Uechi and Uzeu on Isshinryu Kicks

 

Tsuyoshi Uechi 8th dan Isshinryu Karate(traditional okinawan karate) all Isshinryu kicks here

 

 

Keri Waza-Isshinryu HD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nznlnRs8kY&t=34s 

 

 

 

 

Angi Uzeu Kicking

https://youtu.be/8cIE_cJHAa0

 

 

Top of Form 1

Andy Sloane

 

These are the kicks that Uechi Sensei teaches at Camp Foster and his dojo in Misato, Okinawa City.

 

He performs them in a more thrusting-type motion moving forward and more snapping-type motion moving backwards.

 

Bill Pogue

 

the chart 2 kicks are only very basic actions.

 there are many variations and other kicks not in the basics or kata.

 

a side thrust kick is in wansu in my humble opinion although most do a side snap.

 some do a forward angle kick like i first learned.

 sliding back kick,

 spinning back kick,

 side thrust kick and roundhouse kicks are all very effective

 

and I taught those with the explanation that they weren't in the basic curriculum, but now are part of the style.

 

I was in detroit when angi uezu learned the various kicks from Willie Adams and then put them in his curriculum and on his tapes.

 

Mr Uechi was a shodan when i was in okinawa and a very nice man- good karate,.

 

 

All, the Keri Waza being shown by Tsuyoshi Uechi, on Okinawa, are probably very close to what Shimabuku Kichero taught. Uechi does teach on Okinawa today, and a ‘grand’ student- Andy Sloan does teach with him.

 (although I am of the opinion that Isshinryu may not continue long there, too much effort towards foreign students and not enough to Okinawan students the possible answer to that)

 

The lower body chart I used was the same I studied in Tom Lewis’ dojo in Salisbury. Which is the same Charlie studied there too.

 

When I joined the internet in the late 80s and started talking with Isshinryu, I quickly learned there were many different versions for the kicking.

 

As I wasn’t associated with anyone else, I saw no reason to change. The chart we use actually has about 90% of the kicks on Okinawa. The rest are more obscure IMO and not as likely answers how to kick.

 

The one Uechi shows are at times somewhat different, but just with the variation of the themes. IMO there is no right answer, there are just those who make their answer right.

 

Tom Lewis Dojo Original Lower Body Combinations

 

1.     Front Snap Kick

2.     Knee Strike (45degrees)

3.     Front Kick (Side)

4.     Cross Kick

5.     Side Snap Kick

6.     Heel Strike (Knee)

7.     Knee Strike

8.     Rear Kick

9.     Side Kick (45 degrees rear)

10.   Squat Kick

11.   Side Kick (on  Floor)

12.     Front (from floor)

13.  Double Jump Kick

14.      Roundhouse Kick

15.      Side Kick (Rear 45 degrees), Rear Kick

 

 

Expanding on the Lower Body Chart Exercises

 

The process of learning never stops.

 

Let me give an example. Last night Mike was putting the kids through some of our kihon from Me. Lewis’s lower body chart. Of course Kihon, while referring to basic exercises, are also fire breathing techniques.

 

Specifically those techniques were the front thrust kick from your back on the floor and the side thrust kick on your side on the floor. While defensive in nature they teach you to defend yourself from the disadvantaged position on the ground.

 

I began them my first night and I still teach them within the first 4 nights. They are not beginning techniques and are regular drills, Crossing the legs to protect the groin, raising yourself to your elbows so you can shift around to face the attacker, and of course learning the front thrust kick and the side thrust kick from the floor. With the groin and the knee as targets. Then becoming the target to allow the youth to have a shifting target to move towards.

 

What makes one kata elementary or advanced?

 

 

Rh Gutierrez

 Hope someone can give an intelligent answer to this, What makes one kata elementary or advanced?

 

Top of Form 1

Victor Donald Smith

I remember Chinen Sensei in a British interview stating that a case could be made to begin with Suparinpei.

 

I just see kata as kata. As ,theoretically any move. can conclude any attack if the subsidiary skills have been developed, the same can be said for any kata.

 

Steven M. Franz

Personally I think it is ones depth of knowledge that can make a kata

 

Ron J. Brookshire Jr.

I think there are multiple answers to this question.

1. Sometimes it's the movement in the kata itself. I.e. The jump double kick that was modified to two stepping forward front kicks because students (maybe even the teacher) couldn't do the technique properly... they had seen it, knew what was there, but lacked skill.

2. Kata in the pre 1900's had a life and death aspect... no damage and end life aspect. I would also propose that there are 7 levels of judgment or increasing severity in the same motion. (Mild Pain, severe pain, dislocation, break repairability, break disability, unconsciousness W/ self-recovery, unconsciousness requiring revival)... 9 total if you count "no injury" and "death".

3. Multiple concept use... increases over time and increased knowledge and skill.

4. "By the numbers"... which is basically being able to do multiple striking in the same motion. This plays with timing/skilland blackbelts usually can get 3 moves. Under blackbelts get 1-2. By 5th degree it should be up to 5 moves. By master it could be 7. (To my thinking). Goes to something Taika Oyata said about regular blackbelts, birds (ravens) and eagles.... very few eagles.

The basic outside block can easily become a 3-5 striking motion and remain the same "basic"... just advanced skill and understanding.

 

Steve Wilson The fighting principals, strategies, and concepts each kata teaches are simple to recognize and understand. With lots of practice they are easy to do. If, as intended, the application of the kata, is also simple. "People" make karate kata and the application of it too complex, difficult, and mysterious.

 

Ed Sumner I'd disagree Steve, at least, in terms of the kata of Goju Ryu. Many of the techniques in the advanced kata are not simple to recognize or understand. I'm still searching (as I begin my 53rd year of training) for advanced Oyo in some of the kata.

 

Steve Wilson Hi Ed: I don't have as much time as you. I've trained 44 years in Goju Ryu. I've had great teachers, guidance, and lots of hard work. From my experience it's pretty clear. Again, I've found people make it complex. With great teachers and hard work it's been recognizable, understandable, and most importantly doable.

 

Ittsukan Dojo There's no such thing as basic or advanced technique, only higher levels of proficiency. My teacher says this.

 

Jeffrey L. Riggs You guys are going to hate me for this but:
Are the Pinon Kata beginners kata or advanced kata? Do you consider them "Classical" or are they what the Japanese refer to as "Gendai Budo"?

 

Pim Barnett As a wise teacher once said: there are no advanced techniques in Karate, only basic techniques performed in an expert, advanced way.

 

Bottom of Form 1

 

Traditional Okinawan Music for Hakutsuru No Mai

    

Traditional Okinawan Music for Hakutsuru No Mai 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBUdmOsmsWs

 

 

Shihan Dean Chapman Wow, thanks for posting! I do that form and have been trying to find music (lost while moving) for several years. Think I even asked this club.

 

Victor Donald Smith Just stumbled across this last night. Pure Happenstance, Can you share a bit of the history of the form?

 

Shihan Dean Chapman It was master Toguchi's form. #10 in a series of 10 "Hookiyu" forms built from master Myagi's Gekisai series. From Koryu Kata and White Crane. This is what I was told. I originally learned in late 80's as did simular version with Kimo Wall Sensei.

 

Shihan Dean Chapman

1-2 Tando ku kata
1-3 Gekisai
1-2 Gekiha
1-2 Kahuha
Hakutsuru no Mai

 

 

Victor Donald Smith Thank you for sharing that information

Calling Cadance

 

 

 

We used to run around the dojo in Salisbury chanting a USMC running cadence. It was a lot of fun. What Lewis Sensei told me it was.

 

 

i had a gal way out west, she said karate was the best,

now she's someone elses wife and i'll be running the rest of my life

1234.....1234...1  2  3  4

 

we will run to the east, we will run to the west......karate is the best

1234...1234....1  2  3  4.

 

 

Now it is not terribly appropriate for the kids. So I will have to think about this a bit and make some changes.

Something like:

 

 

I had a teacher way out West,

He said karate was the best,

Now he’s teaching someone else,

And I’ll be running the rest of my life,

1234,

1234,

1.. 2.. 3.. 4..

we will run to the east,

we will run to the west......

karate is the best

1234,

1234,

1.. 2.. 3.. 4..

 

 

Now the Marines have many, many running cadences. Of course many of them are inappropriate for children. But the kids like running around the class, so it might be fun to teach them a running cadence.

 

Sorry I can’t sing it, with my voice.

But I am sure something like this will be useful.

 

 

 

This is one example of Cadence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gMP7HPE_zE

 

Another example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWDuJpb-fSE

 

These are not the same as what Sensei had us do, but capture the basic idea.

Of course this is just a suggestion, but one that can be fun. And keep a small bit of the USMC history alive within our Isshinryu.

 

Hinging on the Winds of History

 

 

 

I have seen the number  of 90.000.000 million people are practicing some form of karate around the world today. Now that number may not be correct, but it makes a point about how widespread karate has become.

 

 

What  is more amazing when you go back to 1900, just a short while ago, the number man have been a few hundred, I have seen no numbers to suggest any number is correct, just conjecture on my part.

 

 

But 1900 ad, the practice of karate was a privilege that might be extended only to members of the right class of people on Okinawa, Shown at festivals, that would be about it.  It was not thought as something appropriate to teach to the young in schools.

 

Then there are four pivot points that we can point too, when things changed that made a difference.

(Ok, there are more that 4 things, but let’s keep this simple to start)

 

 

 

1.  Itosu wrote his letter to the Okinawan school board, and they paid attention to his proposal.

 

As Okinawa was under Japanese control since 1870, the Japanese certainly were controlling what education there was in Okinawa. It is not hard to imagine they might have not paid any attention to Itosu’s ideas and so the concept went no where. Karate was not introduced at the teachers college, and karate programs were not supported to be developed in the schools.

 

That would have meant many of that generation would not have been exposed to karate and in time gone on to become instructors.

 

2. When Prince Hirohito toured Okinawa, perhaps he was not interested in seeing a karate demonstration. And when one was proposed  for Japan, he also might not have been so inclined. In turn Professor Kano might not have been interested, preferring what his own practice of judo offered.

 

A result of these events not having taken place, the opening door for Funakoshi, Mabuni, Miyagi, Motobu and all the rest that followed might not have happened. Japan was a country on a mission. They were conquering all of their world, their University students being trained to become Administrators, Officers and the like. There is every reason to believe they would have not had an interest in a quaint Okinawan practice.

 

So no preliminary foothold in Japan.

 

 

3. Then the winds of war intervened. The outcome might have been the same, but though different choices, the invasion of Okinawa could have been bypassed. The was might have gone in a different direction. A decision to bypass Okinawa as too costly to the main invasion of Japan could have been made.

 

The vast destruction might have not taken place on Okinawa. The karate seniors might have survived the War.

 

They could have not agreed to the changes those who were interested.

Then they might have seen no reason for uniformity, organizations, adopting training uniforms as opposed to tradition. Seeing no need to keeping track of students progress via rank.

 

Their art might have been retained only for those of the right Okinawan rank, never to be shared with others. That had been their traditional model.

 

4. And the decision might have been made not to station troops on Okinawa. Then going so far as granting Okinawa independence from everyone in 1972, not returning them to Japan.

 

Leaving the Okinawans in complete charge of this minor cultural heritage.

 

 

Of course it did not happen this way, but it is not unreasonable to consider it might have been.

 

 And karate remaining Okinawan.

 

Ginchin Funakoshi demonstrating the toe press

 

 This is a photograph of Ginchin Funakoshi from one of his early book.

 

 Joe Swift shared a while ago

( of course now it has been several decades later)

 

 

I'd like to share another little episode from "older Karate", which is often found in the details, which in turn get lost or overlooked easily when using low quality pics from the net. This tidbit is from Funakoshi's original set of Nage-waza, found in his 1925 edition (which is where I took the scan from, yeah).

So here you see the idea of 'locking the motion chain of the body'. It is not an Okinawan idea. In fact it is found anywhere in Western "wrestling" since the first written sources from the 11th century onwards to Chinese Qinna techniques, where (in certain schools) it constitutes one basic principle.

The "dragon toe" may be found in other Kata, think about it. For example, in Seiyunchin, or Seisan.

 

Now this gets me thinking of the possibilities.

 

 

1. Stepping on the foot locks the leg if the strike following drops the opponent to the ground. This step would cause  the leg to become hyper-extended.

Leading to pulled muscles and ligaments and decreasing mobility.

 

 

2. Stepping on the foot also locks the individual’s ability to move down.

This can be used as a force enhancer by not allowing their body to move

Away from a strike. By inhibiting their movement away from the strike,

More of the force of the strike is retained in their body.

 

 

3. Every step can become a stomp, to break the foot of smash the instep.

This of course greatly inhibits their mobility.

 

 

4. The same motion for the crescent step can also be used to step behind the foot, and sweep or reap the opponents leg,  When used with the same pressure of the ‘dragon toe’ this can increase the pressure of the result.

 

Almost the first lesson I taught began with instruction

 how to perform the Crescent Step.

 

A fundamental lesson in our system.

 

This is a lesson about the value contained within that lesson.