Motobu Udundi

General discussions on Wado Ryu karate and associated martial arts.
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kyudo
Posts: 224
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:00 pm
Location: Amsterdam

Motobu Udundi

Post by kyudo »

Kumite gata 36 to 42:


Just kidding, off course. But, is it me or is there a striking resemblance with kumite gata? Irimi, meotode and kuzushi all over the place. And that is most intriguing, considering this comes from a lineage that couldn't be more different from Wado.

I came across this video while doing some research. The person in the video is Uehara Seikichi, who must have been in his late eighties or early ninetees, at the time. He was a direct student of Motobu Choyu. Motobu Choyu was, off course, the brother of Motobu Choki whom Otsuka sensei spent time with while developing Wado. However, Motobu Choki was NOT initiated in the style of his family. At a young age he went out and studied with the likes of Itosu and Matsumura. His style was a pragmatic mix of many different Okinawan sources.
So here we have Uehara who, if current history sources are to be believed, had no connection whatsoever with Otsuka. The lineage of Uehara's Motobu Udundi style probably traces back to China. Yet, these techniques looks strikingly similar to the art of a traditional Japanese martial artist, who happened to be acquainted with the brother of Uehara's sensei. How's that for coincidence?

And to add another confusing tidbit: The story goes that Motobu Choki was such a formidable martial artist, that he never got defeated after the age of 20. Except when he challenged his own brother Choyu. Choyu employed the advanced 'soft' techniques that were a hallmark of the family style and which proved to be more effective than Choki's tough pragmatic style.

The video is a riddle. Perhaps we're seeing a convergence of two branches of a similar Chinese style. Maybe the one branch travelled to Japan by means of Akiyama, the founder of Yoshin ryu, which later evolved into Wado ryu, and the other branch further evolved on Okinawa, in the Motobu family. But I'm only guessing. Frankly I have no idea. I'm just dumbfounded by the video...
Last edited by kyudo on Sun Dec 30, 2012 8:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Igor Asselbergs
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Gusei21
Posts: 403
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2011 1:43 am

Re: Motobu Udundi

Post by Gusei21 »

Connected body for starters.
Bob Nash
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