Uechi-ryu Martial Arts | Karate

January 2, 2007

What to Expect in March 2007 for the New RedMan Program!

Even though we will be inside the dojo training we will be taking the training to various locations to enhance the environments we are being placed in….and show you how you can safely simulate these in your training areas!1. Stance/Balance/Movement (Standing) – Without these 3 factors defending oneself is nearly impossible. We will address foot work needed, various types of footwear and drills you can easily practice at home. Patterns of movement help is many ways –
• Helps build power
• Opens targets
• Helps with blocking and striking
• Assist in counters
• Enhances your tactical combinations
• Drills to build confidence for your students

Permanent link to this article: http://uechi-ryu.com/martial-arts-redman-training/

Dec 31 2006

Happy New Year All. . .

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December 31, 2006

Happy New Year to all members and visitors to Uechi-ryu.com and Eastern Arts, from the Mattson family here in Florida.

Tonight is Susan and my wedding anniversary. Sue thought it would be a good idea to pick a day that I could hardly forget! 🙂

I’m lucky because we met on the evening that “Tiny” Tim got married on the Johnny Carson show. (Another date I’ll never forget) After a “blind” date meeting that went rather well, we ended up in a friend’s home watching the Late show together.

That was a lot of years ago and aside from a few business trips I’ve taken alone, we’ve seldom been out of one another’s sight since.

Not sure if this is a good formula for a successful marriage, but in our case we make a great team. Love and respect for one another is an irreplaceable part of a successful marriage and during those infrequent times when we have differences, Tia is always there to straighten out the problem. Oh yes. . . A good dog is another must for a successful relationship. 🙂

In Van Canna’s honor, I was going to write a lengthy treatise on breathing, but decided that my New Year gift to you all was to postpone the article until next year. 🙂

Be kind to everyone and enjoy (with the Mattson family) a healthy, happy and very prosperous New Year.

And. . . please, for me. . . Take the time to do something very nice for a friend, acquaintance or even a stranger. . . every day. I promise you will be pleased and generously rewarded. GEM

Permanent link to this article: http://uechi-ryu.com/happy-new-year-all/

Dec 29 2006

Coming back on the Floor!!

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December 29, 2006

Our “Women and the Martial Arts” forum moderator Dana Sheets, is a gifted karate teacher and important to our forums, a talented writer. In the following “thread”, Dana asked some tough questions that all dojo owners probably asked at one time or another. What is your dojo’s policy?? [Click here to view more of this discussion.]

Coming back on the floor. . .
So every now and again we get someone who drops by the dojo to train.

Somtimes it is a high ranking somebody who is in town for a short while. Sometimes it is one of our own students that we haven’t seen for months or years. And every now and again – it is someone who used to train Uechi someplace else many years ago and is thinking about training again.

Permanent link to this article: http://uechi-ryu.com/coming-back-on-the-floor/

Dec 28 2006

Considering another trip

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George Mattson's Corner

December 28, 2006

Hi People,

I just finished editing the 2006 China Trip photos. Took a while for everyone to get their pictures to me. Then again, I’m not the most computer literate person in the world. Anyways, the pictures will be sent to Sensei George Mattson and he will have them posted very soon.

At this time, upon request, I am working on our next trip to China. The date I’ve come up with is sometime in early November. Now that we have been to China and back, most are considered official globetrotters.

If you are interested in joining this trip in 2007, please contact me at darinyee@hotmail.com. I will begin working hard to get a lower cost then this year.

Permanent link to this article: http://uechi-ryu.com/considering-another-trip/

Dec 27 2006

Real Experiences against a Knife!

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December 27, 2006

Fascinating discussion going on in the Forums. Check it out!

The Surprise/Sudden Blade What is it and what are the
proper ways of dealing with it? (BTW – Thats Rory, teaching at SummerFest!)

What are the possible indicators and tell-tales that someone is ready to deploy a blade or worse, that they already have it in hand though hidden?

How do people reading here train for it?

RA Miller Replied. . .

Mike- You won’t get a lot of responses to this for two reasons: the available experience is low and the stakes are high.

I’ve had five knife encounters. Sort of. Two were surprises. One of those was a flat-out ambush and I’m only alive because of a reflection and reflexes. So the real answer is to be very lucky and very fast.

The actual techniques from those two encounters probably won’t help, but for the sake of history: 1) Threat lunging at my lower back as fast and hard as she could with a steak knife. Spin leftwards, slap hands together over knife and yank to the outside of my left hip and throw the hardest right roundhouse kick I could into the abdomen.

Permanent link to this article: http://uechi-ryu.com/real-experiences-against-a-knife/

Dec 26 2006

Black Belt Test Guide Clarification, Part 2

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December 26, 2006

Black Belt Test Requirements

Q: What are the requirements for IUKF Black Belt testing?
A: IUKF Black Belt testing requirements are as follows:
• Must be an IUKF member in good standing*
• An official IUKF test application must be submitted and approved 30 days prior to testing along with appropriate test fees.
o Testing fee: $150
• Local Black Belt Test administrator must be contacted to arrange test location
o If there is not local test administrator and the student is testing at Summer Camp applications should be sent to the Summer Camp administrator
• A recommendation from the student’s instructor.
• Time in grade minimum must be met.
• Optional guideline: Passing a pretest as determined by the local BBTA.
*Member or member in good standing, includes any person who has fulfilled the requirements for membership, and who neither has voluntarily withdrawn from membership nor has been expelled or suspended from membership after appropriate proceedings consistent with lawful provisions of the constitution and bylaws of the IUKF.

Permanent link to this article: http://uechi-ryu.com/black-belt-test-guide-clarification-part-2/

Dec 26 2006

Black Belt Test Guide Clarifications Part 1

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December 26, 2006

One of the first committees formed by Mr. Skeffington, was to go over the Black Belt Test Guide book, published in 1988 as a soft cover book and updated by the author in 2006 as an e-Book and clarify all the standards and requirements to 2006 recommendations.

In the following section, Mr. Skeffington presents the first phase of this update:

Permanent link to this article: http://uechi-ryu.com/black-belt-test-guide-clarifications-part-1/

Dec 25 2006

New Dojo Grand opening

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George Mattson's Corner

December 25, 2006

Important Announcement:
Open House Date Changes!

Happy Holidays to all. I apologize for not being more active in my communication with everyone. I have been working on getting my new dojo open. Prior to this opening, I had promises I had to keep for doing seminars. It will be tough to travel after I open. I know my upcoming schedule still includes Edmonton, Canada – San Diego – Cuba (kung Fu) – and maybe Argentina to comply with all my commitments.

I will be having Grand Opening ceremonies this January 27^th 2007 for my new dojo. We will begin with a traditional Lion Dance, as all martial art schools are associated. Some of the most famed martial artists in China are known simply for their abilities to teach and perform these rituals. Following the “Lion Dance”, some of my students and friends from Boston will demonstrate a few of our kung fu forms, which I may teach in my dojo after they have learned Uechi-Ryu. I will personally perform a Uechi-Ryu Kata, as it is a tradition for a sifu/sensei to perform prior to the opening of his school.

We will then go into the actual dojo where I will ask Gary Wong, Jose Aja, George Deraney, Herman Yee and maybe even Roddy Dow (if I can find him) to come up and do Sanchin as they were my original classmates in 1969 and the group from Mattson Academy who dominated the entire N.E.K.R.A tournament circuit in the early 1970s until we decided to stop competing within the United States.

I will then, in respect surrender the floor to Sensei George Mattson, the authentic, original founder and greatest promoter of Uechi-Ryu in America to teach the very first class to all my friends and supporters. After this work out, you will be my guess at the café for lunch (sorry we do not have an alcohol license yet).

I extend this invitation to all students of Uechi-Ryu. It matters not if you are a member of the IUKF or not. I consider all students of our style a part of our Uechi-Ryu Family. We need not agree on everything. Diversity is a good thing. If I have your respect, you certainly have mine.

If you need directions, please write me darinyee@hotmail.com . I will be happy to forward you directions to my new dojo. May love and wisdom prevail.

Strength and Honor,

Darin Yee

Permanent link to this article: http://uechi-ryu.com/new-dojo-grand-opening/

Dec 21 2006

Blind Date with Sanchin

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December 21, 2006

Blind date with Sanchin…
By Eva (From Belgium)

Sounds like a crazy idea but actually it is a wonderful experience.Why I would like to share this with you is partly because I feel that there will be a lot of new things to discover. On the other hand because I am interested to know if there are any other people who ever practiced Sanchin in this way?With a few adventurous fellow karateka got the crazy idea to run Sanchin blind.So based on trust that everybody keeps his/her eyes closed we started to do the kata.

First time there was some slight confusion. We all felt uncertainty where reached the point to turn direction. Everybody noticed that ears worked like powerful “radars”.

Most of us ended with a slightly degree difference from our start position.

Permanent link to this article: http://uechi-ryu.com/blind-date-with-sanchin/

Dec 18 2006

Karate & Film making!

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December 18, 2006

Exploring Karate from a Film Maker’s Perspective…

I found this fascinating post by our “Women & the Martial Arts” Forum moderator, Dana Sheets. Hope you enjoy it as well. Click on Dana’s picture to read the topic. GEM

In my graduate experience, (filmmaking) we watched and deconstructed scenes from films, explored film theory, did a few class projects in video, on film, and digital media that by no means explored the great variety of approaches one can take to filmmaking…and then we were set on our own.There are some immutable principles in filmmaking and most of those happen to be relatively mechanical. Light reflects and refracts in such a manner, film travels through the camera in such a way, video is created through a capture process involving chips and sensors and magnetic tape that is written at a certain frame rate or another, microphones work in such a way and here’s how you plug them in…so the mechanics of making an image on film or video are relatively standard – but there are infinite variations in how they are applied.

And there aren’t really PhDs in making movies…there are PhDs in communcations theory…but those folks aren’t usually making movies, they’re studying them. But there are certainly master filmmakers of every genre.

But a filmmaker varies quite a bit in their knowledge from one to another.