Whatsnew II
at least it was new back in June, 1996!

June 20, 1996: Lots of new mail in the June Mailbag. Check it out. Lots of people have asked me to try and make it easier to order product from the Website. Unfortunately, for the time being, we cannot accept credit card information over the Internet. I guess that it is still quite easy for this information to fall into the wrong hands. You can order product with our new Order Form, but before it can be processed, you must either call in or fax your Master Card or Visa information. Later... GEM

June 18, 1996: I had the priviledge of appearing on Dr. Jerry Aiello's talk radio show yesterday. A two hour interview! Who in the world can talk for two solid hours on any subject!!! Turns out, I could. . . we discussed the history of Uechi-ryu, Kanbun Uechi in China, changes in the system since the mid 50's and all kinds of other interesting subjects. We stayed away from politics and anything negative, although Jerry wanted to cover these hot topics. If anyone wants tapes of the interview, call his office: 810-542-4314 for information.

Randy Danielsen, the Academic Coordinator at the Physician Assistant Program, Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Phoenix and a Uechi Nidan, sent me a copy of "Clinician Reviews" with his article on "Karate Injuries: Origins and Prevention". The article should be required reading for martial art instructors. Although much of the article is technical in nature, it is written clearly and in generally understood language. The section about injury prevention and management is particularly important for dojo owners and instructors. You can contact Randy through his website: "www.primenet.com/`randydan/".

Kimo Wall called me yesterday to let me know he was definitely coming to the camp. He also surprised me by announcing he was bringing a very famous "White Crane" master from Fuzhou, China with him! This year's camp should be "Outstanding"! Have you made your reservations yet???? Later. . . GEM

June 16, 1996: Received the tournament results from Richard Baptista yesterday and posted them to the Permanent Tournament Page. Check it out. This page will list results of all Uechi-ryu Tournaments that is part of the Uechi-ryu World Championship Series. So far there are four sanctioned events in Canada and one in the United States. If you would like to have your tournament part of this series, please contact me. All competitors participating in this series, will receive a rating from the Uechi-ryu Karate Association. Lots of new mail in the June Mailbag. Later. . . GEM

June 14, 1996: Fascinating exchange of viewpoints taking place on the "Lets Talk" Forum between Bill Glasheen and Mark Brelsford regarding the split in Uechi-ryu. I don't want to spoil the outcome, so suggest you check it out. While you are in the Forum, please check out Josh Ajima's posting, where he discusses a few key issues regarding teaching in a high school, rank for children, testing children in Sanchin and the importance of "certification" in a professional teaching environment. NAC was established to help in these areas and when our guidelines are followed, have been extremely helpful. But there remains gaps in the program and it is important to discuss the issues that Josh raises. I know that many of you are currently operating successful children's programs. Why not take this opportunity to share your experiences and skills with the rest of us.

While you are browsing, check out Lisa DiOrio's article on why she, a working mother of two decided to choose Uechi-ryu as her fitness program. Although Lisa writes from a woman's perspective, I believe many of us share her feelings.

On a bright "golf note", yesterday the golf gods were kind to me. I shot an all time low score of 83 on one of New England's toughest courses! Now to you "professionals" out there, this might not seem like such a great accomplishment. . . perhaps on a par (excuse the pun) with being awarded a Green Belt. . . but I've been smiling all day! Susan has never been able to figure out what the big deal is. . . hitting a helpless, tiny ball with a big metal weapon! And spending big money for the privilege. Of course, she has never actually hit one, and every golfer will tell you, A golf ball isn't as helpless as it looks! Later, GEM

June 10, 1996: Sorry for the gap in communications. I had the June 2nd column ready before my vacation began, but was unable to upload it to the site because of a problem with the server. When I returned on Saturday, the company was closed for the weekend, so could not reach them until today. Check out the "Uechi-ryu experimental graphics page" for a new clip of Master Kanei Uechi performing a Sanchin arm thrust. Hopefully this page will expand into a regular feature. Artist Peter Kimmins has volunteered to take on the task! I should have the tournament results on-line by the end of this week. Setting up a permanent page featuring Uechi-ryu tournament results and standings. Later. . . GEM

June 2, 1996: The big news is that the Uechi-ryu Championships held last Saturday was a huge success. After last year's problems, all the officials and competitors were extremely careful to follow the rules! Head Referee, Ed Huff and his certified officials did a wonderful job maintaining order and conducting the matches using the protocol and procedures we practiced these past three months. The competitors were equally up for the fair play and hard fighting of the day. Check out the new Uechi-ryu World Championship Page for complete results of the tournament.

Now that we can put aside the problems associated with our 1995 tournament, we can begin examining ways in which our next event will be even better. We will continue to train and certify officials. We could not run all the rings Saturday because we didn't have enough qualified officials. Secondly, we can continue using the Uechi-ryu Karate Rules and Standards in our dojo. To all of you who competed and helped out, thanks. I'm off for four days of golf in Vermont. Later..GEM

May 30, 1996: The Uechi-ryu Karate Championships will be held tomorrow in Boston. All rings will be run by certified officials, trained during the past three months in the official Uechi-ryu rules and procedures. If you can either compete or attend as a spectator, I promise that you will enjoy the experience. A special flag will be awarded to the dojo who has the most entries winning top four spots in each event. World Championship Belts will again be presented to the adult black belt winners of Kata, Kumite and Dan Kumite competition. Many divisions and trophies!

I was in New York most of this week, attending meetings and banquet conducted by the New York Fuzhou Friendship Association. The association was celebrating its 12th year anniversary with traditional pomp and ceremony. The festivities were highlighted Wednesday afternoon by a street Lion Dance, speeches and fireworks display in front of the association new headquarters on West Broadway street in Chinatown. Wednesday night over 1000 members and guests attended a traditional feast and party at the Jin Fong restaurant. I was honored by becoming the first Westerner to become a member of the association and in addition to being asked to give a speech at the banquet, was also given the title of "Chief Consultant of Wu Shu" for the group. On Sunday (May 26th) they asked me to bring a few of my students to the banquet to demonstrate Uechi-ryu Karate for the audience. I made a couple of last minute calls to the Uechi clubs in New York and New Jersey and on Wednesday evening, 23 students found their way to the banquet hall.

My thanks go out to Lawrence DeVoe and Nancy Simoneschi who did such a great job getting together members of their NY clubs for the demonstration. Thanks also to Leyn Burrows for bringing members of his club. I was pleased to see Larry Tan, Chris Ronzoni, Vadim Marcovallo, Anthony Sabino, Ed Kindermann and everyone else who took time out of their busy schedules to attend the banquet and who did such a fine job demonstrating traditional Uechi-ryu Karate to the group. Dr. Seny Lin, a cousin of Zhang Tian Ci, the first Fuzhou "Tiger" teacher to visit and teach at our 1984 Summer Camp, is a director of the association and a close friend of mine. Dr. Lin has agreed to bring a delegation from the association to this year's camp to teach seminars in the "Lion Dance" and other Fuzhou fighting arts forms to our students.

Lots of interesting "threads" in the Forum. I'll try to get as many letters into the May Letters section as possible today. Will try to catch up Sunday after the tournament. Later. . . GEM

May 25, 1996: Bob Campbell called from Hong Kong last night, saying he and others were having problems getting onto the "What's New" page. I suspect the graphics clip was the problem. Since creating this site, I've tried to keep the pages simple and devoid of memory hungry backgrounds and graphics that frustrate many people trying to use the web. On the other hand, its fun to experiment with new technology being created for the web. Until the hardware used to access the web catches up with the software technology, you may view the results of my "playing around" by going to the "Uechi-ryu experimental graphics page".

Rich Baptista reports that pre-registrations for the Uechi-ryu tournament are up 79% over last year at this time. Keep those applications coming! News from Canada: There have been four Uechi-ryu official tournaments this year that are part of the Uechi-ryu World Championships Series. The top two black belt competitors from these tournaments, based on points earned, were:

1. Mark Burgess, Nidan (Heavyweight) Undefeated in all four events. Mark is a student of Bub Pelham.
2. John MacNeil, Nidan (Lightweight) Undefeated in all four events. John is a student of Louis Hopper.
Both Mark and John will be seeded into the semi-finals of June 1st Championships.

Don't forget the Official's and Black Belt meeting to be held at the Tournament Headquarters located at the Sheraton Tara in Newton, on Friday evening at 7P.M.

May 23, 1996: I just purchased a new figure creation tool program called Poser, by Fractal Design. Don't know if it will be of much value for showing karate techniques, but with some practice, it might be helpful for describing basic movements and techniques. Let me know if anyone else has worked with this program and if so, what are the results.

I've been talking with a number of dojo that have expressed interest in linking with this Uechi page as independent sites that can help provide specific services to our audience. The company that provides this site has agreed to allow a limited number of independent sites to be part of the "Uechi-ryu" address. This means that a dojo or person can have an address as a subdirectory of this page, such as: "www.uechi-ryu.com/mydojo". People would be able to reach your site directly or from a menu on the Uechi-ryu home page. I'd be willing to work with dojo or individuals who will be able to devote time and energies to provide ongoing features of interest to the Uechi-ryu community. Please contact me if you have interest in this project.

Why don't more people contribute to the Forum (Lets Talk) Bulletin Board? Many of you visit the site and check out the messages, but contributions come from regulars. Last night I received a call from a student who complained that he was unable to leave a message. After going over the process with him, he was able to leave a message. Since there are many new computer/Website users visiting this site, I'm going to open a new topic called "TESTING THE FORUM", which will be erased regularly. The primary purpose of this area of the forum, will be to familiarize new users to the mechanics of this page and to give anyone an opportunity to leave "Testing" messages without worrying about making a mistake. If you fall into the category of people curious about the Forum, but afraid to leave a message and making a mistake. . . this section is for you.

Remember. . . first time users must "register". Simply go to the "register" part of the page and click! Fill out whatever part of the form you wish. Write down your username and password EXACTLY as you registered them. I recommend you use all lower case letters. After registering, click on the "TESTING THE FORUM" topic and read the instructions. Then click on "reply" at the top of page and leave a "test" message. Don't be afraid to make a mistake!

Lots of new mail. New events. New Hotlinks! Later, GEM

May 21, 1996: Sunday's Intermurals were a huge success. I'm always impressed with Buzz Durkin and his senior student's ability to put on a class event. They outdid themselves this time. The opening ceremonies were spectacular and entertaining. Spot lights revolved around the auditorium as the competitors ran out onto the floor. Beginning with the smallest children (had to be over a hundred of them) to the black belt competitors. When it was over, there had to be 500 traditionally clad students on the floor.

Kanji Uechi, the middle son of Kanmei, performed a flawless Seisan in front of the packed house. Over 50 families participated in the prearranged sparring competition. Synchronized kata was a big hit with the Uechi crowd. As with the whole affair, teamwork was of paramount importance. Richard Baptista brought over a number of CRANE officials who helped run the freefighting matches. They know their stuff and performed flawlessly. Another feature that I liked was the hospitality Bus outside of the arena. It was great to take a break away from the crown for a few minutes. What do you say Tracy.... can we borrow the bus on June 1st?

"Bap" reports that the Uechi Tournament is getting lots of advanced registrations. Looks like we should have a great event. Hope you will be able to join us!

Received lots of complaints that the Camp Application form wasn't working. I finally checked it out and discovered that I had inadvertently loaded a test page application. The right one is now running. If you had a problem with it before, try again. GEM

May 17, 1996: I had lunch with Kanmei Uechi and his son yesterday in Newton, Mass. They are in New England as the guest of Buzz Durkin's Butokukai and will be guests at Sunday's Intramurals. I am impressed that Kanmei is taking such an active role in the Uechi Association, attending my annual camp in August since the 80's and now making other goodwill trips on behalf of SOKE. Kanmei has taken a lot of flack from his detractors in the past, much of it deserved, but it appears that he has recognized his responsibilities as leader of Uechi-ryu and is doing everything possible to improve his image in the martial arts world. I have witnessed first hand how gossip and half-truths can be orchestrated to destroy a person's reputation. The Uechi family was nearly destroyed by such a carefully coordinated effort five years ago!

Kanmei must feel very good with the current state of Uechi-ryu, as the cycle of hate and gossip turns, like a Uechi circular block, against the attacker! The martial arts world will continue to watch the family as it rebuilds its foundation and refocuses on the positive benefits of the art we perform. It is my feeling that Kanmei will continue to build his self-confidence, helped by his loyal Uechi-ryu teachers and students throughout the world. It is also my feeling and prediction that the real strength, growth and development of SOKE will be in the next generation of the Uechi family. Kanmei probably understands that his peer group make it impossible for him to become the focal point of a unified Uechi world, but that such respect will be earned and deserved by at least one of his sons.

I hope the Uechi world has learned an important lesson from recent history and that the Uechi family will recognize its role in the future rebuilding of Uechi-ryu as we head into the 21st century.

Later..... GEM

May 12, 1996: Check out the article by Jackie Blackburn on the Forum. I had lots of requests to do a Forum Topic on ways that our martial arts have helped people improve their lives. Jackie's article is a wonderful example that hopefully will prompt others to respond with their stories.

My weekend in Ottawa was most rewarding. I met new friends and had an opportunity to work out with old friends Jim Thompson and Ernest Estrada. The weekend highlight for me was Sensei Iha Seikichi. Iha is the present Chief Instructor for the Okinawan Shorin-ryu Shidokan Karate-do Association and is presently ranked a Hanshi 9th Dan. He is also the senior Okinawan practitioner of the Chibana-style Shorin-ryu system residing in the USA. Besides being a genuinely nice person, Iha Sensei is a remarkably gifted and active teacher and has a talent for presenting his unique and workable techniques to students of all styles of karate. His main focus for the weekend was demonstrating the remarkable efficiency of "soft" blocks against any attack possible. He made it look so easy that one would swear the attacking student was defeating himself with no intervention from Sensei Iha. Just when everyone began to suspect that perhaps one could perform these feats without being in condition, Sensei simply stopped blocking, allowing full contact punches and kicks to bounce off his body while he continued to carry on an ongoing conversation with his audience. To his credit, he did not want the students to leave believing these full out kicks and punches were in fact making "full contact"! He carefully explained that although outer strength was important to one's safety, that timing, distancing and leverage were even more important. . . and that using these principles, he was able to divert and defuse the most powerful of attacks.

As it turned out, all the presenters had prepared seminars that focused on the "softer" side of their particular karate system. Although not planned this way, every seminar complimented the previous one. Even the weapon sets, taught by Renshi Devorah Domeitrich, emphasized and enhanced the overall theme of the weekend.

You might enjoy the new letters added to the May Mailbag.
Later. GEM

May 8, 1996: Just got back from Kentucky. What a beautiful state. Spent a couple of days visiting my old Chinese friend, Johnny Lin. While there, I had the good fortune to meet a very fine gentleman by the name of Steve Martin who speaks fluent Chinese and who also is a gifted "potter" and authority on the subject of tea! Steve will be at this year's camp, discussing the "healing" benefits of various Chinese teas and the preparation rituals involved with this art. Participants will be able to sample some of the many delicious teas in Steve's collection and will learn how and where to obtain these teas and the secret to their preparation. Naturally, Steve will serve and make his special brews in tea servers and cups made by him. Lots of new mail in the May Letters Section. I'm looking forward to my Ottawa trip this weekend, then to the Uechi-ryu Championships to be held June 1st. A feature article on the tournament was in this issue of Worldwide Martial Arts News. Email me if you want information on how to get a copy. Later...GEM

May 4, 1996: The second and third video tape of the famous 1965 Asia tour series just arrived. In case you don't have these three tapes, be sure to get them today. This three tape series (#10,11 & 12) contain the complete film of this memorable trip. #10 features Grandmaster Kanei Uechi performing the kata of Sanchin, Seisan, Conching and Sanseiryu. In addition, this tape shows a class, lead by the Grandmaster, where he leads the exercises and demonstrates the use of a makiwara and heavy bag. The tape begins with excerpts of the Grandmaster's funeral.

The second tape, (#11) features the Taiwan segment of the tour. The Taiwan Martial Arts Association hosted a party and demonstration for our group. Many very famous martial arts demonstrated their one and two person sets. Most of these masters are unknown to the Western world, but are very famous in Asia.

The third tape, (#12) contains clips of sparring matches from Okinawa and Japan. Many of our senior Uechi instructors were filmed demonstrating kata at a public demonstration. The last leg of our trip was Wakayami, Japan and the home of Master Ryuyu Tomoyose. Ryuyu Tomoyose was Kanbun Uechi's first student outside of China and has taught Uechi-ryu in Japan since 1926. We filmed Master Tomoyose's class performing kata, conditioning and freefighting. The kata appear much different from what we were doing on Okinawa. I'm sure this film will lead to some interesting discussion and speculation regarding the style's origin and evolution. Order your set today.

Check out the May Letters Section and the Forum Bulletin Board,. The discussion on Strategy is fascinating.

Finally, Ron Klein submitted an excellent proposal for a adjunct Kobudo Association under the NAC/SOKE banner. Ron explores the history of weapons on Okinawa generally and as related to Uechi-ryu specifically. I'd be interested in any comments or suggestions relating to this article/proposal. I'm starting a new "topic" in the Forum for this exchange of ideas. Later... GEM

April 29, 1996: Spent the week with Susan getting out the Tournament and Summer Camp mailing. Just as the last of the brochures were mailed, we received bank approval to take credit cards as payment for the camp and products. We had hoped to include this option with the camp application, but could not wait because of the tournament deadline that was fast approaching. But if you wish to pay for the camp with a Visa or MasterCard, simply include the name and address as listed on the card, card number and expiration date. The person who owns the card must also sign the application. Click here to send an electronic Summer Camp application form. In order to pay by credit card, you must call 508-586-3969 to leave the card information. Our bank will not allow us to take credit card information over the Internet!
Also. . . the latest printing of Uechi-ryu Karate Do has been delivered. If you have books on backorder, they will be shipped this week. Added a couple of new letters to the April mailbag. Later.... GEM

April 23, 1996: Although Sensei Maloney originally intended to only review weapon defenses, he opened up his program on Friday by presenting an exciting seminar on a higher, little understood dimension of Uechi-ryu. Jim got into areas that defined what higher ranked black belts should be doing as he beautifully created a bridge between kata and practical applications. Jim has always been an innovator, and when I visited his dojos in the Vancouver area two years ago, and demonstrated a number of modified applications of kata and kumite, Jim was elated. He had been practicing many of the same type of drills and applications on his own. Jim promised to formalize his findings for this year's Summer Camp. I was very pleasantly surprised to see a preview of his program last Friday. When I have time, I'd like to begin a new thread in the forum regarding this subject. Checked out the forum earlier today. . . Bill Glasheen is doing a great job. New mail in the April Mailbag. Later... GEM

April 18, 1996: How about the new Home Page!!! Finally got it right.... Thanks to Michael Burke, who helped me with a couple of tips. Now if I can only get the "counter" to work for more than two weeks!

Jim Maloney will be a guest instructor at this month's 3rd Friday Black Belt Workout. Jim is creating a 3 tape series covering his very popular and unique "pressure point" and "weapons disarming techniques". Jim will be filming part three of the series this Friday, covering "weapon disarming". If you would like to be part of the seminar, check out Mike Hurney's letter in the April mailbag for directions. (7pm-9pm) Fee is $15 for NAC members, $25 for non-members. Brown and Black Belts are invited.

The sun is finally shining, temperatures are in the 60's and the rain has stopped. This spells "GOLF" for me. Check out the new mail. Visit the Forum. Lots of interesting topics and feedback from the members. Bill Glasheen is doing a great job as the Forum Advisor. Help him out by creating new topics and by responding to existing topics. See you on the golf course.... GEM

April 16, 1996: Still trying to solve the "mapping" problem. Oh well... its not critical..

I just completed the '96 Tournament and Summer Camp brochures. If anyone would like a "hard" copy of these documents, please Email your snail-mail address.

The rules for the June 1st are pretty much set. The Canadians have been working with the minor changes and agree that we should have no problems this year. The biggest change is in officiating! No one will be allowed to referee unless they have been "certified". All this means is that the officials have been checked out in actual mock or real matches and have passed a written test pertaining to the rules. Some of the "old timers" felt they didn't need any training, but after a check in the ring, they soon agreed that practice helps. Simple things like match "protocol" were easily mixed up when under fire. Reading the rules and remembering them in an actual match does not just happen. . . it takes practice. After 5 weeks of training, we have turned out referees and judges who are able to react to most situations. We need more trained officials, time keepers and scorekeepers. Please help out by getting involved! Contact Mike Hurney (617-863-4505) to volunteer as an official or Steve DiOrio (800-314-3656) to volunteer as a scorekeeper/ timekeeper.

BTW, Mike has summarized the match procedures in a letter. Check it out. GEM

April 11, 1996: Is it me, or is this computer technology over everyone's head! I did everything the manual told me to do, (mapping an image) but the @#%$ thing won't work after a dozen tries! Although I "mapped" the bowing students, which should have taken the "Clicker" to the Forum section, the entire area to the left of the image somehow became "mapped" and the image remained unmapped! The Bonsai tree was mapped to the Sponsor section and worked at first, but later stopped working! Anyone out there know what I did wrong?

Had time to put a few new letters in the April mailbag. Also, if you get a chance, please check out the Forum Bulletin Board, ("Kumite" topics) With the Uechi Tournament coming up, I'd like to get your recommendations regarding the proposed rules. Bill Glasheen offers his views on the subject and asks some "hard" questions regarding equipment and takedowns. I presented my viewpoint in response, and am looking forward to hearing from others. GEM

April 10, 1996: I'm having fun learning about the many programs associated with the web. You might have noticed when you logged on, that the Bonsai tree and the students bowing pictures contained a "mapped" link to the web sponsor site and to the Forum section. Eventually, I'll be able to eliminate some of the titles, but for the time being, better use both.

On a sad note, martial art's pioneer Jhoon Rhee lost his wife to cancer last week. If you would like to send him a card, the address is part of the April Mail section. Its amazing, but I was quite close to Mr. Rhee back in the 60's and 70's when we often traveled to the same tournaments together. Then we sort of lost touch and soon, 25 years flashed by!

Another "old" friend, C. Bruce Heilman and I renewed acquaintances last month and to my surprise, accepted my invitation to attend and teach at this year's camp. Bruce is the president of the International Karate Kobudo Federation and is one of the world's most articulate and gifted martial artist.

And while we are discussing living legends in the martial arts, let me tell you about Rick Clark. He spends most of his life traveling around the world teaching seminars on practical applications of various systems. I've included in the April Mail Bag, one of many reviews written about Rick by teachers and students who have attended his programs. By now you can tell that I'm proud to announce that Rick will be spending the August 9-11 weekend with us at the camp. I'm really quite pleased to see the enthusiastic response the camp has been receiving this year. I expect a record turnout from both teachers and students. Don't forget to mark these dates off in your calendar and plan to attend. Click here to send an electronic application form.

I'm working with USA1 to provide another first for the martial arts world. . . direct links to dojo homepages that are provided by USA1 and that are part of the Uechi site. For a small fee, a dojo, manufacturer or supplier may create a homepage that is easily accessible through the Uechi On-Line Magazine. There will be two types of homepages available: a single page containing information you wish to display on a permanent basis or a site you can edit at will. Contact me if you are interested in more information.

If you haven't already done so, check out the Forum and April Mail Bag. Your suggestions, comments and information are important. Get involved! GEM

April 5, 1996: Lots of new and interesting things happening on the Site today. Transferred old "Whatsnew" comments to an archive file. . . still available, but not taking up space on this page. Jim is helping me with the new Forum section, so that I'll be able to organize the categories for easier access. Lots of new mail in the April Mail bag section. Had over 100 email messages waiting for me when I returned from my Florida trip last night. Wish more people had web browers so they could communicate via the Forum, but many use their office machines which have "firewalls" that prevent web access.

Check out the Schedule page for new events. Jim Witherell is hosting a "Superfoot" Bill Wallace Seminar in May and don't forget the Ottawa weekend in May.

Wish to congratulate Mr. Tom Mareno on the opening of a new Uechi-Ryu (NAC/SOKE) dojo in Manistique Michigan. For information, please contact Mr. Mareno through David Moyle at the Delta County Budokan. (906-786-3404)

Lots of new dojo listings. Never knew we had so many Uechi-Ryu schools in Australia! A few in France and even one in Switzerland! Back at you soon. GEM

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