Lineage

Known in Japanese as Shū Shiwa, (Chinese: Zhou Zihe 周子和 1874-1926), was a chinese medicine hawker who also taught a style of Southern Chinese kung fu called Pangai-noon (traditional Chinese characters: 半硬軟) meaning "half-hard, half-soft" in the Fujian province of China, in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Shū Shiwa/Zhou Zihe's life is not well documented. Some have suspected without conclusive evidence that he had connection with the secret societies which worked for the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and the restoration of Ming dynasty.

Research by the Fuzhou Wushu Association reported in 1984 revealed that he was born in the Zhitian Village (直田村) in 1874 to family wealthy enough to have him educated in letters and fighting arts which included weapons, Tiger Fist Kung Fu, including a system of kung fu, which may have been created by an ancestral monk named Shuu Anan about 200 years prior. 

Although there are some variations on the story, Uechi reportedly used special herbal mixtures that he had learned from his family to alleviate the headache of a local Taoist priest. That priest also happened to be the 36th head of the Fu Chuan Shin Temple. His name was Shu Shiwa. After curing Shu Shiwa’s headache, Uechi was accepted as an official disciple at the temple. His first two years of training focused on strengthening the body through hard work, including farming, and martial arts exercises. Body conditioning is still a crucial element of Uechi-Ryu.

The exact provenance of the romanization "Pangai-noon" is not clear, and it may be from the lesser-known Min Chinese language. It is not a Japanese, Okinawan nor Mandarin Chinese pronunciation of the original characters. The standard Japanese pronunciation of the three characters is han kō nan (はんこうなん), while the standard Mandarin pronunciation is bàn yìng ruǎn. The Cantonese language pronunciation is bun ngaang yun. 

In modern times, the katakana version of pangainoon (パンガイヌーン) has been used in Japanese writing rather than the kanji (半硬軟). 

Kanbun was born in Deikusaku section but grew up in the Takintō section of the mountain farming village of Izumi on the Motobo Peninsula of Okinawa,[1][2] Uechi's family were farmers of daikon Radishs.  

Japan began a program of universal male conscription in Okinawa in 1897. In 1897 at the age of 19, Kanbun fled to Fuzhou in Fukien Province, China both to escape Japanese military conscription and to fulfill his dreams of studying martial arts with Chinese masters. 

Uechi next took up the study of herbalism and a kung Fu system he identified as "Pangai-Noon" (or Pangainun), under a Chinese master of named Zhou Zihe 周子和 (Called "Shu Shiwa" in Japanese and "Shu Shabu" by Kanbun). A great deal of unsourced apocryphal stories exist on how Kanbun met and came to train with Zhou Zihe.[14] Furthermore, research conducted by the Uechi Family and the local Wushu association in 1984 discovered Shu Shiwa/Zhou Zihe was not the only teacher of Kanbun Uechi. Huzunquan (Fujian Tiger Boxing) lineage charts show Zheng Xianji (郑仙纪) as Kanbun's teacher.  The Uechi Ryū Kihon (Basics) taught by Kanbun Uechi where never modified from the teachings of Zhou Zihe and strictly passed on only what Zhou Zihe taught him. 

Kanbun received a teaching license from Zhou Zihe in 1904 and in 1906 he opened his own school in Nanjing. He continued periodic training under Zhou Zihe during the next three years for a total of 13 years. After the three years, Kanbun Uechi returned to Okinawa, determined never to teach again because reportedly one of his Chinese students had killed a neighbor with an open-hand technique in a dispute over land irrigation.

Uechi returned to Naha, Okinawa in 1909, and he refused to teach martial arts while in Okinawa. He soon married, and his first son, Kanei Uechi was born in 1911. In 1912, a tea merchant and White Crane Kung Fu master Go Kenki (Wú Xiánguì) who knew him settled in Okinawa. As word spread from Go Kenki that Kanbun Uechi was a skilled martial arts teacher, he received requests to teach but refused.

Due to the economic situation in Okinawa, in 1924, at the age of 47, Kanbun Uechi left for Wakayama Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan to find employment. While he was working as a security guard for a local Showa Spinning cotton spinning mill, he was persuaded by a co-worker, Ryuyu Tomoyose, to teach him privately after having been first convinced to show him ways of defending himself against different attacks. 

In 1926, after two years of private lessons, Ryuyu Tomoyose gathered together other interested potential students for a total of 30 men who all agreed to pay 5 yen each month. Since his month salary was only 15 yen each month, Kanbun Uechi agreed to resume teaching. Until 1932, he taught in small rooms in the company dormitory before work, during lunchtime, and after work. He then opened a general store and the "Pangai-noon Karate Academy" open to the general public in Tebira, Wakayama Prefecture.

In 1934, Kanbun Uechi met Kenwa Mabuni, the founder of Shito-Ryū Karate, who interviewed Uechi in an article "The Story of Chinese Kenpo" he published in the 1934 edition of Karate Research. Mabuni suggested that Kanbun change the name of his style to "Uechi-Ryū" (上地流) or "style of Uechi." The style he taught was renamed in 1940 to "Uechi-Ryu" Karate in his honor, and is one of the four major styles of Okinawan Karate.

Kanbun Uechi continued to teach in Wakayama until 1946. In November of that year, Kanbun Uechi turned over his school to Ryuyu Tomoyose and returned to Okinawa and settled on the island of Iejima. Students who included Ryuyu Tomoyose's son, Ryuko, built a dojo named the Uechi-Ryū Karate Academy. 

Kanbun Uechi died from kidney disease in 1948. After Kanbun Uechi's death, his style was systematized by his son Kanei and his senior students. This included the addition of five "bridging" kata between the three kata (Sanchin, Seisan and Sanseiryu) Kanbun Uechi brought back from Fuzhou. 

For the early years of Kanei's life his father, Kanbnun Uechi refused to speak of his martial arts training. However, with his father opening his first dojo in Japan in 1926 and teaching Pangai-noon, at the age of 16, Kanei travelled to the Wakayama Prefecture and began training with his father. After a decade's worth of continuous training under his father, in 1937 Kanei received his certificate of full proficiency in Pangai-noon Toudi Jutsu (Half Hard Soft Empty Hand Skills).

And later, at 26 he would open up a new dojo in Osaka with approval from his father. Though, a new branch of Pangai-noon opened in Osaka, the dojo was not as successful as Kanei hoped for. In 1940, Kanei relocated the dojo to Amagasaki in Hyogo Prefecture. He taught there for two years before returning to Okinawa in 1942. In April of 1949, with the assistance of Ryuko Tomoyose, Uechi Kanei established the Nodake and Kanzatobaru dojo. The two dojo were combined as one called Futenma dojo in 1957. A year later, Uechi-Ryū would open its doors to the public, including American soldiers, becoming one of the first styles to teach Karate to foreigners.

When performing Sanchin, Kanei Uechi appeared deceivingly soft and relaxed. Upon closer inspection, his body was rock-solid and extremely tough. In his youth, to condition his fingers, Kanei would repeatedly thrust his hands into a banana tree using the nukite. His fighting stance was extremely strong for defence. Kanei favoured fast wrist blocks with his left arm. While his right arm was effective for parrying punches and kicks.

Kanei understood early that students of the modern age would have trouble understanding the formal Pangainoon and its three kata. From 1931 through the rest of his life Kanei labored to develop new methods and forms to help students understand Uechi-Ryū. Together with other senior Uechi Ryu instructors, came the addition of the warm-up and stretching exercises junbi undō (準備運動), the standardized exercises that incorporate elements of all of the kata of the system as well as additional techniques, two prearranged "yakusoku kumite (約束組み手)" exercises which are called Kyu Kumite for Kyu ranks and Dan Kumite for Dan ranks, and three new "bridging" kata between Sanchin and Seisan as well as two between Seisan and Sanseiryu:

1. Kanshiwa (完子和): A combination of the first kanji in Kanbun's name, and the last two kanji written in Chinese order of his teacher Zhou Zihe's name in Japanese pronunciation: "Shu Shiwa." Originally known as "Kanshabu" based on earlier mistranslation of his name into Japanese as "Shu Shabu." This kata includes many of Kanbun Uechi's favorite techniques.
2. Kanshu (完周): A combination of the first kanji in Kanbun's name, and the kanji for Shu Shiwa's family name (Shu). Originally known as and sometimes still called Daini Seisan (第二十三) or "Secondary Seisan" by Seiki Itokazu in 1956.
3. Seichin (十戦): Literally translated: "10 fights/conflicts," or a combination of the names of two of the original kata: Seisan and Sanchin.
4. Seirui (十六): Literally translated: "16."
5. Kanchin (完戦): A combination of Kanbun's first kanji 完 and "fight" 戦.

Like his father, Kanei Uechi's mannerism and speech was with gentleness. He was the oldest son of four children. He had a brother, Kansei, and two sisters, Tsuru and Kamai.