Good evening all, my name is Jeff Kelly, and I'm a graduate student over at Florida Tech in Melbourne Florida.
I started studying a TKD Kickboxing variant about 4.5 years ago, and was introduced to Ueshi-Ryu by Sean Griffin, Mike Hunt, Mike Branca, and Bob (sorry I forget the last name) about a year later. I've primarily been training in the summers and the short winter breaks up in Northern Virginia with them since. I've posted sporadically on the forums (generally in the summer) and have generally enjoyed the inputs and discussions generated here.
I've really enjoyed it, especially since it directly complements the other style I study with a more close range aspect as opposed to TKDs longer range and silly kicks. My only regret is not starting it sooner as I had access to the training and just wasn't sure about the crazy people in the racquetball room at 6 in the morning until after my first year of training. I'm providing a small intro to Uechi course for the martial arts club on campus going over some of the basic stuff that I've learned so far and just generating an awareness of our style rather than a full on instruction in it. Fortunately this looks like it will only be happening once a month, so I can't really butcher anything too much.
The two most important things I've gotten out of it so far is seeing how techniques can be interrelated and flow form one style to the next and the benefit that it has had in my sparring, as I feel that I'm now growing significantly in my capability moving back and forth between the two groups.