Uechi-Ryu.com

Congratulations to Jim Hulse for his Hachidan [8th Dan] promotion yesterday at Fedele's dojo.

The massive, but very agile, Jim Hulse was also awarded a Shihan diploma for his exceptional skills in targeting nerve points which are all in the line of force and direction of Uechi kata movements.

Watching him demonstrate this natural Uechi targeting is indeed an education_ as he either knocked out or disabled the 'fight' in the 'adversary' during attacks upon him, using nothing more than Uechi strikes or 'blocks' _

Seisan Bunkai and Dan kumite also produced a number of KO's_ as the more experienced of his students stood by to 'resuscitate' the downed ukes.

There is a certain realism to his Kumite method and Bunkai applications, that it is almost impossible to describe unless one sees it or experiences it.

WOW_




with his son Scott, on the right ...a paratrooper in the British Special forces and Iraq war veteran. He is now assigned to Military counter-piracy operations to protect naval ships.

Yesterday Scott was promoted to Renshi _6th Dan, after a superb performance. Congratulations.

http://www.uechiryu-karate.co.uk/mainpage.htm

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Van

There is also an impressive explosiveness in all the Uechi strikes as performed by Jim Hulse. He has a massive muscular and extremely well conditioned body that explodes with power and speed in every move.

I then remembered that he also possesses an Instructor's Diploma in Qigong.

And Jim was once a 'doorman' in the city of Liverpool England.

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Van

It was a pleasure to witness the whole thing, and Jim's insight into Suparempei was an unexpected treat. I've been practicing the kata itself, and thinking about it, but his take on it made me realize that I had understood very little about it. I hope I get a chance someday to learn his version, bunkai, and targeting details.

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Mike

Congratulations to Jim and his son on their well-deserved promotions.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Jim was practicing Superempi. (If you are reading this post Jim - I'd really like to see a video of your studies on this amazing kata)

Victor Swiminer and Bill Glasheen will be conducting seminars on Superempi at SummerFest this year.

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GEM
"Do or do not. there is no try!"

Hi Mike,

It was a pleasure to see you yesterday. I agree with you on Jim's insight on this kata, and, of course, it is not just a another bunch of moves in the air, because he shows you how the inherent targeting of the kata lines of force and direction,combined with a knowledge and practice of the body's nerve points, achieve the Kos we witnessed.

Watching just his kata without the Kos applications will not mean much as other practitioners, but not all, will compare just the moves Jim does with what they do and of course they will think about the 'right way' to do the kata, and possibly imagine that if Jim can achieve all those Kos and stoppages of opponents with what he does...well then they also can with their version

Good luck with that.

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Van

Jim Hulse has become an International teacher of his concepts of targeting that is applicable to all systems of karate.

He has been particularly well received in Italy by a very serious group of karate practitioners headed by master ranks of different systems.

In fact, I have personally been contacted by one such master in Italy who was elated at having Jim teach in Italy.

This has now evolved into a yearly 'summer camp' in the Bologna region of Italy, where very large groups of karateka assemble in a very organized fashion to receive Jim for a week of training.

In order to combine Uechi kata strikes with nerve points attacks, even though, as Jim says, "it is all there" _ requires the specialized training without the usual fluff you get elsewhere when talking 'nerve points' _

Something that Jim excels at...the reason why he is so well liked no matter where he goes.

If people here have the desire to learn his efficient method, then they should arrange for a dedicated seminar/camp and invite him to come from England to teach.

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Van

I normally refrain from making comments on this level because I am only in the peanut gallery, but it seems to me that the way this kata has come to us should engender a sense of freedom well beyond what we feel with the big three. We must turn our collective brains on it and make it thoroughly our own, and the bigger the brains the better. I do not think it will be widely accepted unless it is perceived as authentically Uechi-looking, and besides its length (which makes learning it quite an investment), two distinctive and enigmatic moves in it are, IMO, holding it back...as they are normally performed. The ironic thing is that Jim is more tuned into the related Chinese arts than most of us, and yet when he performs the kata (what little I have seen of it), I am reminded only of Uechi Ryu.

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Mike

Hello.

I wish to express my sincere congratulations to Jim Sensei on his promotion, and to his son. Jim is one of the very best Uechi Ryu practitioners, and I truly enjoy training with him whenever I have the opportunity. I just wish I could have attended the promotional, but unfortunately I could not.

Take care,
Jay Sal

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Jay Sal
Semper Fi

I would like to thank my sensei Van Canna for making this day possible. It was a gret honour to sit beside you on the panel The guys did a great job and I can not thank them enough for supporting us on this trip. Many congratulations to Peter Blackman and his student Mike Murphy.

It was a great pleasure for me personally to be taking part in the grading at the same time as my students in particular the new Renshi's., Scott Hulse, Peter Ruscoe and Fedele Cacia.

I have read some very nice comments on the forum and I received some very nice comments in person. I will get superempi on dvd as soon as I can. Sorry for the short version Mike!

I have listened very hard to my kyusho friend and instructor Jim Corn and worked very hard to give a true version of the kyusho targets and theory in the Uechi Ryu katas. I understand what Mike is saying, if it doesn't look like Uechi then its probably not Uechi. My first goal in my grading was to show that I am a Uechi student through and through. Secondly, I wanted to show how I integrated the specific targeting system and theory of qigong into the Uechi that I practice.

So for Mike to say that he only saw Uechi in the super empi means that I am on the right track and for Harry to say that he felt the strikes through the floor means that my qigong efforts are working.

Many thanks for all the supporters that came along and supported the grading and in particular understanding my sense of humour on the demonstrations.

Thank you Ivana and Fedele for running us every where and making our stay in Boston superb. The guys who had not been to America before were blown away with the hospitality shown to us. Thank Paul for the pizza and a special thank you to Darren Yi for taking us all out to dinner in China Town.

Thank you once again for your personal effort in heading up the panel Van. A great friend and inspiration.

Hi Jim,

The pleasure was all mine.

The utter respectful and friendly demeanor as displayed by you personally and by your wonderful students was only exceeded by the formidable performance we all witnessed on the floor.

I feel privileged to have you consider me your sensei.

It isn't often that Uechi practitioners of all ranks are treated to realistic KO demonstrations along the lines of force and direction of the Uechi Kata using the knowledge of nerve points targeting.

One interesting comment was that you seemed to take control of the opponent at _'first touch'_ then move to the finish.

This 'first touch' theory is of critical importance to me because, as you well know, in a real street fight we would be dealing with all kinds and sizes of 'beastly opponents' intent in seriously hurting or killing us.

Your experience as a past 'doorman' for Liverpool night clubs/bars _ comes to mind.

There will be chaotic motion and an adrenalized state on both sides, flailing body parts, and a propensity not to feel much pain when hit. 'Stopping shots'
can be very elusive.

This means that even with our typical powerful Uechi Strikes being delivered with conditioned limbs_ but impacting on 'marginal' shifting targets/body parts of an attacker_ we may not achieve that 'first control' that is so critical in dampening the assault.

Here is what I find the manner you teach nerve strikes_ using standard Uechi moves deep into our 'muscle memory'_ invaluable in enhancing the stopping capabilities we would need in a street fight.

What I see you doing is converting every Uechi move into 'gross motor' persuasion by the combination of qigong 'thru the floor strikes' and your knowledge of nerve points and nerve endings in every body target that presents….thus gaining the 'setup' platform to follow with the more precise targeting.

This is Karate at its best realistic I have seen in a long time.


I also would like to see posted the names and rank for each of your students who were promoted, they all were very impressive and all very much 'British gentlemen' _

Please give them all my best. Hopefully we will all meet again.

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Van

Hi Van

Thank you for the kind words. I enjoyed reading your post. Your explanations are written so much better than mine. Respect and honour are very important elements in my martial arts training so the fact that you saw it in my students pleases me greatly. I will pass this on to my students.

The guys names and ranks from the UK are
Jim Hulse 8th Dan
Scott Hulse 6th Dan
Peter Ruscoe 6th Dan
Ben Colclough 4th dan
Frank Seery 3rd Dan
Paul Colclough 2nd Dan
john Hope 1st Dan
Jason Eyre 1st Dan

Thank you Sensei

Jim