A Sandan of Uechi-Ryu, Chelsey Schultz, attended Winterfest 2020 and shared her experiences on her blog. If you would like to read about her experience, click HERE!
IUKF MEMORANDUM
Clarification Regarding Promotion & Master Rank Testing
The IUKF is undergoing a revision of its procedures to serve its members better. I’m sure there must be many questions going forward. I hope the following information will address some of your concerns. If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to communicate with us.
Our organization is global, and our membership is extensive. We understand the difficulties of trying to accommodate everyone 100% of the time. Please understand the best that we can do is to make decisions that will serve the majority of our membership. In order to maintain stability and consistency, we cannot offer conflicting agreements from one dojo to another.
Promotions
Promotion For Shodan To Godan
The IUKF determined many years ago to implement “dojo testing” for Sho-dan to Go-dans. That is to say, that each member dojo shall test students for Shodan up to Godan and may promote at their discretion. The IUKF holds the Sensei/Direct Teacher responsible for upholding general standards and competency of the Applicant and will not scrutinize promotions at that level. Our current Senior Advisory Board upholds this current practice.
Each member dojo will conduct their own testing and apply their own standards specific to their dojo. Each member dojo is advised to assemble their own testing board. All member dojos may request the presence of a master rank from the IUKF, and we will make all efforts to make that possible.
The IUKF recommends your dojo follow the minimum requirements listed in the Black Belt Test Guide (which you can purchase online in Sensei Mattson’s store, or as a member dojo, you can view our suggested guidelines on our website in the members’ section).
Promotion For Rokudan & Up
Master ranks (Roku-dan 6th degree and up) are asked to uphold a more exceptional standard. The candidate must record all 8 katas; and a bunkai of at least 8 techniques/combinations of his/her choosing.
Your katas will demonstrate you are still actively training and retain all the knowledge which paved the path to where you are. Your katas will be judged by 3 anonymous master rank members from around the globe (preferably with no personal ties or conflicts) who can judge you without prejudice or partiality.
The master rank must also demonstrate their knowledge of the arts which he/she believes they have mastered. We are not asking you to create a long, formal bunkai like Seisan Bunkai. Bunkai simply explains the application of movements or our technique.
Candidates will be required to demonstrate the 8 Uechi-Ryu bunkai movements from our 8 katas and how he/she would use them in an actual application. This way, we can all witness your mastery and understanding of your master rank request, as well as to share your ideas with the rest of the Uechi World.
We thank you for your loyalty and contributions to the IUKF. Together, we will grow and improve.
Sincerely,
Darin Yee
IUKF President
Sechin Bunkai Variations
Cecilia Salbuchi, one of our IUKF members from Argentina, has shared with us this incredible video on various applications of Sechin in Bunkai! Please take a look when you have a moment; it is worth the watch!
Plus, feel free to follow Ms. Salbuchi on Facebook and YouTube; she posts something almost every day.
Letter from the IUKF President
Hello,
This is a message to all IUKF dojos and its members. The IUKF is doing great, and membership is growing by the day. I want to reiterate that the IUKF is a supportive organization for all Uechi-Ryu dojos throughout the world. We encourage all practitioners to train and develop the art to their individual needs and benefit as we understand that all practitioners are not the same.
We are not hindered with tunnel vision and mandate that each of us need to be a carbon copy of one another. I will not dictate to anyone how they should train or make demands on changes. After 60 plus years of continuous training, I do not know everything. I welcome ingenuity and fresher, younger, smarter minds with hopes to learn more from everyone’s individualism.
All our IUKF masters have much-accumulated expertise and are willing to share within our IUKF Family. Whatever they share can be included in your training or remain stored knowledge. Your early training should always conform to the direction of your chosen sensei. However, we are not duplicates of one another with nothing to enhance our training. We do not meet at dinners to tell each other how great we are and promote everyone to ridiculous high ranks with little to show other than a mouth full of food and a pat on the back.
Personally, I believe that during our formative years in training, we should all learn “root” Uechi-Ryu. That is the movement and understanding deriving from the many diverse teachers in Okinawa. As we grow and if we mature as individuals, our training should have molded us. If we indulge in other martial arts systems, they too become an intrinsic part of who we are.
Please realize martial arts is not a hand tool to be picked up and used if we choose to. With proper, continuous training, movements become instinctive and a part of who you are. However, improper training, a lack of training, or bad muscle memory could be detrimental and completely useless to you.
Your art will excel as your Uechi-Ryu movements conform to your individual body, adapting to size, speed, and comfort of motion. That is why continuous training is paramount as we physically and mentally change from moment to moment.
Many feel change is not good. Many would say if you do not train as I do, you are corrupting the system. If that was true, why would we invite other masters to teach in our dojos? Why are we paying money just to have another sensei come to our dojo and repeat what we are already teaching? Or are we welcoming new ideas and more concepts? Are we beyond learning anything different and new? Are we afraid of the fact there could be something more sensible and practical than what we are presently teaching?
Let’s examine the fact that Leung Tak Wing was Chan Wah Shun’s Wing Chung teacher. Chan Wah Shun added many adaptations to Wing Chung, which he learned. Chan Wah Shun was Ip Kai Man’s teacher. Ip Kai Man not only created many adaptations, but he also rearranged the complete form and sequences. Ip Kai Man was Lei Sill Lung (Bruce Lee’s) teacher. Bruce Lee added so much more to the Wing Chung system, including many high kicks, which was not very prevalent in Southern Kung-Fu.
One of the original Kung Fu systems was White Crane. Practiced by the Shaolin Monks and developed by a woman named Fang Qiniang. She morphed this style from a Neanderthal practice of hard robotic movements to a more universal smooth, flowing system fitting all possible practitioners. The evolution did not stop there. There are now 5 major systems of White Crane depending on the needs of the practitioner. These 5 are Sleeping, Crying, Eating, Flying, and Shaking Crane. They each have their own nuances to fit the individual practitioner.
Please understand one method is not better than the other. They are just slightly different to fit the individual needs of the practitioner.
The IUKF supports all our dojos and each individual practitioner. I will never insist anyone train my way or use our Uechi-Ryu movements as I use them.
I have and will always encourage you to be the best you can be and train in whatever way you choose. I will never stop sharing knowledge and new discoveries in the martial art world which I encounter. I believe in training with no restrictions or mandates.
Train diligently and always strive to be the best that you can be. If I can be of assistance for your training in any way, please let me know, and I will try to be there to support you regardless of organizational lines.
Darin Yee
President – IUKF
Kyudan – Hanchi-sei
Uechi Update from IUKF President
Happy July to all; I hope that summer has been most pleasant for everyone!
Thank you to Sensei David Mott
The IUKF would like to this update by thanking Sensei David Mott, now retired, for all his years of service to our organization. Sensei Mott has traveled extensively throughout Canada to teach and educate Canadians on honor, respect, and dedication to our art.
Sensei Mott has instilled in his students and associates the importance of learning and forwarding the art that we’ve invested many years of our lives to train and study. He has honored the belief that our belts should honestly signify our steadfast training and accomplishments, that we should not give belts, wear them to impress others, or use them to pat your ego.
The IUKF invites every Uechi-Ryu dojo to continue with the IUKF, where we honor, respect, and protect the sanctity of our art and the ranking which follows steadfast guidelines. All IUKF members can wear our belts with pride, knowing we have earned them and not offered them as a signing bonus.
Please contact Sensei Dan Maestas email dmaestas@hotmail.com to inquire about listing your dojo.
Belt Certificates
The IUKF realizes you’ve worked diligently for many years to earn your belt legitimately. The IUKF will no longer require a fee for your certificate as you’ve earned it through your dedication and hard work. However, there is a small administration fee of $100 USD, which includes the printing, mailing, listing, and other costs associated with delivering your certificate to you.
Additionally, the IUKF will send you an autographed copy of Sensei George Mattson’s Black Belt Test Guild free of charge, which we strongly encourage dojos to follow to maintain quality students. The IUKF will also arrange for a promotion board for each individual dojo with international, master ranking board members.
Master Rank Testing
All testing from Shodan to Godan will be individual dojo testing. All master testing will be through an international IUKF master board. You will be tested as a master should; the IUKF will not give you a master rank just to join our organization. Masters are required to know and be capable of performing all our Uechi-Ryu katas, followed by a demonstration of their personal interpretation of our movements. One needs to prove they’ve mastered the system of Uechi-Ryu.
Winter Fest
The IUKF will also pay the attendance fee for all IUKF dojo owners attending Winter Fest, where you will meet, learn, and exchange the many fantastic and different ideas from all over the world. Winter Fest 2022 will include masters from the UK, Germany, France, Cuba, Brazil, Bermuda, and Argentina. Hopefully, Canada can be included in that list. There will be attendees from throughout the USA. People from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Colorado, New Mexico, Kentucky, Mississippi, California, Alaska, Hawaii, and most unquestionably, Florida.
Also, be informed, all IUKF members are welcome to work out in any IUKF affiliated dojo at no charge throughout the world. Please do not hesitate to contact me regarding any matter concerning the IUKF. I will be happy to hear from you.
Darin Yee
President – IUKF