Congratulations to Sensei Oliveri on his promotion to sandan, or 3rd degree black belt, in Shuri-ryu karate! The 8.5-hour test took place on Saturday, January 11th, under Sensei Joseph Johnston, godan and a Chief Instructor of Shuri-ryu.
The photo above shows Sensei Oliveri’s and Mr Robert Terry’s nameplates on the nafudakake at the Academy of Okinawan Karate in Peoria, IL. Sensei and Mr. Terry have trained together for many years now, and have tested for shodan, nidan, and now sandan together. They make a great team and have forged a lasting friendship through training, and we hope many of our students will have the same opportunity.
The photo at the top of the post is Sensei Johnston’s kamidana, set up at the AOK to celebrate the promotion. Each of the sake bottles represents one of the students Sensei Johnston has promoted to black belt. Sensei Oliveri’s bottle is the gray Tyku bottle on the far left. This is from his nidan promotion, as Sensei Trent Miller first promoted Sensei Oliveri to shodan and keeps that bottle in recognition of their time training together.
