Jamaican karate expert Tony Robinson leads a pack of blindfolded students though the streets of Manhattan in New York in a recent training routine. Beside him is instructor Sei Shihan Christopher Caille. - contributed

Jun Shihan Tony Robinson, chief instructor of Seido Karate Jamaica, was recently promoted to the rank of Rokudan, or 6th Dan, after completing advanced examinations at World Seido Karate Headquarters in New York earlier this week.

Robinson is Jamaica's highest ranked karate practitioner and was promoted by Grandmaster (9th Dan) Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura, chairman of World Seido Karate. Most rigourous

Robinson described the five-day course as "the most rigorous examination in my long career in martial arts." His course included being led through the streets of New York for one hour blindfolded in order to heighten his other senses.

He was also tested on almost every aspect of karate that he learned over his 36 years of training. But it was the final session that was the most taxing, as this took the form of an overnight mental and physical ordeal, that began at about 3:00 p.m. Saturday and ended 2:00 p.m. the following Sunday with a few short rest and snack breaks in between.

"That was the ultimate test and it pushed all the aspirants to their limit and beyond," said Robinson. "I'm totally wiped out and I'm still recovering," he added.

Twenty four karatekas from the USA, Australia, New Zealand, England, Poland, Germany and Italy were all tested for promotion to different levels ranging from 4th Dan (Sensei) to 5th Dan (Kyoshi). Robinson was the sole representative from Jamaica and was the only karateka from outside the USA who was invited for promotion to the rank of 6th Dan.