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About the School
and the Style

The Okinawa KarateDo UechiRyu Zankai Nagahama Dojo was built in 2000

by G. Seizan Breyette (Kyudan) and Sumako Matsuda-Breyette (Godan),

both students of Toyama Seiko Sensei, the last active student of Uechi Kanbun Sensei. 

The performance style and philosophies of karate taught are those of the older

pre-WW2 Chinese version of UechiRyu KarateDo.

 

Toyama Sensei created the Okinawa KarateDo UechiRyu Zankai in April 1998.

He passed away at age 81 in April 2009.

​Seizan is now Kaicho (Association Owner) for the UechiRyu Zankai.

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The original performance style of UechiRyu KarateDo is non-competitive

and concerns personal development and lifestyle training,

aligning with the original philosophy of the system

in accordance with the Founder's vision.

 

Seizan’s wife Sumako is also a qualified karate instructor but prefers to teach yoga,

so the dojo is for both yoga and karate.

 

The chief focus in old-style training is on creating a peaceful lifestyle

while developing the means to protect that lifestyle if necessary. 

No sports karate.

 

Students do not come to the dojo and get hurt learning how NOT to get hurt! 

Students attend dojo to become more -- to gain physical, mental, and spiritual strength,

moral understanding, and find their energy -- not to be injured, humiliated, or used as punching bags.

 

 Here's a look around the inside of the dojo:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N6mIz__B1Q​

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Further information regarding tuition fees (no contracts), the instructors, syllabus,

fees and schedules for lodging students, etc. is available on request.

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If you have any questions about the Nagahama Dojo, the style or training,

or are interested in visiting, we are happy to discuss with you.

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To talk about this style or training, please feel free to Skype us at Seizan01.

You can e-mail us at Breyette(at)gray.plala.or.jp, or send an invitation via Skype with a short text,

and we can arrange a time to connect (considering time zone differences and duty schedules).

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We hope to hear from you anytime...!

Our Objectives

Toyama Seiko Sensei established the Okinawa KarateDo UechiRyu Zankai to research, study, practice,

and preserve the original old performance style and training philosophies of his teacher Uechi Kanbun Sensei,

the founder of UechiRyu KarateDo.

 

Kanbun Sensei left “Five Principles of Budo Training” by which we practice karate and live our lives. 

They are simple, direct, and clear to understand but not always easy to follow. 

 

1 - The purpose of karate training is to build and nourish a strong physique.

1 - The purpose of karate training is to develop the mental, spiritual, and human characteristics.

1 - The purpose of karate training is never to attack, but to defend only.

1 - The purpose of karate training is never to fight or harm others in any way by actions, words, or thoughts.

1 - The purpose of karate training is to develop stamina, endurance, and patience

in order to calmly accept life’s responsibilities and overcome any difficult situation.

 

Each is labeled “1”; each holds equal value and importance to Zankai practitioners. 

The key word in these directions is “purpose”.

 

While there are many ways to preclude or stop a conflict

before it escalates into a violent physical confrontation,

it is sometimes necessary – though never good – to fight. 

Sometimes one must fight to defend oneself or protect another,

but it is not the purpose for training.

 

Sports and Non-Sports Karate

 

Some practitioners choose to train for non-sport purposes,

and some choose a style that includes sports in its training regimen. 

It simply depends on one’s personal preferences.

 

The UechiRyu Zankai does not practice sports karate. 

Training karate as a sport was never considered in Kanbun Sensei’s dojo. 

This doesn’t invalidate sports karate in any way – it’s neither of interest to Zankai practitioners,

nor supported by our training philosophy.

 

Old and Contemporary Styles

 

There are differences between the old and contemporary styles

in posture, breathing pattern, kata rhythm, balance and center of gravity, performance speed, and more. 

Several old-style techniques differ, being Chinese-style in performance and application. 

There are differences also in the purpose and intent of the practice,

and the application of the training philosophies to all aspects of a practical daily life.

Members and Branches

We currently have students, study groups, clubs, and/or dojo in the following locations:

 

India

Sri Lanka

Hong Kong

Singapore

Malaysia

Canada

USA

Argentina

Scotland

England

Norway

Germany

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LINKS TO BRANCH DOJO / CLUB WEBSITES:

 

Scotland

 

(Howwood, near Glasgow – ask me for information)

 

Germany

 

(Moenchengladbach, near Dusseldorf)

https://uechiryukarate.de.tl/

 

India

 

(Minjur, Tamil Nadu – ask about other training centers in the locale)

https://selvamzan.wixsite.com/website

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Sri Lanka

 

(Two dojo in the Colombo vicinity -- ask me for information)

 

USA

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Massachusetts

https://www.bellonekarate.com/

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California

(California City, California – ask me for information)

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Argentina

 

Guernica, Buenos Aires

https://sites.google.com/view/urzkargentina/p%C3%A1gina-principal

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Hong Kong

https://www.zankaihk.com/

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A Brief History of
UechiRyu KarateDo

UechiRyu KarateDo was originally a form of Chinese Boxing -- one of the pangainun (“tough-flexible”) systems.  UechiRyu KarateDo is based mostly on Tiger Style Boxing, supplemented by additional animal styles.  This system combines the movements of the tiger, dragon, crane, leopard, snake, mantis, and cobra.

 

Uechi Kanbun Sensei was born in Izumi, a small village on the Motobu peninsula of northern Okinawa.  In 1897, Kanbun left Okinawa for China to avoid conscription in the Japanese Army.

 

In Fuzhou, Fukien Province of China, Kanbun met a young teacher named Zhou Zihe ("Shuu Shiwa" in Japanese), a master of Chinese Boxing.  Kanbun studied with Zhou every day for ten years.  Eventually he was permitted to teach, and taught in China for nearly three years.  In 1910 Kanbun Sensei left China and returned to Okinawa.

 

Shortly after his return to Okinawa, Kanbun Sensei married and settled down to a life of farming.  His son Kanei was born in 1911.  Other children followed, and the Uechi family grew.

 

Sixteen years after his return from China, Uechi Kanbun Sensei finally shared his art publicly once again.  He left Okinawa in 1924 for employment in Mainland Japan, in Wakayama (near Osaka) where he began teaching in 1926.  Kanbun Sensei and his senior students established a highly reputable dojo.  Kanbun Sensei taught full time, and also made and sold medicinal compounds.  By that time, the art of fighting without weapons was becoming known popularly as karate -- “Empty Hand” (it had previously been known as To-Di or To-Te, “Chinese Hand”).  One Japanese kanji KARA means “Chinese”; the other KARA means empty, void, and sky.

 

Kanbun Sensei referred to the style as “Pangainun-Ryu Karate-Jutsu” (Tough-Flexible Method of Empty-Hand Skills), which only describes the manner of training and fighting.  Kanbun Sensei returned to Okinawa after WW2 and moved to Ie Jima, an island just off the northwest coast of Okinawa.  He died there in his 70’s.  After his death, the system was renamed UechiRyu KarateDo (Uechi’s Method of the Way of Karate) by his son Uechi Kanei.

 

Kanei Sensei taught a modified version of his father's style.  There are now many associations on Okinawa related to UechiRyu, all teaching slightly different but equally valid styles of the contemporary system.  At the time of Uechi Kanei Sensei’s death in 1991, only one Wakayama Dojo student was still teaching Kanbun Sensei’s original old style – Toyama Seiko Sensei.  Toyama Sensei was a student of Uechi Kanbun Sensei since 1938, and both student and colleague of Uechi Kanei Sensei since the early 1950’s.  During the early 1970’s he quietly distanced himself from publicity and taught privately in his small dojo in Yomitan.

 

Toyama Sensei was considered by Uechi Kanei Sensei to be one of the two best instructors of UechiRyu on Okinawa (the other was Shinjo Seiyu Sensei), and was the last instructor of his generation who taught Kanbun Sensei’s original performance style of UechiRyu.  The original style is a purely personal protective Budo art, unsuitable for sport use, with an aim of polishing the character and spirit of the practitioner.

 

Toyama Sensei passed away on 10 April 2009 at age 81.

 

G. Seizan Breyette

©2018 Okinawa KarateDo UechiRyu Zankai

All Rights Reserved

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Training Sessions

"By appointment" = arrange in advance, please.

"Evening" = at or after 7PM.

 

~~~~~

 

Monday Evening ~ Karate, by appointment

 

Tuesday ~ 7PM Karate, all ages

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Wdnesday 5:30PM - 7PM ~ Sumako's Hatha Yoga class)

 

Wednesday Evening ~ Karate, by appointment

 

Thursday ~ 7PM Karate, all ages

 

Friday Evening ~ Karate, by appointment

 

Saturday ~ 1PM Karate, all ages

 

Saturday (after regular class) ~ Karate, by appointment

Get in Touch...

Breyette(at)gray.plala.or.jp

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