History

A HISTORY OF UECHI-RYU

Mr. Kanbun Uechi was born on May 5, 1877 in Izumi, Motobu-cho, a small village in northern Okinawa. Mr. Uechi left Okinawa in March of 1897, at the age of nineteen to study Pangai-noon at the central temple in the Fukien province of China. During his study under Master Chou Tzo-ho (Shu She Wa), Mr. Uechi concentrated on the study of Sanchin while also studying all other aspects of the art as well. These in included the preparation of herbal medicines, philosophy, and the use of various weapons. Around 1908, after completing the traditional apprenticeship period of some ten years, Mr. Uechi opened his own school in Nan-p'ing, Fukien province. He was quite successful until one his students killed a man in a land dispute. Public opinion turned against Uechi Kanbun and he returned to Okinawa in February of 1910. He had taught 2 to 3 years in Nan-p'ing. Disillusioned by the incident in China and vowing never to teach or speak of karate again, Mr. Uechi married and started farming in Motobu-cho.

However, Mr. Uechi was unable to keep his skill a secret. One of his students from China moved to Okinawa and before long, knowledge of Uechi Kanbun's ability was quite widespread. Despite the fact that many asked Mr. Uechi to teach, he refused to do so. In January 1924 Uechi Kanbun and his family moved to Wakayama in southern Japan. Again he avoided publicizing his skill in Pangai-noon. However, it was not long before a personal friend named Tomoyose Ryuryu learned of Mr. Uechi's abilities. After a great deal of persuasion, Mr. Uechi agreed to teach Mr. Tomoyose on a private basis. Approximately two years later, around 1927 Master Uechi opened his teaching to the public on a limited basis. Master Uechi Kanbun seems to have taught a quite pure form of Pangai-noon. However, he apparently speeded up the training process somewhat. The first three years were still devoted to Sanchin and arm conditioning exercises. At this point, Uechi Kanbun taught Seisan and allowed his students to spar. Finally the student was taught Sanseiru.

According to reliable sources, Master Uechi felt enough material was contained in the first three kata, Sanchin, Seisan, Sanseiru, to last a student a lifetime and therefore did not teach Suparempei to any of his students. This kata is not among those taught in the Uechi-Ryu system today. Uechi Kanbun continued teaching in Wakayama until 1947. In April of that year, he left Japan, leaving Tomoyose Ryuryu in charge of the dojo there. Mr. Tomoyose continued teaching there until early in 1971, when he died of a stroke. The Wakayama dojo is now run by one of his sons, Tomoyose Takakazu. Upon returning to Okinawa, Uechi Kanbun taught a small group of students on Ie-Jima, a small island off the northwest coast of Okinawa proper. There he died on November 25, 1948. Master Uechi Kanbun (1877-1948) was the first Okinawan instructor of this particular art. He studied in China for a total of 13 years before returning to Okinawa. The Chinese art that he taught was known as Pangai-noon. Okinawan students simply refer to their techniques as Uechi- Ryu or Master Uechi's method as we know it today. Following the death of Uechi Kanbun, his son Uechi Kanei, who was born June 26, 1911, became the master instructor of the style in 1949.

THE ROLE OF UECHI KANEI

The second master of the Uechi-Ryu was Uechi Kanei, Kanbun's eldest son. Uechi Kanei began studying under his father in 1928 at the age of seventeen. After about ten years of study, Kanei taught for several years in the Osaka area. Osaka is a large city in southern Japan, not far from Wakayama. Then in April 1942, at the age of thirty, Uechi Kanei went back top Okinawa, where he married and started farming at Nago. When his father died in 1948, Kanei was not teaching. However Tomoyose Ryukyo, a son of Tomoyose Ryuryu, soon persuaded him to do so. Mr. Tomoyose and a group of students built a dojo in Futenma. Uechi Kanei started teaching there in April of 1949. Uechi Kanei added material taught in this art. He devised a set of preliminary and supplementary exercises to warm up the student and to teach him basic karate skills. He also created five bridging katas, which server as stepping stones between the three main kata taken from Pangai-noon. He also devised several pre-arranged sparring drills designed to teach the skills needed for free style sparring. Uechi Kanei kept teaching in Futenma until he died on February 2, 1991.