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Son of the founder of Uechi Ryu Karate Do |
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| Okinawan Uechi Ryu is a form of ancient Chinese temple fighting derived from the Tiger, Crane, and Dragon styles of Kung Fu. It was developed to what we know today by the grandmasters, Kanbun and Kanei Uechi, in Okinawa. It is a non-acrobatic, non-flashy, self-defense system of martial arts. It is also an art form and a fitness program for men, women, and children of all ages. | ||
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| A Brief History | ||
In 1897, a young man named Kanbun Uechi left his homeland of Okinawa for
Mainland China in order to flee the Japanese military and to study Chinese martial arts
and medicine. He was 19 years old. In the Fukien province of China, Uechi studied Kempo
with Shusshabu and Shushiwa, monks of the Shaolin temple. The system he learned, Pan gai
noon (half-hard/half-soft), was based on the fighting styles of the Tiger, Dragon, and
Crane.
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10 years of study, he opened his own school in the Nanching province. He
left for his homeland of Okinawa after 2 years, vowing never to practice
or teach martial arts again, after a student of his killed a neighbor in a
dispute over irrigation. In Okinawa, he married and lived peacefully until
a former student of his visiting from China, Mr. Gokenkien, the tea
merchant, defeated several local karateka in combat. This newcomer
declined numerous invitations to teach, saying that his teacher was much
better and lived nearby. When questioned, Kanbun Uechi denied all
knowledge of the martial arts, but was tricked into performing Seisan kata
to protect his honor at a demonstration given by the Motobu police.
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| Kanbun
Uechi then left for Japan to find employment. He settled in Wakayama City
in the Kansai region near Osaka. There, his young neighbor, Tomoyose Ryuyu,
persuaded him to once again teach Pan gai noon. He did so by claiming to
have been attacked and asking Uechi what he would have done. Eventually
Kanbun began teaching once again. The teacher's new students so respected
him that they renamed the system after him in 1948.
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Kanbun Uechi's son, Kanei Uechi, also contributed to the style. (The second son born to Kanbun and his wife was named Kansei.) To the original style (consisting of the kata Sanchin, Seisan, Sanseirui, arm-rubbing/arm pounding called kotikitae, and Chinese medicine), Kanei Uechi added five new kata (Kanshiwa, Kanshu, Seichin, Seirui, and Kanchin), the beginning exercises (called Hojo Undo), and various kumite forms, mainly yakusoku kumite (Kyu Kumite, Dan Kumite, and the bunkai for Kanshiwa and Seisan). Kanei died in February of 1991, leaving behind a strong growing system of Okinawan karate. Just prior to his death, the system began to splinter. His son, Kanmei, now heads the Soke or family organization, while many of the Senior instructors banded together to form the Okikukai Shohei Uechi Ryu organization.
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| Kanei Uechi performing a Front Toe Kick | ||
 
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