I’ve just come home from visiting Uechi-Ryu dojos in Arizona and California.

I find people in our Uechi-Ryu family both friendly and receptive.
These visitations were dedicated to the introduction of the new directions of the IUKF and of course the exchange of individual Uechi-Ryu ideas and techniques.

The most noticeable dojo in the San Francisco area was East Bay Karate-Do whose Sensei is John Felipe. He is a dynamic young teacher with plenty of energy and progressive ideas.
The setup of the spacious dojo is methodically designed with maximum usage in mind.

Upon entering the dojo, I witnessed the students diligently training. I can see the joy they resonate as they skillfully demonstrate their katas, weapons and prearranged sets. This is training as it should be. The more we indulge, the higher our spirit and our skills progress.

Sensei John Felipe has certainly demonstrated to me his ability to build, grow, and teach in a Uechi-Ryu Dojo.
The IUKF is very proud to claim Sensei John Felipe as one of our up and coming young leaders in the Uechi world.

Darin Yee

One of the benefits of being an IUKF member is the ability to travel to other areas of the world and find other friendly IUKF family members to greet you and to open their dojo to you.  Senior student John Joseph is certainly taking advantage of this perk as he’s a frequent traveler and has visited several national and international dojos.

Sensei Paul Kronschnabl of Germany was the gracious host who entertain John while visiting their country.  I’m sure John Joseph will have a lot to talk about when he gets back.  It’s great to find a friendly face while you are away from home in the states or abroad.

Thank you Paul for your friendship and your part in the IUKF family.

Darin Yee

Hi Darin,

today I picked up John and we drove to the dojo for a workout.

John take part of the training and I think he enjoyed it.

He can tell you about it, when he is back in US.

Everything was ok. At the end of the training I asked him to give some ideas about his way for training kata.

It is always interesting for me to see what other Uechika are doing.

Best wishes,

Paul