27/08/2026
In an interview at Katsuren Castle Okinawa on the 21st of April 2017, Shihan Robert Slywa gave the following advice:
For junior belts-
“Concentrate on yourself and doing the techniques. Just work on the techniques at your best ability and keep going until you get better.”
For black belts-
“Help your lower grades, try to get them there. There’s a lot of black belts. What happens is, they get jealous of the fact there’s others coming up and they’re worried that they then might overtake them and get better than they are. It should never be the thing. Teach people as much as you can and even if they surpass you that’s great because you’re the teacher, so if you can make them better than you, you’ve succeeded.”
Quotes taken from an interview videoed by then student and now Sensei, Grant Hannaford.
