martial arts when he was 20 years old. Uechi-ryū means "Style of Uechi" or "School of Uechi." Early history Kanbun Uechi studied Pangai-noon (half-hard, half-soft) Kung Fu under Shushiwa in the Fujian (a.k.a. Fukien) province of mainland China in the late 1800s and early 1900s. After studying 10 years under Shushiwa, Kanbun