Deadly techniques of Uechiryu
I have not been writing about martial arts (especially karate) for a very long time. But that does not mean I have stopped practicing. Life has been busy with works lately and today my “mood” suddenly revisits me and so I decide to write this post.
Many of you may be wondering what I have been up to in karate. Have I stopped training? Hell no. I have been reading a lot about human anatomy and meridian pressure points these days. I find them enlightening. I became interested in human anatomy after working on a project building a gynecology website.
Using the knowledge that I have learned about human anatomy, many questions about Uechiryu techniques have been answered. These techniques are extremely dangerous and deadly when applied with medical knowledge.
What it is left now is training and more training to attain surgical precision strike in applying these techniques.
摧心取脑
好久没写关于空手道和武术的文章了。上星期和学生谈到了一些练武心得。最近也有一些新领悟。这一领悟，和我先前所写的一篇文章有很密切的关系。在此记录一下：
Joints – Part 1 – The Power Generator
In order to understand my earlier article about Oneness and subsequently other parts of it; the understanding of power generation from joints, especially elbows, is utterly crucial and cannot be disregarded.
Joints are important to our movements and acted as a power transmission center along the transmission lines of our limbs. In martial arts, especially internal system such as Wing-Chun, punching power is generated from elbows. Wing-Chun is mimicking many animals and among them are mainly crane and tiger. Crane being the foundation and essential form of Wing-Chun, it is also one of the three main animals in Uechi-ryu.
Sifu Hoe (my uncle) has been training Tiger style boxing since young. He has many years of training in Tiger style boxing. He also practices Taijiquan until now. According to Sifu Hoe’s teaching, the important factor in Tiger style boxing is to lighten up your upper body but have a firm stance and powerful hips for movement and striking. His description matches Ikyuro perfectly but with deeper knowledge and details. The striking power is generated by forearm, from elbow down to the every finger tips. The upper arm and shoulder are locomotive and transmission lines.
Although the power is generated by forearm, power generation using dan tien (the human body center of gravity in the lower abdomen situated 3 inches below navel) and stance can never be ignored. The ground is the ultimate power generator.
So, we know what being the power generators. The question now is how. How do we generate power using joints? I will discuss in details later.
Sandairyu
Sandairyu performed by Toyama Sensei, Ju-dan (10th dan).
Oneness – Part 1
My training on Okinawa has opened up a totally new dimension of understanding in karate techniques. As we all know, karate derived from Chinese kung-fu. Old grand masters of various Okinawan schools went to China to learn. When they brought back the knowledge, they blended what they had learned from China into their aboriginal martial arts and became karate during the mid of last century.
I learned about Ikyuro or oneness or moving stance / striking together at the same time for deep impact. Locking at specific joints and contraction of muscles at specific areas during striking is essential to generate sharper and more powerful impact. This has to be performed with good stance.
When you focus on the muscles on your calves and thighs, you can suspend your entire body weight and sink it down to the ground via both legs. This suspension provides power generation and stability at the same time.
My understanding of Ikyuro was never complete before I research into Kosonken or tiger style boxing. Tiger is one of the three main animals in Uechi-ryu.
In Tiger style, 六合归一 or 6-in-1 or 6-become-1, is the emphasis of power generation using 6 elements, 3 externals and 3 internals. The 3 external elements are body, foundation and stance. The 3 internal elements are 精 (jing) or essence, 气 (qi) or energy and 神 (shen) or internal organs, bones fresh and blood.
If you have watched carefully the Sandairyu performance of Toyama Sensei, he has all these 6 elements in one body, one mind and one soul.
Shoulder bursitis
I had shoulder pain since March. Initially, it began at my left shoulder after waking up one morning. The pain was not too serious until recently (for the past two weeks), I had lousy sleep. Both of my shoulders were aching and often woke me up in the middle of the night. I thought it was some kind of spraining and it would go away after good rest with less training. But it seems to self-exacerbate. The pain was getting more intense every night.
Last night, I read articles about shoulder bursitis or rotator cuff injuries and treatment. After reading these articles, I decided to give it a try. I applied Fastum gel (Ketoprofen) on both shoulders. Guess what? I had the best sleep ever since March. I woke up early this morning without any pain.
Fastum is used to relief localized pain of arthritis, rheumatism or sports injury. I should have acted earlier.
On and off, I had been doing some wauke spontaneously while I was thinking or working on some programming problems. Some kind of off-my-mind of physical activities after sitting in front of computer for too long. I guess it was the effect of banging my head on the keyboard and I lost sense of safety. Without doing proper stretching, I performed wauke with speed and force as in a counter attack situation. That could have torn my muscles or tendons on the bursa and I overlook the seriousness of the pain. How insanely I was!
Alright, now I am on Ketoprofen and I am going to apply it for the second time. Hope my shoulders will recover in a month or two.
Learn to use your muscles
The main basic goal of any martial art training is to learn the fundamental method of using our muscle effectively. During training, it is important to concentrate in the movement of every muscles and to feel exactly which muscles are moving.
By controlling the proper contraction of each muscles, one will gradually learn to use the muscles efficiently and to achieve motion economy. Many people neglects this part of training. A few of them learn to use their muscle without knowing it. If you start your training by learning to use your muscle, you will achieve better result much sooner than the others who don’t.
But how? I remembered my uncle used to talk about some training movement in Taijiquan when I was starting to learn karate. I felt boring listening to his stories. A couple of months ago, my interest sparked again. I talked to him regarding training and learn some secrets from him. Not because I don’t trust him, I reconfirm with dragon to make sure I have a more precise understanding of my uncle’s explanation. He used to brag a lot unnecessarily. 
I will write a series of posts here for the methods to develop muscle, especially the waist, which is the most powerful and every martial artists rely so much.
The true meaning of martial arts training
Whilst many people engage in martial arts training, many of them neglect or not knowing the true meaning of training. It is very difficult to teach younger children about the philosophy of training but the older people tends to refuse or ignore the importance of training philosophy.
As a karate instructor for more than a decade of coaching and teaching experience, I have observed many different human behaviors in children, adolescent and even adults. I have very hard working students and also very ignorant and “lazy” students. Lazy not in terms of physically lazy but in mentally and attitude wise. Lazy in terms of seeking short cuts to achieve black belts as their peers do. I had students who trained with me and at the same time trained in other martial arts. With me, they had only achieved 1 grade higher then white belt for one year of training but they had achieved junior black belts in the other. They started their trainings in karate and other martial arts almost the same time. Black belts they are but yet can they kick or punch like black belts.
Two factors influenced the younger students.
- Parents attitude in transferring their responsibilities to 3rd party in their children’s physical and mental education.
- Ignorant parents and their egoism to see their children achieving some standards, in this case, black belt as their peers or neighbors’ children do.
I have parents who are very concerning about their children’s progress. But none of them consistent enough to stay concerned throughout entire year. They become concerned when grading test is approaching. This attitude reflects onto their children subconsciously.
While older children and older adults are easier to train (but not much easier then the younger children), I have formulated some training-playing methodology to help my younger students to train. I called it cognitive training. I will let them play a simple game of jumping, for instance, to help them develop muscles on their legs and hips. They usually enjoy the games very much.
As to older students, especially adults, explanation of bio-mechanism is crucial but always not taken seriously by most adult students. Only a few will absorb my explanation and apply into their training.
I wrote a similar but not identical article here. It is about learning to use the muscles.
Grading for improvement
In January, I failed 3 students during their grading test. There were 5 kids from Jasin testing for hachi-kyu. 2 passed and 3 failed. Although the 3 kids were not up to the grading standard, I deliberately tested and failed them. Why?
I am repeating again and again during training every Sunday but they take training very lightly. They don’t pay attention while training and not to mention practicing at home. These kids, including their parents, think it is enough coming for training once a week. Their concepts are wrong, so do many other people in martial arts training. The kids, including adults, come to training not to learn but to prepare their body and mind. The actual training begins when they achieve black belt sho-dan. But many people thinks they are learning which I don’t agree. Yes, learning it is, but to learn how to control our body, every single muscles and mind. That’s the learning I am talking about.
So, tonight, the grading has shown good improvement. 4 kids took the grading. The 3 kids who failed in January had retest and passed at border line and earned their hachi-kyu. The other little girl (8-year-old) had earned her nana-kyu. This girl is improving very fast.
After the grading, their parents arrived to take them home. I took the opportunity to explain to all of them the concept of training and their children’s progress, advantage and weakness. I hope these kids will continue to excel and improve.
Japanese Cultural Performance
The MMU’s Japanese Language Society had organized The Japanese Cultural Night on March 2. My karate doukoukai was given an opportunity to put up a performance on that night. The lead was established in December last year and my students and I had been busying for the performance since January and especially after the Chinese New Year.
Tonight, it was finally over, after two weeks of preparation. IMHO, the performance was very good comparing to previous performance.
A team consisted of 4 best female students had been selected to perform in the Japanese Culture Night organized by MMU’s Japanese Language Society on March 2, 2008. The team was led by Adrian Senpai. This performance showcased full Uechi-ryu techniques and training culture of Okinawa. The team had performed the best show ever since the formation of Malaysia Uechi-ryu.
The demo team members were:
- Allison Beh (MMU)
- Ong Lee Ying (SMK Ayer Keroh)
- Dalilah Mohmad Khaidar (Jasin)
- Batrisyia Mohmad Khaidar (Jasin)
The performance included:
- Dalilah and Batrisyia performing dantai no Sanchin
- Batrisyia performing Kanshiwa
- Allison and Ong performing dantai no Sanchin and received advanced Sanchin kitae
- Dantai no kata: Kanshiwa, Kanshuu, Seichin and Seisan
- Advanced kote kitae
- Renzoku kumite
These photos are courtesy of Mr. Thum Chia Chieh.
Adrian Senpai leading a bow in seiza position.
Two senior students performing Sanchin and received advanced Sanchin kitae from Adrian Senpai.
Adrian Senpai performing dantai no Kanshiwa with two senior students.
Adrian Senpai performing in dantai no kata with two senior students.
Adrian Senpai and Allison performing advanced kote kitae (body conditioning).
Adrian Senpai and Allison performing renzoku kumite.
福建少林拳（转载）
福建少林寺是南派少林拳的正宗发源地，创立于唐代，毁于清朝康熙年间。福建少林寺位于福建福州市福清的东张镇九莲山，现于重建中。福建福州少林拳，广泛流传于福州，长乐，福清，永泰，闽侯，蒲田泉州，厦门等地，并流传广东，浙江，江西等省，并经华侨流传香港，新加坡，澳门，日本，缅甸，泰国，马来西亚，台湾，美国，韩国等国家，地区。
福建福州少林拳继承了北少林拳的精髓，吸收民间和行伍中流传的各种拳法，仿效飞禽走兽，家畜家禽，鱼虾等动物的觅食，飞翔，搏斗，跳跃等动作，又综合吸收《易经》，经络学，气功理论，逐步发展为内外合一，内外兼修的实用性技击性强的南派少林拳法。
福建福州少林拳动作精简迅疾，巧狠并行，刚柔并济，身法敏捷，勇猛刚劲，多短打近攻，套路简捷朴素，富有阳刚之美。
福建福州少林拳以阴阳，五行相生相克，喻手法，身法，讲究精，气，神，意，劲，手，眼，身，法，步的配合，要求劲力节节贯穿，筋，肌富有弹性，每一拳一脚都着眼于实战搏击，福建少林拳头顶项稳，紧臀松裆，含胸拔背，沉肩坠肘，步实身正，搏击交手时虚实兼用，巧狠并施，连防带打，以柔克刚，以刚克柔，不封即缠，不刁即裹，不扣即搂，严密紧凑，快速连贯，拳不空发，手不空回，使对手陷入步步挨打的被动局面.
福建福州少林拳很讲究劲，’劲’可分为’内劲’，’明劲’，’刚劲 ‘，’柔劲‘和’暗劲’（福州方言即短劲，寸进）。’内劲’是意识支配’内气’行至身体某一部位，气经骨缝肌肤，通过肢体屈伸辗转与肌肉收缩而形成，在外形上使人明显见到发力效果谓之’明劲’。
1，暗劲 ；暗劲重意，拳掌在短距离内震颤骤然施劲，触物即刚，神凝气沉，功蕴于内，随意而达，劲力莫测，也叫寸劲，
2。刚劲是由丹田产生气，力随气意在肢体一处爆发产生的力，也叫弹簧劲
3。柔劲是全身骨节，肌肉及内脏器官严密配合，含蓄活跃于体内又能随意集中于一处的一种韧劲，也叫橡胶劲。
福建福州少林拳注重双桥（福州方言，即手腕到肘关节的前手臂叫桥手）”基手”（福州方言也叫”摇基”或”摇桥手”，分为单基手，双基手）训练，不同拳种有不同”基手”锻炼”方法。”基手”练封，缠，刁，扣。搂等福建少林特有的双桥技法。通过”基手”长期锻炼培养出良好的听劲。”懂劲”既桥手的敏锐触觉，感觉到对手力之轻。重，浮，沉，去，留，洞察到对手的意图，及时根据对手的动向与变化，做出准确快捷打击或反击。
福建少林拳原宗拳法，器械，暗器是少林三进拳，少林梅花四十六式和一百零八式梅花拳，三十二式少林八步连环拳，四门刀，棍杖，梅花刀，二月剑，断门枪-飞镖，飞石等暗器。
福建少林拳继承原宗少林拳法而发展了少林五祖拳，少林看店拳，金狮罗汉拳，八宝门硬气功（已传广西，现掌门人莫文丹先生），花锁门（已传广东，现掌门梁光喜先生）象形拳有：虎形拳，鹤拳，豹拳，龙拳，蛇拳，象形的混形拳：咏春拳（蛇鹤双形），金猴鹤拳，虎鹤双形拳，此外，还有南派少林拳特有的血脉点穴法。
五禽戏
五禽戏非一门武功，也不是什么武术技巧。它是由中国汉代名医华佗创编的一种养生健身术，主要模仿五种禽兽－虎、鹿、熊、猿、鹤的神态和动作，以达到舒展筋骨，畅通经脉的功效。
五禽分属于金木水火土五行，又对应于心肝脾肺肾五脏。据中医解说，模仿五禽动作不但能锻炼四肢筋骨，还能间接地加强五脏六腑之功能。而现代医学研究亦证明五禽戏能锻炼和提高神经系统的功能，提高大脑的抑制功能和调节功能。在心肺功能方面则能改善心肌供氧量，提高心脏排血力和促进组织器官的正常发育。同时它还能增强肠胃活动及分泌功能，促进消化吸收。
五禽戏诀云：
“虎戏者，四肢距地，前三掷，却二掷，长引腰，乍脚，仰天，
即返距行，前却各七过也。”“鹿戏者，四肢距地，引项反顾，左三右二，左右伸脚，
伸缩亦三亦二也。”“熊戏者，正仰，以两手抱膝下，举头，左僻地七，右亦七，
蹲地，以手左右托地。”“猿戏者，攀物自悬，伸缩身体，上下一七；以脚拘物自悬，
左右七；手钩却立，按颈，各七。”“鸟戏者，双立手，翘一足，伸两臂，扬眉鼓力，右二七，
坐伸脚，手挽足距各七，缩伸二臂各七也。”
俗语说：“药补不如食补，食补不如动补。”，说明运动是保持身体健康最有效的途径。从虎到鹤这五种禽兽的动作互相配合，各不相同的作用将有效地达到统一的保健，从而强身健体，祛病长生。
Tiger
The tiger (Panthera tigris) is a mammal of the Felidae family, the largest of four “big cats” in the Panthera genus. The tiger is an apex predator and highly adaptable ranging from the Siberian taiga to grasslands to mangrove swamps.
In the culture of many Asian countries, the tiger is the symbol of beauty, bravery and power. In some Chinese martial arts, particularly southern Shaolin tiger boxing style or Kosonken mimics the movement of the tiger. The Kosonken techniques are as direct, short and powerful like the tiger. The techniques include grappling, pressing, pulling, tearing and striking. These techniques are applied directly to vital points on the body and as well as the limbs.
Kosonken applies short explosive energy in the techniques. The short explosive energy helps to conserve energy with effective motion economy. The adversary has no hints and unaware of the sudden shock of application of energy creating surprises and leaving the adversary more vulnerable.
Wa-uke
Wa-uke or circular block is the most versatile and most frequently used in Uechiryu karatedo. It is one of the secret techniques in Uechiryu. Simple by the look but it takes months or years to learn the correct method and to understand its concepts and applications. My previous research incorporated concepts from Taijiquan and Aikido into wa-uke. The keys of understanding and realization of wa-uke are change of momentum during different stages of maneuver, timing, contact points, triangulation and changing of stance. By applying the different concepts, wa-uke is not only a block but also grappling, throwing and taking down. Wa-uke is effective for mid- and close- quarter contact (CQC) fightings.
Repetitive practice of wa-uke together with the understanding of its fundamental concepts and applications, a simple technique becomes a secret technique. Complemented by the understanding of the concepts from Kosonken (tiger style boxing), this secret technique becomes more devastating and deadlier.
My research continues to unlock more secrets of Uechiryu and Kosonken as the time goes by. At the mean time, while waiting for more new exciting discoveries, let us practice this simple and yet secret technique.
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