Uechi-Con 2022 : Mattson sensei

In the last 22nd & 23rd of September Uechi-Ryu Butokukai was organizing Uechi-Con Event in Manchester (New Hampshire, USA).

Butokukai was founded by Buzz Durkin in 1984.
Durkin sensei started his Uechi-Ryu path in 1966 with George Mattson and went to Okinawa to train with Kanei Uechi sensei (Uechi-Ryu Karate-Do Kyokai Sōke) in the 60’s.

If you want to know more about Butokukai, you can have a look on their website : https://www.uechiryubutokukai.com. Durkin sensei wrote a very interesting book to share his Dojo owner experience ‘Success is waiting‘.

Mattson Sensei Old Way

During this event, Mattson sensei explained the principle of his Old Way learning.
What he called the old way is the way he learned Karate from Grand Master & Sōke Kanei Uechi & his sensei Ryuko Tomoyose (Hanshi 10th degree Black Belt, recognized as Intangible Cultural Asset holder in the Field of Okinawan Karate and Martial Arts with Weaponry by Okinawa Prefecture).

What he called the old way is the way he learned Karate from Grand Master & Sōke Kanei Uechi & his sensei Ryuko Tomoyose (Hanshi 10th degree Black Belt, recognized as Intangible Cultural Asset holder in the Field of Okinawan Karate and Martial Arts with Weaponry by Okinawa Prefecture).
In that time Uechi-Ryu practitioners were more focused on flow and the techniques were less muscular tension oriented.

What is really interesting in Mattson sensei explanations is the point of muscular tension : more you will be tense and less you will be reactive according to him.
Another point of attention is the way of testing sanchin stance (the famous sanchin test).
During this test the teacher will test if the stance is correct an if the muscular growth is enough efficient. In the 50’s, Kanei sensei was only checking the stance with his fingers and not punching them as it is the most of the habits in the modern Dojos.

Up to you to choose the way you practice your Karate but in my opinion, it is always interesting to understand how the former Sōke was doing and how his students modernized his Karate.

Here is the complete video :