 He began training in the martial arts as a child under his paternal grandfather (who had been "samurai"), and later, more formally under Chōmo Hanashiro, Yabu Kentsū, and Chōtoku Kyan.Akamine practised Shuri-te until he met Chōjun Miyagi and devoted himself to the latter's Gōjū-ryū style.Within the Gōjū-ryū fraternity, Akamine was most influenced by Sekō Higa (one of Miyagi’s senior students) and Kanki Izumigawa.