Uechi Ryu Karate originated in Okinawa, and is considered a “hard” style. It was developed by Master Kanbun Uechi (1877-1948), who originally trained under Shu Shi Wa. Uechi Ryu was named after Kanbun Uechi in 1940, when he opened his own club, and further developed by his son, Kanei Uechi.
Uechi Ryu Karate is directly influenced by the style of martial arts created in the Shaolin Temple, and involves a lot of conditioning for the body. This conditioning entails the practitioner to withstand hard blows to their body in order to become immune to pain. Typically, the legs and arms are conditioned the most, which allows practitioners to block strikes without wincing, and deliver a counter attack.
Grappling and throws are also utilized.

Uechi Ryu Stances and Forms

Uechi Ryu is a style of karate that does not require the practitioner to learn many stances. Stances that are typically practiced are the horse stance and sanchin stance. The sanchin stance is the first stance to learn.

As for forms, or kata in Japanese, there are sanchin, sanseiriu and seisan, which were all developed before World War II, and kanshiwa, seichin, seiriu, and konchin, developed afterwards. Practitioners must perfect each form during training. They can be tracticed int their entirety or specific techniques and movements can be selected and analyzed to be practiced in drills called kata bunkai. In kata bunkai the practitioner will be able to develop their self defence ability as these techniques and movements can be placed into context for practical use.

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