Argo Uechi-Ryu Tode (唐手/Karate) Dojo, Volos - Greece

Traditional - Realistic Self Defense Method Dojo in Volos, Greece

 

Uechi-Ryu (School of Uechi) is one of the most popular styles of Okinawa Karate-Do. It is a bare-handed fighting system with obvious roots in Chinese Kung-Fu (Quan-fa). Uechi-Ryu combines gracefully "hard" and "soft" techniques, inspired by three animals, namely the Tiger, the Crane and the legendary Dragon. The style was brought from China by Master Kanbun Uechi (1877-1948), who left Okinawa to follow his dream to study Chinese martial arts of Fukien province and because of his social objections to serving in the Japanese army. He studied a style, to which he user to refer as "Pangai-Noon" (half-hard half-soft) for seven years under Taoist monk Shu Shi Wa (1874-1826). Kanbun Uechi's skills and excellence in martial arts, allowed him to start his own school in China, in 1907, which was a rare phenomenon for a non-Chinese teacher at that time. The school operated for only three years, since a quite unfortunate event made Master Uechi leave China for ever. Many researchers support the theory that one of his disciples killed a person accidentally, but there other theories too. He returned in Okinawa, determined never to teach martial arts again, in 1910. In 1924 he moved to Japan seeking for a job as a factory worker in Yokohama, Osaka. There, he was convinced by his Okinawan friend and colleague, Ryuyu Tomoyose (Tomoyori in Japanese, 1874 - 1960) to teach martial arts again after many years. In 1947 Kanbun Uechi moved to Ishima Island, near Okinawa, where he passed away one year later. His students decided to rename "Pangai-noon" to "Uechi-Ryu" during the 1940's to honor their teacher's memory. His son, Kanei Uechi (1911-1991), continued his father's work systematizing and developing Uechi-Ryu.

Shu Shiwa (Zhou Zihe) 1874 - 1926

Kanbun Uechi 1877 - 1947

Ryuyu Tomoyose 1874 - 1960

Kanei Uechi 1911 - 1991

Uechi-Ryu today is one of the most popular traditional Karate-Do styles, taught in many countries around the world and practiced by thousands of students in his traditional, non-competitive form. The spread of Sport Karate, has attracted the interest, especially of younger people over the past decades. This tendency, though has not influenced the basis of Uechi-Ryu training in the vast majority of the Dojo around the world, no matter which line or association they follow. The very same traditional form of practice we follow in Argo Dojo.

  

 

Dojo instructor is Antonis Tzounis Sensei (Shidoin, 3 Dan), student of Popovic Vladimir (Kyoshi, 8 Dan). Argo Dojo is operating under the guidance of Okikukai Association (Okinawa Karate-Do Kyokai) with headquarters based in Okinawa, Japan.

Antonis Tzounis (Shidoin, 3 Dan)

Popovic Sensei (Kyoshi, 8 Dan)

Weekly Schedule

Monday - Wednesday - Thursday 20:30 - Uechi-Ryu Training

Saturday 15:30 - Ryu-Kyu Kobudo/ Open day for all! Training

 

 

 

In Argo Dojo, we follow the training structure of the Okinawa Karate-Do Association (Okinawa Karate-Do Kyokai). Our training system is organized as follows: Kata 三戦 （サンチン） --- Sanchin 完子和 （カンシワ） --- Kanshiwa 完周 （カンシュウ） --- Kanshu 十戦 （セーチン） --- Seichin 十三 （セーサン） --- Seisan 十六 （セーリュウ） --- Seiryu 完戦 （カンチン） --- Kanchin 三十六 （サンセーリュウ） --- Sanseiryu 型の分解 --- Kata no Bunkai (ανάλυση και εφαρμογή των Κάτα) Basic Techniques 補助運動 --- Hojo-Undo 体鍛え --- Tai-Kitae 小手鍛え --- Kote-Kitae 胸鍛え --- Mune-Kitae 腹鍛え --- Hara-Kitae 足鍛え --- Ashi-Kitae Pre-arranged sets of defense and offence 約束組手 --- Yakusoku-kumite 連続組み手 --- Renzoku-Kumite (Continuous kumite) Free fight 自由組手 --- Jiyu-Kumite   In the videos below you can see the three Kata brought by Kanbun Uechi from China, performed by his son, Kanei Uechi Sensei: Sanchin Kata Seisan Kata Sanseiryu Kata In the collection below, you can see the rest of the Uechi-Ryu Kata, as well as videos from presentations of Uechi-Ryu Karate: Detailed list of the videos here

 

 

Okinawa belongs to the Ryu-Kyu islands and has been a separate kingdom (Ryu-Kyu Kingdom) and a popular merchant and cultural crossroad over the past centuries. Okinawa's close relationships with China had a significant influence on the local arts, including martial arts. An example of this influence is the fact that the bare-handed martial art of Okinawa, Te/Ti = hand, Tode/Tudi = Chinese hand, 唐手until the first decades of the 20th century. Okinawa was finally returned to Japan after 1971 Okinawa Reversion Agreement between the USA and Japan.

 

 

In this section, you can find a list of useful documents which have been created from time to time, in order to cover students needs or presentations of Uechi-Ryu Karate. You are free to download them. We would appreciate if you included a backward reference to us, in case of using or reproducing this material.

 

1. Presentation with title: "«Καράτε», Το «Karate», το «空手» και το «唐手»",(in Greek) Antonis Tzounis (2014)

2. Short presentation of Uechi-Ryu Karate, Antonis Tzounis (2013)

3. Sanchin Kata Manual (English Version), Antonis Tzounis (2012-2016)

4. Promotion prerequisites: Kyu Levels/ Dan Levels, Vladimir Popovic

5. Article with title "Επιλέγοντας μια πολεμική τέχνη σε «ενδιαφέροντες καιρούς",(Choosing a Martial Art in "Interesting Times", in Greek) Antonis Tzounis (2016)

6. Argo Dojo Times - Our Dojo news, Vol 1 - July 2016 Download here!

7. Argo Dojo Times - Our Dojo news, Vol 2 - January 2017 Download Standard / High Quality

8. Student's Manual (Greek, 2019) Download Here

 

 

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