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Uechi-Ryu Karate-Do is named after the founder, Kanbun Uechi. Mr. Uechi was born on May 5, 1877 in Izumi, Motobu-cho, a small village in northern Okinawa. At the age of 19, Mr. Uechi left Okinawa in March of 1897 to avoid conscription into the Japanese military and began his study of the martial arts at the central temple of the Fukien Province in southern China. He studied under Maser Zhou Tzu Ho (pronounced Jo su ho) who is known in Okinawa by his Japanese name Shushiwa. Mr. Uechi studied a system of martial arts based on the movements of the tiger, dragon, and crane with Shushiwa for approximately 10 years. After which time he opened his own school in the village of Nanching(Nansei) in the Fukien Province of China. Master Uechi referred to the art which he taught as Pangainoon, which means half hard/half soft. He taught there until 1909 when he returned to Okinawa Back in Okinawa, Master Uechi married and began farming. He did not formally teach for a number of reasons. In 1924 Master Uechi moved to Wakayama, Japan where he resumed teaching in 1926. His first student in Wakayama was Ryuyu Tomoyose, who initially tried to trick Master Uechi into teaching him by making up stories of fights he had gotten into and asking him how to defend himself in these situations. Master Uechi continued teaching in Wakayama until 1946 when he returned to Okinawa (Ie Jima island near Okinawa). He did not teach formally after his return to Okinawa, but continued to train a few students. Two years later at the age of 71 Master Uechi died on Ie Jima. At the time of Kanbun Uechi's death, Kanei was not actively teaching. However, Ryuko Tomoyose, a son of Ryuyu Tomoyose - Kanbun's first student in Wakayama, convinced him to start teaching. Ryuko Tomoyose and other students build a dojo in Futenma, Okinawa for Master Kanei Uechi. He continued teaching at that same location until his retirement in 1988. After a bout with a lingering illness, Master Kanei died at the age of 80 in March of 1991. Another early student of Kanbun Uechi was Seiryo Shinjo. Seiryo Shinjo was born on Ie Jima on June 10, 1908. In 1923, he traveled to Wakayama to seek employment where he coincidentally got a job at the same factory as Kanbun Uechi. He trained with Uechi Sensei until a respiratory ailment prevented it. Seiryo Shinjo had a son on July 10, 1929 who he named Seiyu. � 2007 KenyukaiCorp STL LTD. All rights reserved. |
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