Kendokai Osaka Dojo Children's Practice

I love to watch children practice karate. In this day and age of smartphones and computer games, it's so gratifying to watch the children discipline their body and mind through karate.

Kendokai dojo is the official (or most popular, I'm not sure) karate of the Chongryon, the ethnic Koreans living in Japan with ties to North Korea. Founder Nakamura Hideo was originally from Pyong Yang and he was in a leadership position within the Chongryon organization.

Below is a video from Osaka dojo, led by Sensei Tokchu Kim. Osaka has the largest Korean community in Japan, regardless of their SK or NK affiliation. The children are practicing one of the basic kata which looks similar to heian level kata of shotokan or other shorin-ryu based karate system. One difference I noticed was that their front stance looks a little narrow, which puts mobility and reach over stability, from my view.

Notice the Korean sign on the background. Translated: "We will shine our place of learning with our very own hands." The set-up looks a little similar to North Korean schools replete with mottoes and yes, propaganda.