 He received promotion to the rank of 1st "dan" black belt in Gōjū-ryū at the age of 16, 2nd "dan" at 18, and 3rd "dan" at 20, all under Izumigawa.He was promoted to 4th "dan" at the age of 22, under Higa.Akamine also learned other arts, including Kanbun Uechi's Uechi-ryu style, Seitoku Higa's Bugeikan style, Seiken Shukumine's Gensei-ryu style, and kobudo (principally under Shinko Matayoshi).