| Uechi-ryu
is one of the most popular styles of
Okinawan Karate-do practiced today. It
enjoys not only a large following in Okinawa
and Japan, but throughout the world,
especially in the United States.
Interestingly, there is very little written
information in English outlining the
history, training methods and philosophy of
Uechi-ryu Karate for English speaking
practitioners of the style.
Two earlier books outlining Uechi-ryu,
"The Way of Karate" (1963) and
"Uechi-ryu Karate-do" (1974), both
written by George Mattson, introduced the
Uechi style, history and training methods
for the first time to the English speaking
public. Indeed, during the 1960's and 70's
these pioneering works were some of the few
English language sources of information
regarding Karate for the general public.
Although a welcome addition to students of
Uechi-ryu at the time, these books had some
serious shortcomings which eventually came
to light. Among these were some historical
inaccuracies with respect to the history of
the style and mistakes in the Kata and
terminology presented in the books.
This was remedied somewhat by Alan
Dollar's (1996) English language text for
Uechi-ryu students entitled, "Secrets
of Uechi-ryu Karate and the Mysteries of
Okinawa." But even with this welcome
and much needed addition, information on
Uechi-ryu was still pretty scarce. With this
in mind, I'd like to try to give a somewhat
different account to what is usually found
in English language books on Uechi-ryu
history and its founder Uechi Kanbun.
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|
Kanbun
Uechi
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Uechi-ryu karate is one of the most
recent imports to the Ryukyus in terms of
fighting arts and was founded by Uechi
Kanbun (1877-1948). Kanbun grew-up on the
Motobu peninsula of Okinawa under the
watchful eye of his father. Although his
family was 'shizoku' (noble family), they
worked as farmers. During Uechi Kanbun's
teenage years, it was a fashion of that era
to perform "karate and bo dances"
accompanied to the music of the shamisen
(Kinjo, 1999). More than likely Uechi Kanbun
was familiar with these dances and they may
have served as a means to inspire his
martial studies (Kinjo, 1999).
Kanbun gained some formal training in
karate and bo techniques from a man named
Touichi 'Tanmei' (lit. 'old man'; a term of
respect). But his resolve to study the
fighting arts in China was inspired by
stories of Chinese masters told to him by a
martial artist named Toyama. So, in March
1897, at the age of nineteen, Uechi Kanbun
left Okinawa for Southern China.
Kanbun arrived in Fuzhou City, Fujian
province, Southern China and like many
Okinawans before him (Higashionna, Kinjo,
Nakaima, etc.) Kanbun reportedly settled in
at the Ryukyukan (Kinjo, 1999), a Okinawan
enclave of buildings including a boarding
house, homes and businesses established for
those who visited and lived in the area
including migrant workers who came to Fujian
seeking employment. Uechi Kanbun started
working at a variety of different jobs and
began practicing at the Kojo dojo, run by
the Kojo family located next to the
Ryukyukan (Kinjo, 1999).
Unfortunately, it has never been
ascertained exactly what form of boxing was
taught at the Kojo dojo during that era.
Kanbun trained as hard as he could until one
eventful day when the head instructor of the
Kojo dojo reportedly called him "Uechi
no wada buta gwa" ('little fool').
Slighted by the insult, Kanbun decided to
leave the Kojo dojo and the Ryukyukan to
find his studies elsewhere.
Uechi's martial studies can be documented
with some degree of accuracy up to the time
he left the Kojo dojo. After he left,
however, it becomes somewhat difficult to
determine which direction his martial
studies took. Oral tradition states that
Uechi eventually became the student of Zhou
Zhi He to further his studies of Chinese
boxing, but it is not known how it came
about. Reportedly, after Kanbun left the
Kojo dojo he entered the Fujian / Fuzhou
central Buddhist temple. And it was there
that Uechi was introduced to Zhou who was
reportedly the 36th generation head of the
temple (Kinjo, 1999). However, according to
research conducted by the Uechi-ryu
Karate-do Kyoukai several years ago, there
was no such temple (Kinjo, 1999). Where then
did Uechi meet Zhou? Unfortunately, no
definitive conclusions can be made and this
is still the source of much speculation.
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|
Kanbun Uechi’s
Chinese teacher Shu Shi Wa also
known as Zhou Zhi He.
|
Uechi's teacher, Zhou Zhi He (1874-1926)
(more commonly referred to in Japanese as
Shu Shi Wa), was a bit of an enigmatic
figure and there is little factual evidence
about him. It is known that Zhou originated
from Minhou, Fujian and was a civil boxing
teacher (McCarthy, 1999). He reportedly
studied martial arts under Li Zhao Bei and
Ke Xi Di and was proficient in a variety of
quan'fa. Still other sources state that Zhou
learned from Chou Pei and Ko Hsi Ti (Cook,
1999).
Zhou reportedly practiced Crane and Tiger
boxing, in addition to hard and soft qi gong
(also spelled chi kung -- the study and
practice of internal energy) and was noted
for his iron palm technique. Besides Uechi
Kanbun, his students included Jin Shi Tian,
Wang Di Di and Zhou Zheng Qun (McCarthy,
1999). It has also been speculated that Wu
Hien Kui (Jap. Gokenki) was also a student
of Zhou. In contrast to this Zhou has also
been described as a Taoist priest and a
master of Chinese boxing, who taught among
other styles his family system of quan'fa
(Breyette, 1999).
Be that as it may, Kanbun reportedly
studied every day for ten years, but it is
unclear exactly what style he was taught. We
do know that Uechi brought back the
xing/kata: Sanchin, Seisan and Sanseiryu as
well as 'kotekitae' (commonly referred to as
arm pounding or conditioning). It should be
noted that besides its obvious benefit as a
conditioning drill, 'kotekitae' is a
sophisticated push-hands and trapping flow
drill. Also of note is that Kanbun
reportedly did not learn the final xing/kata
'Suparempei.'
In addition to his training in quan'fa,
Uechi's training with Zhou also included the
use and preparation of herbal medicines
(Breyette, 1999; Kinjo, 1999). In fact, one
medicine still in use in some Uechi-ryu
karate dojos is known as "Uechi
Guza" in Okinawa hogen (dialect) or
"Uechi Kusuri" in standard
Japanese (English: Uechi medicine) and is
used for healing bruises and cuts associated
with training. After eight years of
continuous training under Zhou, Uechi Kanbun
reportedly received his teaching license in
"pangainoon" quan'fa in 1904 at
the age of 27 (Kinjo, 1999). He was then
granted permission to teach, and opened his
first school in Nansoue, about 250 miles
Northwest of Fuzhou where he taught for
nearly three years (Breyette,1999).
During his time in Nansoue, Uechi
Kanbun's life was for the most part
uneventful. He taught quan'fa and sold
herbal medicine to the local people of that
area for several years until an unfortunate
incident occurred which changed the course
of his life. One of Kanbun's students
reportedly had a dispute with another man
over a farming issue. Sadly, Kanbun's
student struck a blow to the other man,
killing him (Breyette, 1999; Kinjo, 1999).
However, there is speculation that Uechi
Kanbun himself may have been involved in the
dispute directly and may have delivered the
fatal blow (Dollar, 1996). Be that as it
may, whoever struck the final blow also
struck the final blow for Uechi Kanbun's
life in China. Feeling somehow responsible
for the man's death, Kanbun closed his
school and left China for Okinawa, vowing
never to teach quan'fa again. The year was
1910 (Breyette, 1999).
Like his counterpart Higashionna Kanryo
several decades earlier, after his return to
Okinawa Uechi Kanbun never talked about, or
taught quan'fa (Chinese martial arts). In
fact, many potential students came to know
of Uechi Kanbun and sought him out, but
Kanbun summarily dismissed them. It was only
after he moved to Wakayama prefecture in
1924, at the age of 47 in search of better
work to support his family that Kanbun was
finally convinced to start teaching quan'fa
again (Okinawa Prefectural Board of
Education, 1997).
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|
Kanei Uechi
(1910-1991), the son of the founder
of Uechi Ryu karate who inherited
the system.
|
Kanbun taught full time, and also made
and sold the medicinal compounds as he had
done when he lived in China (Breyette,
1999). Three years later, in 1927, Kanbun's
eldest son, Uechi Kanei (1911-1991) moved to
Wakayama and began learning his father's
system of quan'fa (Okinawa Prefectural Board
of Education, 1997).
Around the time that Kanbun was teaching
his brand of quan'fa in Wakayama prefecture,
the popularization and modernization of
Okinawan karate had begun. 'Toudi' (China
hand) had now become (renamed) karate (empty
hand). During this boom-era of
popularization a multitude of styles were
named and renamed. In contrast, Uechi Kanbun
seemed reluctant to formally name his
system. Indeed, Uechi Kanbun never stated
the name of the system of quan'fa he studied
in China and simply referred to his art as
Pangainoon-ryu karate-jutsu (Jap. Half hard
/ soft empty-hand technique); a name which
his students innocently mistook as a
reference to his particular style of karate.
During his time in Wakayama prefecture,
many Okinawan karate teachers visited
Kanbun. Among them were Shito-ryu founder
Mabuni Kenwa and Konishi Yasuhiro of the
Shindo Jinen Ryu. Mabuni was intensely
curious as to what had kept Uechi Kanbun in
China for well over a decade and Kanbun was
more than happy to oblige by demonstrating
some of the xing / kata and techniques that
comprised his ‘Pangainoon karate'. So
inspired was Mabuni by what Kanbun showed
him, that Mabuni included some of the basic
Fujian tiger boxing techniques in a kata he
later developed called 'Shinpa' or
'mind-wave.' Konishi, for his part, did not
fair as well as Mabuni. Konishi later
recalled that Uechi was ‘living like a
recluse' and that he was unable to follow
the conversation between Mabuni and Uechi as
Uechi Kanbun's Japanese was limited
(McCarthy, 1999b). Instead, the two
Okinawans talked in ‘Okinawa hogen'
(Okinawa dialect).
It should be noted that Pangainoon does
not refer to a specific style of quan'fa or
Chinese boxing. Instead, it more likely
refers to the mixture of training methods
from Fujian that Uechi Kanbun combined to
make his system of karate. In fact,
Pangainoon refers to principles common to
all martial arts. These include: goho (Jap.
Lit. ‘Hard method’), juho (Jap. Lit.
'Flexible method’) and gojuho (Jap. Lit.
‘Hard / flexible method’). Examples of
goho or hard method include: Tiger boxing
(Jap. Tora Ken), Great Ancestor boxing (Jap.
Tai So Ken), and Lion boxing (Jap. Shi Ken).
Examples of gojuho or hard / flexible boxing
include: White crane (Jap. Haku Tsuru Ken)
and examples of the Juho or flexible method
include: Shaolin Flower Boxing (Jap. Shorin
Hana Ken), and Crane boxing (Jap. Tsuru
Ken).
In 1940, Kanbun renamed his system
Uechi-ryu Karate-jutsu (Uechi style
empty-hand technique). By 1947 Uechi Kanbun
had returned to Okinawa and moved to Ie
Jima. He passed away the following year on
November 25,1948. The year after Kanbun's
death, his son, Uechi Kanei returned to
Okinawa and opened his first dojo in Ginowan
calling it ‘Uechi-ryu Karate-jutsu
Kenkyujo' or the Uechi-ryu Karate-jutsu
Research Center (Okinawa Prefectural Board
of Education, 1997). There Kanei continued
to teach his interpretation of his father's
art until he relocated his dojo to the city
of Futenma in the 1950's. After Uechi
Kanei's passing in 1991 at the age of 79
Uechi-ryu karate-do splintered into
literally dozens of different organizations
each teaching their own interpretation of
Uechi Kanbun's art. |
