Another important element, according to Soken, is breath control, which he contends should be practiced every day, but not to the point of exhaustion. A strong point of the White Swan is the effectiveness of the method in using a more powerful opponent's strength against himself. Soken has admitted teaching some of the principles of the White Swan to contemporary karate colleagues, but only one man, Fusi Kise, has been told them in full. Soken's only profession is the teaching of his life's workkarate and kobojitsu. At an age when most men would ordinarily bemoan their aged, aching joints, Hohan Soken practices two hours each day and devotes two more hours to teaching.
Novices wear a white belt until they earn promotion to first dan black belt.
The old master also teaches other instructors. Occasionally there are communication problems since the students speak many different languages, but Soken using his native Japanese, a limited amount of English, and a perfect command of Spanish, manages to make his meaning clear. Soken has traveled extensively throughout the Far East and South America. He left the Ryukyus in the 1920's and lived in Argentina until the end of World War II, and it was there that he became fluent in Spanish. Although his duties at his dojo consume much of his time.