Im curious. Why uechi over other styles? Was it because of the traditional lineage, practicality, prior exposure? What makes uechi, vs. other forms of karate, your style of choice. KIM that im looking for a style and have some options here. Sho-rei, uechi, and a mixed style of pan gai noon/uechi/and something else.
Im leaning towards practicality and something that is both a workout and applicable in a real world situation.
Thanks to all-ive learned a lot already.
Why Uechi
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Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
I spent 14 years teaching people in a University environment, and probably had over 2000 people come through my classes. I used to query folks at the first class as to why they came in the front door. The top answers were somthing like this:
* The class fit into my schedule.
* I liked the cool posters.
* (Name your lame reason that was articulatd for my consumption rather than the real reason they were there)
It was very rare that someone said something like "I understand the Uechi style is a really effective martial arts style." And I never, ever, ever heard someone say "I wanted to study with the world famous Bill Glasheen." Go figure...
I started with a Japanese style that was taught at my first college. I got lucky. This guy was the real deal from Japan, and he was a rising superstar in his culture. He had some "issues", but he never beat the crapola out of me too badly...
I next transferred to UVa, and started with this style called Myo Sim. This was the first class I ever walked into where I realized that not all styles and/or teachers were made alike. I left after the class where another student beside me was quietly singing the Mickey Mouse song when watching a certain instructor prance in front of the class.
I hung out doing nothing for a semester.
Then the late Rad Smith started the very first Uechi Ryu class at UVa. I didn't know Rad from Adam's off ox, and I knew less about the Uechi style. I gave it a try. At first it seemed a bit effeminate compared to my original Japanese martial arts style. But I was stupid enough to ask Rad if he'd spar with me at the end of the class. I just needed the practice... Rad happily agreed. Then I spent the next 15 minutes or so on the floor. Every time I came at Rad, I ended up either being slammed or on the floor. I think I got a backfist in... I was hooked.
Understand, Rad Smith was a phenominal individual. Very few people know him. (George does. Bobby Campbell does.) He was a Harvard phi beta kappa who also was a sprinter on the track team and swam on the swimming team. He took up Uechi with George when someone threatened to throw him off a Boston subway if he didn't hand over his leather jacket. Rad took classes every single day for a year, and became the first student ever to get a shodan from George in a year. He was special. It wasn't just the style.
But still... I figured Rad had something to teach me, even if the style seemed a bit lame to me from my hard karate style perspective.
But... This style kind of grows on you. This style teaches more with less. If you train the main forms, it will be the foundation for you to take the main material in countless different directions. Like to work out? You can shape a martial workout with Uechi. Like to box? Muhammed Ali's and Jack Johnson's brand of "stand up" boxing is very Uechi-like. Like to f*** someone up? The style came from the era of the boxer rebellion. It's there if you know what to look for. Like to grapple? We grab and then some, and what works on your feet also works on the ground.
It's parsimonious wisdom. It's the skeleton that a cross-training martial artist can use to flesh out his/her own martial style in whatever way (s)he desires.
But mostly, it works for me.
- Bill
* The class fit into my schedule.
* I liked the cool posters.
* (Name your lame reason that was articulatd for my consumption rather than the real reason they were there)
It was very rare that someone said something like "I understand the Uechi style is a really effective martial arts style." And I never, ever, ever heard someone say "I wanted to study with the world famous Bill Glasheen." Go figure...
I started with a Japanese style that was taught at my first college. I got lucky. This guy was the real deal from Japan, and he was a rising superstar in his culture. He had some "issues", but he never beat the crapola out of me too badly...
I next transferred to UVa, and started with this style called Myo Sim. This was the first class I ever walked into where I realized that not all styles and/or teachers were made alike. I left after the class where another student beside me was quietly singing the Mickey Mouse song when watching a certain instructor prance in front of the class.
I hung out doing nothing for a semester.
Then the late Rad Smith started the very first Uechi Ryu class at UVa. I didn't know Rad from Adam's off ox, and I knew less about the Uechi style. I gave it a try. At first it seemed a bit effeminate compared to my original Japanese martial arts style. But I was stupid enough to ask Rad if he'd spar with me at the end of the class. I just needed the practice... Rad happily agreed. Then I spent the next 15 minutes or so on the floor. Every time I came at Rad, I ended up either being slammed or on the floor. I think I got a backfist in... I was hooked.
Understand, Rad Smith was a phenominal individual. Very few people know him. (George does. Bobby Campbell does.) He was a Harvard phi beta kappa who also was a sprinter on the track team and swam on the swimming team. He took up Uechi with George when someone threatened to throw him off a Boston subway if he didn't hand over his leather jacket. Rad took classes every single day for a year, and became the first student ever to get a shodan from George in a year. He was special. It wasn't just the style.
But still... I figured Rad had something to teach me, even if the style seemed a bit lame to me from my hard karate style perspective.
But... This style kind of grows on you. This style teaches more with less. If you train the main forms, it will be the foundation for you to take the main material in countless different directions. Like to work out? You can shape a martial workout with Uechi. Like to box? Muhammed Ali's and Jack Johnson's brand of "stand up" boxing is very Uechi-like. Like to f*** someone up? The style came from the era of the boxer rebellion. It's there if you know what to look for. Like to grapple? We grab and then some, and what works on your feet also works on the ground.
It's parsimonious wisdom. It's the skeleton that a cross-training martial artist can use to flesh out his/her own martial style in whatever way (s)he desires.
But mostly, it works for me.
- Bill
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dpasquarelli
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:17 am
- Location: North Shore, Massachusetts
As a teenager there was a Uechi teacher in my town that a couple of friends of mine were learning from and that got me interested. The teacher was Ron LaBrie and the the student I am referrring to is Bob Spoon. At that time, I trained for about a year and a half and them I could no longer afford to train. I guess I trained Uechi because it is what was available to me. I also boxed a little with Bob as kids, he was a phenomenal boxer by the way.
Fast forward 16 tears, I ran into sensei Spoon in my capacity as a doorman and he told me he was teaching. That was enough for me to start training again and I have been training with him since as well as Sensei Quimby. Now, however, I don't train just because it is available. I like the Uechi fighting doctrine. It fits my personal style and body type. I am happy to take a few licks to get inside and do my damage when necessary, perhaps this relates back to my early boxing experience and being the youngest child of seven. Of course it is nice to not be hit too.
Fast forward 16 tears, I ran into sensei Spoon in my capacity as a doorman and he told me he was teaching. That was enough for me to start training again and I have been training with him since as well as Sensei Quimby. Now, however, I don't train just because it is available. I like the Uechi fighting doctrine. It fits my personal style and body type. I am happy to take a few licks to get inside and do my damage when necessary, perhaps this relates back to my early boxing experience and being the youngest child of seven. Of course it is nice to not be hit too.
"Audentes Fortuna Juvat."
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Stryke
Body style
Does uechi favor a larger or smaller person? ( It was mentioned in this thread that one practitioner likes the style because of his body type). Im of a larger frame-I think my lowest Army weight was 185. Im considerably more than that now but its going away with time. Im 5 10 and big chested. Ive done some tai chi before but I won't say I was as pretty doing it as some of the 'smaller' people in the class!
The dojo where im going to class now is primarily a pang gai noon school, based on my discussions with the senior instructor. He said that after 1947 there was a rift in the schools and some remained uechi and some went back to pang gai noon. Knowing that, are the two styles relatively similar?
The dojo where im going to class now is primarily a pang gai noon school, based on my discussions with the senior instructor. He said that after 1947 there was a rift in the schools and some remained uechi and some went back to pang gai noon. Knowing that, are the two styles relatively similar?
I had heard of Bill years before I met him. He was somewhat known on the net for debunking a certain chi-master. So maybe he is kind of world famous.Stryke wrote:HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH !!!!!"I wanted to study with the world famous Bill Glasheen." Go figure...
find me that Job Bill ...., i`ll write an unbiased reveiw
I was dreaming of the past...
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Stryke
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dpasquarelli
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:17 am
- Location: North Shore, Massachusetts
Let me elaborate on the body type comment in my earlier post. I am 6 feet tall and 210 pounds and so I am fairly sturdy and can take a pretty good shot, although I would prefer not to do so. Also, other, more acrobatic styles such as some types of kung fu or tai kwon do don't really suit my mindset or build, in my opinion. This is not to say that they don't suit other of the same build, perhaps I am just not athletic enough.
I do think that Uechi is for everyone, especially with it's blend of soft and hard elements but I wouldn't think that it would be wise for a smaller person to try to grab, offbalance and strike a much larger opponent unless you have some serious ground skills to get out of trouble if you endup there with a big person on top.
I do think that Uechi is for everyone, especially with it's blend of soft and hard elements but I wouldn't think that it would be wise for a smaller person to try to grab, offbalance and strike a much larger opponent unless you have some serious ground skills to get out of trouble if you endup there with a big person on top.
"Audentes Fortuna Juvat."
My reason for training in uechi-ryu has nothing to do with uechi it self. I had seen shitty schools of uechi-ryu at karate/kung-fu touch contact tournaments(jing wu assosation or something like that), so i was put off of it. When i left my old school, i was looking for the following, regardless of style:
*Continues practice of close querters fighting and stand up grappling
*Cover street defence.
*Had to be based off of internal principles but actual hit each other full contact.
*Covered ground fighting.
*Open and closed hand strikes.
*Meditation of some sort.
Hence, i found WKS. Which had all of the above. So I joined, and was introduced to Uechi-ryu.
*Continues practice of close querters fighting and stand up grappling
*Cover street defence.
*Had to be based off of internal principles but actual hit each other full contact.
*Covered ground fighting.
*Open and closed hand strikes.
*Meditation of some sort.
Hence, i found WKS. Which had all of the above. So I joined, and was introduced to Uechi-ryu.
I hear you
Your body type is what got my attention. Im relatively short and hefty-I love tai chi, but im not acrobatic! *lol* Thanks for your input.
