Kanbun Uechi

Infobox_martial_artist
name = Kanbun Uechi
(上地 完文 "Uechi Kanbun")
residence =
other_names =


imagesize = 200px
caption = Kanbun Uechi
birth_date = May 5, 1877
birth_place = Motobu, Okinawa
death_date = November 25, 1948
death_place = Iejima, Okinawa
death_cause = Nephritis
martial_art = Pangainoon and Uechi Ryu
teacher = Shusshabu
rank = Grandmaster 9th "dan" (maximum dan at that time)
students = Kanei Uechi (son), Seiko Toyama

Kanbun Uechi (上地 完文 "Uechi Kanbun", May 5, 1877–November 25, 1948) was the founder of Uechi-ryū, one of the primary karate styles of Okinawa.

Early life

Kanbun grew up in the mountain farming village of Izumi on the Motobu peninsula of Okinawa. [Mark Bishop, "Okinawan Karate", Tuttle: 1999, p. 38] Uechi's family were farmers of daikon radishes. [Allan Dollar, "Secrets of Uechi Ryu and the Mysteries of Okinawa", Cherokee Publishing: 1996, p. 54.]

In his youth, Uechi studied bōjutsu with Motobu experts. [Allan Dollar, "Secrets of Uechi Ryu and the Mysteries of Okinawa", Cherokee Publishing: 1996, p. 55.]

Time in China

Japan began a program of universal male conscription in Okinawa in the late 1800s. In 1897 at the age of 19, Kanbun fled to Fuzhou in Fukien Province, China both to escape Japanese military conscription and to fulfil his dreams of studying martial arts with Chinese masters.

Upon arrival in China, Uechi initially took up the study of Kojo Ryū, but dojo management mocked him for a speech impediment and the offended Uechi sought training elsewhere. [Mark Bishop, "Okinawan Karate", Tuttle: 1999, p. 39]

Uechi next took up the study of herbalism and a Kung Fu system called "Pangai-noon" (or Pangainun), under a Chinese master named Shushiwa. Uechi received a certificate of mastery in 1904, and he later opened his own dojo in Nansoye, China.

Return to Okinawa

After returning to Okinawa in February 1910, Uechi moved to Wakayama City, in the Wakayama Prefecture of mainland Japan, where in 1925, he married as well as established the Institute of "Pangainun-ryu (half-hard and soft) Todi-jutsu", and began the process of launching his own dojo. Uechi continued to teach in Wakayama until 1948. [ Mattson, George E., "Uechiryu Karate Do (Classical Chinese Okinawan Self Defense)", Peabody: 1997, pp. 10-12.]

The style he taught was renamed in 1940 to "Uechi Ryū" Karate in his honor, and is one of the four major styles of Okinawan Karate. It was greatly systematized by Uechi's son, Kanei. Uechi Ryū has students and dojos around the world, and it is particularly popular in the Northeastern United States (along with one of its variants, Shohei-ryu).

Family

Kanbun Uechi is had four children. His oldest son, Kanei, continued his father's work in the martial arts. He had another son, Kansai, and two daughters, Tsuru (named after her grandmother) and Kamai.

References

Related Sites

* [http://www.uechi-ryu-journal.com/ Uechi-ryu academic journal]
* [http://www.uechiryu.ca Canadian Uechi-ryu site]
* [http://www.wonder-okinawa.jp/023/eng/009/001/index.html Biography from the official site of the Okinawan Prefecture]