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Brief history of Uechi Ryu
It is widely believed that the Buddist monk called Bodhidharma traveled from Central Asia to China around 500 A.D., and was hosted by monks of a Shaolin Temple. Since the Shaolin monks spent their days studying and praying, they were not particularly healthy or strong.
Bodhidharma taught them the movements and exercises of 12 animals so they could build their strength and stamina.
He also taught them the fighting styles of each animal so they could protect the temple during a time where political and criminal forces were common throughout China.
The Shaolin monks proved to be very good students! They perfected these teachings by repeating specific drills and exercises over and over again, until they became masters of their study.
This system of perfecting fighting skills by repeating drills and exercises is used by militaries, and known as a military, or martial art.
Soon, the Shaolin monks became famous throughout China for using these skills, or martial arts, as defenders of the common people.
Among the many systems of martial arts taught at the famous Shaolin Temples were the systems that included the forms of the Tiger, Dragon and Crane.
A Chinese martial arts master known as Zhou Zi He 周子和 (b. 1874?) had perfected a Tiger, Dragon and Crane system by emphasizing the hard and soft aspects of the art, and called it Pangai Noon 半硬軟 "half hard, half soft".
In 1897, an Okinawan named Kanbun Uechi 上地完文(b. 1877) traveled to Fuchien, China and learned this Pangai Noon with Master Zhou, who he called Shu Shi Wa. Within 10 years, Kanbun Uechi was studying AND teaching for Master Zhou.
Soon after, he returned to Okinawa with this secret martial art. During these times, martial arts were taught only in private and only to family and special others.
But that would soon change.
One of the few students of Kanbun Uechi was his first born son, Kanei Uechi 上地完英 (b. 1911). He learned and mastered the art of Pangai Noon, and began to teach more openly. Others like Gichin Funakoshi (b. 1868) and Chojun Miyagi (b. 1888) had already begun to teach openly. In 1947, Master Kanbun Uechi died.
In honor of his father, Kanei Uechi named the system "Uechi Ryu Karate", the style of Uechi, and spread the teaching to many others.
Soon the system of Uechi Ryu karate became famous as a dynamic system and was spread throughout the world by US servicemen, foreign travelers while staying on Okinawa and Okinawans moving abroad. (with my instructor, Asakio Kiyuna 喜友名朝清)
Over time, things and people change. Kanei Uechi added 5 kata and sharpened the kumite skills, but some Pangai Noon people returned to the old art style. When Master Kanei Uechi died in 1991, disagreements led the system to split once again, with the majority group forming the Okinawa Karate-Do Kyokai 沖縄空手道協会.
By 1995, the Okinawa Karate-Do Kyokai, known as the Okikukai 沖空会, officially launched, and in 2016, Chairman Tsutomu Nakahodo 仲程力会長 helped return the original school name, the style of Uechi, to the association becoming the Okinawa Karate-Do Kyokai (Uechi Ryu) 沖縄空手道協会(上地流).
The uniform patches may slightly differ, but the system's core is the same, and we practice the style of Uechi with the same inspiration and dedication as one.
Uechi Ryu Karate is one of the 3 main karate schools in Okinawa and popular world-wide, practiced in more than 20 countries throughout the world.
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