Founders
Shu Shi Wa (1874-1926)
Kanbun Uechi (1877-1948)
Ryuryu TOMOYOSE(1874-1958)
UECHI Kanei (1911-1991)
Shushiwa, described as an intelligent and dedicated student, became proficient in several forms of Chinese boxing, particularly Tiger Fist, one of the Five Fists of Fujian. It had been thought by later Uechi-Ryu practitioners for many years that "Shusshabu" which is a dialectic variant of the name "Shushiwa" who was a teacher of Tiger Fist, were the same person. After a research visit to Fuchow by master Kenei Uechi and other members of the Uechi Karate Association in 1984, it had become apparent that Shusshabu and Shushiwa were different individuals. Legends attribute Shushiwa with great strength. He reportedly could hold the weight of two people hanging from the fingertips of his outstretched arms. He also became an accomplished painter and calligrapher. Shushiwa contracted a severe illness and died in 1926, at the young age of fifty-two.
One of the most famous and the most original of Karate-Do systems is the system of "tiger, crane and dragon" which was brought to Okinawa from the Southern China by the famous Master Kanbun UECHI (1877-1948). He was practicing under the supervision of the Taoist priest Shu Shi Wa (1874-1926) for 10 years. His own dojo in China was founded in 1907 but remained open only for 3 years. Kanbun UECHI returned to Okinawa in 1910 and migrated to Japan in 1921 where, in the region of Osaka (the town of Wakayama). In Wakayama, he started teaching only his fellow countrymen from Okinawa. In 1947 Kanbun UECHI moved to the island of Ishima, near Okinawa, where he died a year later. The first student of Kanbun UECHI in Japan (Wakayama) was Master Ryuryu TOMOYOSE, and later and oldest Kanbun's son Master Kanei UECHI who superposed and shaped the system.
UECHI Kanbun's Karate-Do system is today practiced within several associations and schools in Okinawa: ShoHeiRyu, Uechi-Ryu and Pangai-noon. All these organizations have retained the same base of the system, whose development contributed towards creation of several independent administrative bodies.
One of the most famous and the most original of Karate-Do systems is the system of "tiger, crane and dragon" which was brought to Okinawa from the Southern China by the famous Master Kanbun UECHI (1877-1948). He was practicing under the supervision of the Taoist priest Shu Shi Wa (1874-1926) for 10 years. His own dojo in China was founded in 1907 but remained open only for 3 years. Kanbun UECHI returned to Okinawa in 1910 and migrated to Japan in 1921 where, in the region of Osaka (the town of Wakayama). In Wakayama, he started teaching only his fellow countrymen from Okinawa. In 1947 Kanbun UECHI moved to the island of Ishima, near Okinawa, where he died a year later. The first student of Kanbun UECHI in Japan (Wakayama) was Master Ryuryu TOMOYOSE, and later and oldest Kanbun's son Master Kanei UECHI who superposed and shaped the system.
UECHI Kanbun's Karate-Do system is today practiced within several associations and schools in Okinawa: ShoHeiRyu, Uechi-Ryu and Pangai-noon. All these organizations have retained the same base of the system, whose development contributed towards creation of several independent administrative bodies.
