Page 14 - James Pankiewicz News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> james: wow. >> group: oh my god. happy? >> anthony: wow. so, okinawa's most famous export, perhaps, is karate. >> hokama: uh-huh. >> anthony: when most of us think of karate we think of striking exclusively. is that an accurate representation of what you're 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 i...

>> james: well, up until '72 there was an american base. >> anthony: there was. >> james: but then in '72, in the reversion, the base was taken away. >> anthony: now, nothing? >> james: only the japanese self-defense forces now. >> anthony: what do people do here? agriculture? >> 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: he's saying on kumejima they have rich lives. they have everything they need. they have produce from the land, fr...

>> james: it's bad, it's 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 okinawa's largest city, naha. >> james: that's the tasty one, right, we'll take that one. >> anthony: and what are these? >> james: so these are puffer fish. so, we got some -- they're gonna do some deep-fried fish for us. >> anthony: gurukun, the unofficial national fish of okinawa. and porcup...

Served raw and still twitching in the shell. >> james: and we're gonna get some sea grapes as well. >> anthony: oh good, good, that's, uh, super traditional. sea grapes, the classic regional side dish dressed in rice vinegar. what you buy downstairs from vendors. for a small fee, restaurants will cook it for you upstairs. >> james: wow. >> group: oh my god. happy? >> anthony: wow. so, okinawa's most famous export, perhaps, is karate. >> hokama: uh-huh. >> anthony: when most of us think of karate we think of striking exclusively. is that an accurate representation of what you're doing? >> james...

Have there been attempts to develop here? and, uh, have the locals been able to resist that impulse? >> james: he's saying on kumejima they have rich lives. they have everything they need. they have produce from the land, from the sea. they don't need much else. ♪ ♪ >> anthony: i've been invited to a beach barbecue kumejima-style. go big or go home. to eat some fresh caught tuna that comes straight from the market to be butchered into sashimi. also caught this morning, some sea snails for the grill. and mozuku, seaweed which can be cooked but today is enjoyed raw. and local prawns eaten ei...