Originating in Okinawa, Uechi-Ryu karate was developed from a Chinese fighting system called Pangainoon (half hard, half soft). Its movements are a combination of the tiger, crane, and dragon fighting arts. Some modern scholars believe that Pangainoon kenpo is closely related to or was previously referred to in China as the Five Ancestors system. Unique to UechiRyu is the regularity of three techniques. These are the pointed toe kick, circular block, and the single knuckle punch.
On May 5, 1877, Kanbun Uechi was born in Izumi, Okinawa, and a descendant of samurai heritage. In March of 1897, Kanbun left Okinawa for China to avoid Japanese military conscription. He arrived in the city of Fuchow in Fukien province near the end of the month. In the summer of 1897, Kanbun joined the Kugusuku karate school, but later left due to a personality conflict with one of the senior students. He then began to study Pangainoon under the tutelage of a Buddhist monk named Shushiwa (also referred to as Chowtseyho or Shuu Shiabu. In 1904 Kanbun received certification in Pangainoon and in 1907 opened his own school in the village of Nansoe, China, where he taught for approximately two years until one of his students killed a neighbor in a dispute over irrigation. Kanbun accepted responsibility for the actions of his student, closed the school, and vowed never to teach again. He held the distinction of being one of the few nonChinese to teach in China.
In February of 1910, Kanbun returned to Izumi and took up life as a peasant farmer. On June 26, 1911, Kanei Uechi, Kanbun’s eldest son was born. Due to economic reasons Kanbun left Okinawa in 1924 for Kansai, Japan and began working in a cotton mill. Here he met Ryuyu Tomoyose, who with great determination convinced Kanbun to teach him Pangainoon. In 1926 Kanbun, with the assistance of Ryuyu, opened a school in the cotton mill complex where he taught portions of three katas (Sanchin, Seisan, and Sanseryu) as well as forearm conditioning (kotekite) to a select group of students. This was the first time Pangainoon had been taught outside of China. Later, as the school began to grow, the five seniors carefully selected new students. The seniors accepted full responsibility for their nominee’s behavior. 28 In 1927 Kanei traveled to Kansai and joined his father’s dojo. Kanei received certification in Pangainoon in April of 1937. In the fall of 1940 the students of Kanbun’s dojo renamed the style Uechi- Ryu and gave Kanbun the title of grand master. On May 10, 1941, Kanmei, eldest son of Kanei, was born. In April 1942, Kanei returned to Okinawa and began teaching Uechi-Ryu there. Nearing the end of World War II both dojo’s became inactive as almost all of the students had been called away to serve in the Japanese military.
Immediately following the war Kanbun and several of his students were temporarily placed in a refugee camp while the rebuilding process began to restore the Okinawan/Japanese economy from the complete destruction caused by the war. Food and essentials were in short supply and the refugees were very depressed. In an effort to raise spirits, Kanbun demonstrated complete katas for the first time since he had left China. In October, 1946 Kanbun returned to Okinawa with two students, Seiryo Shinjo and his son Seiyu, leaving Ryuyu Tomoyose in charge of the school in Kansai. On November 25, 1948, Master Kanbun Uechi died of nephritis. It is believed that a written text of Uechi-Ryu was destroyed in the bombings of World War II before it could be handed down from Kanbun to Kanei.
In April of 1949, Kanei opened a school in Ginowan, Okinawa with Ryuko Tomoyose, son of Ryuyu. In May of 1956 the Okinawa Karate Federation began its existence with Uechi-Ryu as a charter member. Later that year George Mattson began studying Uechi-Ryu under Ryuko Tomoyose, two years later to become the first to bring Uechi-Ryu to North America. Some time later James Thompson began his studies under Kanei Uechi. In July 1957, Kanei moved his dojo to its current location in Futenma, Okinawa.
In April 1967 the All Okinawa Karate Federation awarded Kanei Uechi the rank of Judan (10th degree black belt). On February 24, 1991 Kanei Uechi died after a long illness and Uechi-Ryu began dividing into many separate political groups. The main groups to emerge after Kanei’s death were the Soke (family), led by Kanmei Uechi, The Okikukai (association), now led by Tsutomu Nakahodo, student of Seiyu Shinjo, and the Kenukai, led by Kiohide Shinjo. In the 1970’s some practitioners broke away from the Uechi group and established schools under the Pangainoon name and sometime later a group called Konan-Ryu spun off from either the Uechi group or the Pangainoon group. Currently there are more than a dozen groups practicing Uechi-Ryu around the world.
In late April 1996 several Okinawan masters led by Minoru Miyagi (a student of Seiyu Shinjo) and including Masakazu Kinjo formed the Okinawa Uechi-Ryu Karate-Do Hozonkai. Mr. Miyagi holds the position of president, while Mr. Kinjo holds the position of Di Ji Jo (sub or alternate president). In the spring of 2001 all the Heads of the factions except Soke came together and formed a coalition called Uechi-Ryu Rengokai. While all the factions still exist autonomously, the Uechi-Ryu Rengokai has been formed in order to present a show of unification.
