town people would go and have ...

>> anthony: when most of us think of karate we think of striking exclusively. is that an accurate representation of what youre doing? >> james: the basis of okinawan karate is that it was used primarily as a defensive art. um, in other words, being able to, you know, control and subdue the opponent. usually, if you could, in a humane way, but then if you had to -- >> anthony: right. >> james: finish them then you had the ability to finish them. the striking is important but a lot of the techniqu...

Battered and deep-fried. >> james: were gonna do sashimi. >> anthony: okinawans eat just about any kind of fish sashimi style. for us, snapper and parrotfish. >> james: and lobster. >> anthony: because one must. served raw and still twitching in the shell. >> james: and were gonna get some sea grapes as well. >> anthony: oh good, good, thats, uh, super traditional. sea grapes, the classic regional side dish dressed in rice vinegar. what you buy downstairs from vendors. for a small fee, restauran...

Off with the head. theres more. local beef grilled and then tossed with moyashi, seasoned bean sprouts. we will need our energy it appears. tegumi is as old school a martial art as it gets. no ring, no octagon, the rules are simple. known as okinawan sumo, it looks easy. its not. your hands are wrapped in your opponents belt. object is to get him onto his back, both shoulders before he does it to you. >> anthony: nice. you land on your back for even a second, you lose. >> james: there, he got it...

>> james: growing sugar cane. >> anthony: i saw. >> james: tourism. fishing. >> anthony: fishing. have there been attempts to develop here? and, uh, have the locals been able to resist that impulse? >> james: hes saying on kumejima they have rich lives. they have everything they need. they have produce from the land, from the sea. they dont need much else. ♪ ♪ >> anthony: ive been invited to a beach barbecue kumejima-style. go big or go home. to eat some fresh caught tuna that comes straight...