About Uechi Ryū

kitae鍛えtraining
tempering
tai kitae体 鍛えbody training
kote kitae小手 鍛えforearm training
“arm pounding”

Perhaps due to its early years in Wakayama as a practical and tested means of self-defense, Uechi Ryū was known as a realistic fighting system, a killing style, with very fast strikes and intense eyes.

Sōke Kaichō Kinjō believes that Uechi Ryū has sacrificed speed in the pursuit of physical toughness.

Uechi Ryū Under Uechi Kanei

Uechi Kanbun brought only three Pangainoon kata back from China. After Uechi Kanbun’s death, his son, Uechi Kanei, became head of what was by then called Uechi Ryū. In the 1950s, Uechi Kanei added new methods and kata to help students develop the skills of Uechi-Ryū:

hojoundō補助運動supporting exercises
junbiundō準備運動warm ups
kumite組手
組み手
sparring
“mix up hands”
yakusoku kumite約束組手“promise fighting”
jū kumite自由組手free-style sparring
  1. Five new kata: Kanshiwa, Dainiseisan, Seichin, Seiryu and Kanchin
  2. A set of supporting exercises called hojoundō that included basic movements and key elements of the kata
  3. Warm-up and stretching exercises called junbiundō
  4. Body conditioning
  5. Promise fighting for kyū and dan level partner training

Uechi Ryū was the first karate style to include sparring. There were few rules and many injuries. The opportunity to spar was one of the features that drew young Kinjō Takashi to Uechi Ryū – that and the chance to earn a black belt.

The Growth of Uechi Ryū

Karate was largely unknown outside of Okinawa and Japan until after the end of World War II. Because the U.S. maintained a large military base on the island of Okinawa, American servicemen were exposed to the Okinawan fighting art known as karate. Not all karate masters would accept American servicemen. Uechi Ryū grew in popularity because it admitted American servicemen and because it included free-style sparring. Before Uechi Ryū there was no free-style sparring. 

George E. Mattson was responsible for bringing Uechi Ryū to the U.S. Mattson studied Uechi Ryū under Tomoyose Ryuko as an American serviceman stationed in Okinawa. He became the first American to earn a Uechi Ryū black belt. In 1958, Uechi Kanei himself requested that Mattson do his best to promote Uechi Ryū in the U.S. Mattson opened the first Uechi Ryū dojo in the U.S. in Boston. He was also the first to write books in English about Uechi Ryū. Uechi Ryū grew in popularity in the U.S., especially on the East Coast where Mattson lived.

Is Uechi Ryū a member of the Naha-te family of karate styles?

Are there similarities between Uechi Ryū and Gōjū Ryū?

What is the origin of the name, Pangainoon?

What is the origin of the concept of “hard soft?”

Uechi Ryū Today

Speed

In the early days, Uechi Ryū was known for speed. With the current emphasis on keeping your body tight at all times, speed has been sacrificed. Tight muscles can help protect the vital organs of your body from a vicious blow. However, to move with speed your muscles must be loose. Tighten to receive a blow or tighten on contact to deliver maximum power.

The following saying is from a calligraphy is found in Uechiryu Karate Dō, a book written by George E. Mattson in 1974:

Gan Sei Shū Shō
眼精手捷
Glare in Your Eyes With Fast Hands
ganeye
insight; power of observation
seienergy; strength
shuhand
shōvictory or fast
ketsugouge; hollow out; bore; pry

Note: The saying is traditionally rendered in English as “glare in your eyes with fast hands.” However, in Mattson’s book the last kanji in the above calligraphy is 抉, which has nothing to do with speed. Sōke Kaichō Kinjō believes that this kanji should be 捷, meaning victory or fast.

Kata Performance

Modern Uechi Ryū kata competitions reward only the most basic level of kata performance. There is no incentive to advance beyond this basic level, and therefore Sōke Kaichō Kinjō believes that Uechi Ryū has stagnated at the shokyū level.

Analysis

Analysis in the form of bunkai has never been a strong point of Uechi Ryū. Beginners learned a basic bunkai for Kanshiwa. Bunkai was not revisited until Seisan. Sōke Kaichō Kinjō believes that every move of a kata has a bunkai. Moreover, the bunkai are not static but can be interpreted in many ways.