by gmattson » Thu Jul 19, 2012 5:07 pm
I had the privilege of meeting Sensei Toyama on a number of occasions, including at the first Uechi-ryu Karate Association gathering, where Sensei Kanei Uechi assembled all senior teachers of Uechi to the Naha dojo. The purpose was to "standardize" the Uechi kata to help with the proposed organization and perpetuation of the style.
Each of the senior/seniors performed their kata and explained why they felt their way was the "original" Kanbun way. According the Tomoyose's translation to me, there was a great deal of dissension among the seniors and a couple of the dojo decided not to join Kanei Uechi's association. I mention this, because in my estimation and experience, there never was a "standard" way to perform kata, although watching the performances, you could easily identify each kata. Most of the differences involved things which we debate today. . . breathing, way to perform the "wauke" and use of deep stances.
No one performed any exaggerated shoulder modifications while performing kata and the first time I saw this was in a performance by a Japanese senior (studied from Kanbun for an indeterminate time) who performed at the 25th anniversary of Kanbun's death demonstration. Kanei Uechi and I were in the audience during this part of the ceremony and I asked Tommy about it. I won't go into the discussion other than to say they thought it was more for entertainment value than for demonstrating anything of value in Uechi-ryu.
GEM
"Do or do not. there is no try!"