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Thread: Okinawan Birthplace of Karate DVD

  1. #1
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    Thumbs up Okinawan Birthplace of Karate DVD

    This is a documentary produced by Imagine Arts Productions in France, run by Lionel Froidure, a 4th dan in shotokan. It was filmed during the 2009 World Okinawan Tournament season. Basically, it is a very brief travelogue and history of Okinawan martial arts in general. Froidure, who is also the presenter, travels to Okinawa with the assistance of Zenei Oshiro and trains with three different Okinawan teachers: Choyu Kiyuna of goju ryu, Minoru Higa of shorin ryu, and Kiyohide Shinjo of uechi ryu. There is also assorted footage of the tournament as well. Some other footage includes a brief look at the Fukushu-en gardens, Shikina-en Park, and Shuri castle. DVD extras include a brief look at some assorted footage of the masters' seminars held the day after the tournament, a montage of still pictures of Okinawa, Kyoto, and Tokyo, assorted DVD trailers of various DVDs also produced by Imagine Arts, and the semifinals and finals of the men's and women's empty hand competition. The main program only lasts 52 minutes, unfortunately, and the seminar and competition footage is approximately another 40 minutes.

    I found the program very enjoyable as it showed footage of training in Okinawa as it is done nowadays. Some of the information was somewhat glossed over, but overall it was quite well done. This DVD is in PAL format and region 2, so you should be able to watch it on your computer if you don't have a region 2 DVD player. It also has French and English audio but no subtitles. I say should be able to watch it because I had some initial difficulties watching the DVD, which wouldn't play on either VideoLAN, Real Player, Quicktime, or Windows Media player. I finally had to download WinXDVD player in order to watch it. It costs 25 euros, and with shipping to the US it wound up costing me a little over $50. I consider it a worthwhile addition as a documentary, especially for someone who has never been to Okinawa. My only gripes were that I wish it could have been longer and showed more kobudo footage, including the kobudo finals. For those who are interested, the website is www.imaginarts.com.
    Michael Martin

  2. #2
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    Red face Website error

    Sorry, the website is www.imaginarts.tv.
    Michael Martin

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