Pangai-noon and Uechi-ryu
Steven Velasquez
(Servio Fabio Medina) writes:
Is anyone familiar with the kung fu school, Pangai-noon,
also known as Pwangai-noon? There is a dojo in southern
Fla., but elsewhere...
In case you are unfamiliar with Pangai-noon, it is the
sister school to Uechi-ryu, though it is usually not....
and in article <1992Jun15.1...@cbnews.cb.att.com> (Alan LaPenn)
writes:
Hmmmmmmm!, Well , well, well, Here is the story as I....
Well Servio and Alan, here's some additional info on Pangai-noon and
Uechi-ryu based on some of my own research (The Way of Karate by
George Mattson, Uechi-ryu Karate Do by George Mattson, An Intro to
the Historic, Cultural, and Social Phenomenon of Okinawan Karate by
Jon D. Mills (Masters Thesis from Cornell), and Okinawan Karate by
Mark Bishop) and conversations with some of the involved people
(The written portion of our belt tests are somewhat thorough).
Pangai-noon was the system of Chinese Boxing learned by
Master Kanbun Uechi from a Shaolin monk named Shushabu, previously
thought to be Shushiwa but was later discovered that these were two
different men not a mispronounciation. It at that time I believe
consisted of four kata: Sanchin, Seisan, Sanseirui, and Suparinpe).
Kanubun did not have enough time to learn all four but only the
first three. His first son, Kanei, expanded the system by adding
five additional kata: Kanshiwa (Kanei Uechi), Kanshu (Saburo Uehara),
Seichin (Seiki Itokazu), Seirui (Kanei Uechi), and Konchin (Kanei
Uechi) and 2 bunkai. This was done primarily for the "new" American
student whose interest would quick wane if he were not continually
taught "new" material. George Mattson initially trained with Ryuko
Tomoyose son of Ryuyu Tomoyose one of Kanbun's original students in
the winter of 1956. Thus, the original Pangai-noon was the "parent"
of Uechi-ryu.
As for Alan's comments about Master Kanei coming to the US
(August, 1967) and "correcting" George Mattson's form, I can't say.
It is quite possible since Mattson's initial training with Ryuko
Tomoyose was only for about 1 1/2 years. I heard of rumors of a
Uechi dojo in Florida maybe it was Sensei Goldberg's, but I'm not
sure.
Modern Pangai-noon, I believe, was reformed in October of
1978 in Okinawa by Seiko Itokazu and Takashi Kinjo. I guess even
the best systems factionalize. This Pangai-noon ryu is basically
identical to modern Uech-ryu except that it incorporated Matayoshi
type Kobudo (weapons). Formal Uechi-ryu has no Kobudo. As for
"Pwangai-noon," assuming this isn't a misspelling, it may just be
modern Pangai-noon ryu i.e. associated with the breakaway group in
Okinawa. If so then, Servio, I would suggest expanding your search
for Uechi-ryu dojos or even our "sister" style Gojo-ryu aka the
Karate Kid style. If Pwangai-noon is in fact a new style founded by
Martin Goldberg, then I hope he also was "corrected" by Master Uechi
and Ryuko Tomoyose during their 1967 visit, if not, ...
I hope that this was of some use to Servio or Alan or even
any other MA. If you'd like more info, assuming I haven't bored you
to death yet, let me know. If any of my info is wrong (*impossible*)
feel free to correct me. I'm interested in the facts.
yet another Steve,
Steven Velasquez
Ve...@virginia.edu
Standard disclaimers apply
tr...@next.com
> In article <1992Jun9.1...@math.ufl.edu>, s...@math.ufl.edu
> (Servio Fabio Medina) writes:
> Is anyone familiar with the kung fu school, Pangai-noon,
> also known as Pwangai-noon? There is a dojo in southern
> Fla., but elsewhere...
Steve's article is pretty complete! Most of what is said
is based on conjecture and sketchy fact, basically all that we
have in the Uechi community. A group of Okinawan
and American Uechi seniors visited China at the request of
the Chinese goverment in order to trace the origins of Uechi
ryu so some of the myth has been replaced with fac.
Pwangai-noon is more of a description of the style that
Kanbum Uechi learned, is translates to roughly mean "half hard
half soft". There are many practitioners of the orginal pwangai-noon
still left in China and Okinawa.
The Okinawans visit us regularly and as in any practice of a martial
art, there are always 'corrections' (Steve's statement on George Mattson
being 'corrected'). I have seen every single senior in Uechi ryu
'corrected' at some point by an Okinawan senior (including George Mattson
when he was a rokudan and renshi), but isn't this
part of learning an art form? Being 'corrected' on form isn't
neccessarily bad. Pwangai-noon and Uechi-ryu have
evolved to seperate styles with common roots. If Servio wishes to
study Uechi ryu in Florida, then I suggest he looks up
either Rick Martin or Frank Gorman.
tracy
tr...@next.com
Charles Andrew Adcock
I heard of rumors of a
>> Uechi dojo in Florida maybe it was Sensei Goldberg's, but I'm not
>> sure.
Well Steve, I trained for 2 years in a Uechi-ryu dojo
in Clearwater, FL ( the Tampa Bay Area). My sensei were
Louis Izzo (3 Dan) and James Moore (2 Dan) (these rankings
were current in 1984 when I trained with them. Their school
went under and I do not know their present whereabouts).
Before I joined the Clearwater dojo I trained with Ric Martin
(6 Dan). He has been in the Tampa Bay area for many years and
he has a dojo built in the tradition of Futemna dojo on
Okinawa(the Futemna dojo was master Uechi's school until his
recent death). Sensei Martin goes to Okinawa every year to
compete in the All-Okinawa Karate tounament and to keep in
touch with the changes in the style. A freind of mine that
started training at the same time I did, is at the present
a nidan in Ric Martin's dojo.
alan.j.lapenn
I didn't me to hint that correction was bad, I just wanted to show the
background. As a matter of fact Matson's was about the only place to study in
the Boston area in the early sixties. George should really be credited with
helping to spread and demystify martial arts in NE. Even thought he did take
a more commercial approach, he was still a good instructor.
--
Alan LaPenn att!mvuxd!yy .signature not found!
tr...@next.com
> background. As a matter of fact Matson's was about the only place to
study in
> the Boston area in the early sixties. George should really be credited
with
> helping to spread and demystify martial arts in NE. Even thought he did
take
> a more commercial approach, he was still a good instructor.
>
> --
> Alan LaPenn att!mvuxd!yy .signature not found!
George has done more than his share to not only 'demystify' martial
arts in general but also to make a legitimate profession out of marital
arts. The term "professional martial artist" is now starting to take
on some meaning (due to the help of George and other pioneers like him).
George has been given the rap of being to 'commercial' by people who
like to call themselves "traditionalists". Why do you consider George's
approach "commercial"??? I would love to hear any facts that you might
have.
thanks
tracy in boston
tr...@next.com
alan.j.lapenn
>
> George has done more than his share to not only 'demystify' martial
> arts in general but also to make a legitimate profession out of marital
> arts. The term "professional martial artist" is now starting to take
> on some meaning (due to the help of George and other pioneers like him).
> George has been given the rap of being to 'commercial' by people who
> like to call themselves "traditionalists". Why do you consider George's
> approach "commercial"??? I would love to hear any facts that you might
> have.
>
Well, if I look back at Matson's dojo in Boston on the edge of Beacon Hill.
It really reminds me of some of the "health" clubs today. It was meant to
appeal to the business people in the area. Prior to this George's dojo had
been locate in the South End district of Boston. At that time this area was
pretty run down. George had all of the mordern amenities, showers, weights...
etc in his Beacon Hill dojo. But, the one thing that makes me think of his
school as being commercial were that he used contracts. Again, I'm not giving
him a bum rap for this, I just don't agree with it. I understand that the
turnover rate in MA is high, but I certainly wouldn't want someone at my dojo
who didn't want to be there.