Winterfest was a smashing success this year, we all had a fantastic time learning and interacting with Uechi practitioners from all over. We also had the great pleasure of Janet Okazaki taking photos throughout the seminar! Here are some of them for you to enjoy!
At Winterfest, we learned!
We practiced!
We laughed!
AND We did weapons!
We are all excited to see what next year brings! We hope that you will join us!
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!
Darin Yee, IUKF President, recently did a seminar in Germany! Here is a message from Paul of … in German and English!
“Vom 6. Bis 8. Juli hatten wir ein Seminar Uechi-Ryu Seminar mit Darin Yee, 9. Dan und Präsident von IUKF in Deutschland (Regensburg und Pettendorf).
Es war ein hervorragendes Seminar. Sensei Darin Yee arbeitete mit uns an der weichen Seite von Uechi-Ryu und daran maximale Kraft in der Technik zu generieren. Dazu gingen wir durch die 8 Katas und übten an verschiedenen Schwerpunkten. Teilnehmer aus weiteren Dojos in Deutschland waren auch zu Gast. Meinen Schülern und auch den Teilnehmern aus den anderen Dojos hat das Seminar sehr gut gefallen.
Vielen Dank nochmal, Sensei.”
From the 6th to the 8th of July we had a Uechi-Ryu seminar with Darin Yee, 9th Dan and president of IUKF in Germany (Regensburg and Pettendorf).
It was an excellent seminar. Sensei Darin Yee worked with us on the soft side of Uechi-Ryu and how to create maximum power in the technics. We went through the 8 Katas and practiced at various focal points. Participants from other dojos in Germany were also guests. My students and also the participants from the other dojos really enjoyed the seminar.
Thank you again, Sensei.”
We wanted to share with you this message of thanks from Whidbey Island, where Darin Yee oversaw the black belt testing and taught a fantastic seminar.
“Hi Mr. Yee,
We met while you were visiting in Washington during the Black Belt Test at the winery. We just wanted to thank you so very much for teaching my wife and I, before the test and before the seminar. We deeply regretted not being able to stay for the seminar, but we are both very grateful for the wisdom you shared with us while we were there. It gave both of us a new way to look at the thing we do and opened a door to a better way of thinking about the things we do. We just wanted you to know how much we appreciated the time you took and the knowledge you shared.
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH,
Rob and Michelle Durr”
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I sincerely hope you are well and practicing good sanitation habits suggested by our educated, seasoned health professionals. At times like this, we need temporarily set aside all the things we want to do and follow the protocol of what we should do.
As an extrovert, I find it very difficult to sit patiently at home and watch all the bad news on television. I’ve already informed my friends who come to work out with me to hold off and stay safely at home until this virus is eradicated.
I’ve continued to stay active by performing all 8 Uechi-Ryu katas followed by tiger/crane, Choy-Li-Fut, and every kung-fu form I remember. I’ve even brought home from my dojo some of the Chinese Weaponry and found enough room to go half-speed carefully.
In consideration, I’ve emailed my students and suggested we can meet online to train together. We have done it 2 times already and are learning what we can do and how we can do it. The IUKF has a GoTo Meeting program where we can entertain a total of 151 participants.
I understand some of us have very diverse processes of training, but the bottom line is, we are all family, and I encourage all to advance and grow in our path. Without sounding political, my philosophy has always been the fact that we all need to be supportive and not regulatory. Since my appointment as president of the IUKF, I’ve been a bit more liberal than some would like, but I believe no one knows what we want better than each individual, and I, for one, respect our individual beliefs.
If anyone would like to join our online workouts, please let me know, and I will include you in my notifications of time and what we will be working on in that particular workout. Please email me at darinyee@hotmail.com.
I understand these workouts would not be as vigorous as when I am standing next to you, pushing you to go 110%. The bottom line is you will get out of these workouts that you put in.
Anyways, please stay healthy and well. When this is over, I look forward to seeing everyone again. I may set up another regional workout so we can be gathered together as good families should do periodically.
Please stay vigilant, practice good sanitation habits, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Darin Yee
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