| Uechi
Kanbun, an icon in Okinawan karate history, introduced Uechi-ryu karate
to Okinawa. The Okinawan Prefectural Government recognizes Uechi-ryu as
one of the three major roots of all Okinawan karate along with Shuri-te
and Naha-te. Uechi Kanbun spent thirteen years in China mastering a
quanfa style called Pangainoon (half-hard, half-soft). He taught the
style, later called Uechi-ryu, in China, Japan, and Okinawa. Some
believe Chinese health exercises and fighting forms were developed by
observing animals. At that time, the general health of the Chinese
people was poor. Scholars believed diseases were caused by inactivity.
They observed that animals were very fit and began watching their living
habits.
The next step in
this comparative development was to determine how animals fought one
another and who most often survived. Fighting moves emulating animals,
such as the tiger, snake, monkey, dragon, and birds native to China, is
one source of origin attributed to their fighting systems. Uechi Kanbun
favored the more difficult and effective of these striking techniques:
shoken (one knuckle punch), sokusen (big toe kick), and nukite
(finger-tip strike). These strikes are symbolically referred to as the
tiger's teeth and the crane's beak. Closed hand techniques predominate
in many martial arts styles and are called heishu.
There are three types of closed hand strikes in Uechi-ryu karate. They
are tsuki, uchi, and ate. Tsuki means thrust and applies to all forward
thrusting actions, such as a straight punch. The Romaji spelling of
tsuki changes to zuki when used with another word, as in seiken zuki
(two-knuckle strike). Uchi strikes are roundhouse or swinging strikes.
Ate (pronounced autay) is used to describe strikes with larger surface
weapons like the knee and elbow. Open hand strikes, used extensively by
Chinese and Okinawan styles, are called kaishu.
There are three types of open-hand strikes used in Uechi-ryu karate:
nuki, uchi, and tsuki. Nuki means attacking with a smaller weapon in a
poking motion. Uchi (circular) and tsuki (straight) striking methods are
the same as with closed-hand techniques, however, many parts of the hand
can be used.
PUNCHNG
TECHINQUES
There are no seiken punches in Sanchin, Seisan, or Sanseryu, the
original three kata of Uechi-ryu karate. The Chinese origins of this
system emphasized many other striking techniques delivered to precise
targets or pressure points (kyusho). Kanshiwa kata, created by Uechi
Kanei, is the only Uechi-ryu kata that contains seiken punches. The
literal translation of shoken is "small knuckle." This refers
to the second knuckle of the index finger, the proximal joint. A shoken
fist is made very similar to a seiken fist except that the forefinger is
brought forward and locked against the thumb. It is chambered and
delivered in the same manner as seiken zuki. Shoken is a dominate weapon
of the Uechi-ryu system and is found in supplementary exercises (hojo
undo) and all katas except Sanchin. Shoken is used only to attack soft
spots and pressure points, such as the throat, neck, solar plexus,
armpit, ribcage, arms, and legs. Shoken is called the tiger's tooth.
This punch is compared to being bitten by a tiger. The tissue damage
caused by a shoken punch is more intense than the blunt result of a
seiken punch. It delivers more destructive power than any other hand
strike because the force of the punch is focused into a very small area.
The impact penetrates deep into the body.
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The word ken means
knuckle. Ken has been expanded in the martial arts to mean fist and
encompasses many fist or hand strikes. Seiken (left), a fundamental
two-knuckle fist, is the most popular hand weapon in karate. It is the
least difficult fist to for m and the safest to use, therefore, it is
good for beginners. The shoken (right), one-knuckle fist, is more
difficult to form and condition, therefore, it is a more advanced
technique.
 
Uechi-ryu's shoken
fist symbolizes a tiger's teeth. Notice how the thumb overlaps or wraps
around the index finger to give it maximum support.
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