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Shohei-Ryu (formally known as Uechi-Ryu)

A traditional Okinawan, Zen based style founded by Kanbum Uechi. Although it has become one of the main Okinawan martial arts and absorbed many of the traditional Okinawan karate training methods and approaches, it is historically, and to some extent technically, quite separate.

The name Shohei-ryu comes from two Chinese characters, "sho" meaning “to shine brightly” and "hei" meaning “fairness”, “equality” and “peace”. The name also refers to two Japanese eras, a past one, showa, and the present one, heisei. Ryu (pronounced “roo”) is the Japanese word for “style” or “path”.

Grandmaster Kanbun Uechi was born on May 5, 1877 in Isumi, a small village in northern Okinawa. In 1897, at the age of 20, he fled to Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian province in China, to avoid being drafted into the Japanese army, which was occupying Okinawa at the time. For ten years, he studied the art of Pangai-noon, meaning half hard half soft, under master Shushiwa, a Buddhist priest who had received his training in the Shoalin Temple in Southern China. Pangai-noon was derived from the interwoven movements of the tiger, crane and dragon and it concentrates on the use of the single-knuckle punch, spear-hand strike, pointed kick and circular block. Uechi opened his own school in Nanchon, a city in Fukien Province, where he taught for three years, having the distinction of being the only Okinawan ever accepted in China as a teacher. Disheartened after one of his students became involved in a dispute and killed another person, Uechi vowed never to teach again, and, in 1910, he closed his school and returned Okinawa where he married and, on June 26, 1911, his son Kanei was born. Uechi still refused to teach his art and only once during the ensuing years did he reluctantly demonstrate his kata.

Absorbing some Okinawan Goju-ryu over the decades, Shohei-ryu still retains its original Chinese flavor, both in its technique and in the culture of the dojo. It is a "half-hard, half-soft" style very similar to such southern Chinese styles as Fukienese Crane (as still practiced in the Chinese communities of Malaysia), Taiwanese Golden Eagle, and even Wing-chun. Conditioning the body for both attack and defense is a common characteristic of both Okinawan karate and southern Shoalin "street" styles, and as such is an important part of Shohei-ryu training. There is a strong internal component to the practice, including focused breathing and tensioning exercises similar to Chinese Qigong. Shohei-ryu, following its Chinese Crane heritage, emphasizes circular blocks, low snap kicks, infighting (coordinating footwork with grabs, locks, throws, and sweeps), and short, rapid hand traps and attacks (not unlike Wing-chun). The style incorporates the characteristics of the wushu animals.  It uses circular motions and uses the phoenix eye single knuckle punch. Unlike most karate styles, it uses grappling techniques.

Shorei-Ryu

Shorei-ryu is an Okinawan hard style. Known for its heavy, powerful techniques, body toughening training, and its numerous stances.  It is more suitable for a person of heavy body structure. It strives to emulate the actions of the 5 traditional animals and teaches all the traditional Okinawan weapons, such as the bo, tonfa, and sai. Some characteristics of Shorei-ryu are:

• Stances exceptionally low in kata form.

• Seiken thrust: is slightly downward and in center of body. The rear leg moves slightly forward at the completion of the punch. The moving of the rear leg is automatic and is caused by the power generated by the force of the punch and the forward movement of the hips.

• Fist: index finger under curled thumb.

• Hips: rotate with a definite forward movement.

• Blocks: all start spiraling at wrists and spiral until completion of block.

• Head snap when turning.

• Thousand hand, five and six-count rice exercises, and sun fist.

• High rising block, executed from thigh up.

• Teeth clenched.

• Wide-eyed stare.

• Eight faces: the art of looking or expression (hyojo do): Confidence, Friendly, Solemn, Unconcerned, Contempt, Shock, Fear, and Anger.

• All kicks, blocks, and strikes are 90% circular.

• Kicks: for every forward one there is a reverse one. 

• Te-katana and te-uke covers are very obvious in all Shuri-ryu techniques and katas.

• Body: always relaxed until exact moment of completing technique.

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