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Master Uechi's address to the Uechi community during the 1983 SummerFest in Boston, MA
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Mr. George E. Mattson, distinguished guests, my fellow uechi brothers and
sisters, ladies and gentlemen:
I esteem it a great honor to be able to bring my best wishes and greet
mg to all who are present at this grand meeting. This is a great histori
cal occasion offered in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of uechiryu
karatedo foundation in the United States of America. I congratulate Mr.
George E. Mattson and all others concerned on realizing their success in
every program made for "Shubukan 1983 Uechiryu Karatedo Summer Camp:'
When looking back on the past 25 years of uechi karate development
m America, we come across with a man who can never be forgotten. It is
Mr. George E. Mattson. He is the Founding Father of American Uechiryu
Karatedo. He was the first man to bring forth on this continent a new
martial art, uechiryu karatedo, since then he has made very strenuous
efforts and built up a strong foundation of uechi karate for its popularization.
He established this firm base and uechi karate has, consequently, spread
out all over the United States. He achieved this great task. However, the
road to success was not so simple or flat. It had ups and downs. He con
fronted many difficulties but surmounted them. He endured every hardship.
What he has done for uechi karate must be remembered forever. His full
measure of devotion to uechi karate must be highly valued in the history of
the art. Through his teachings and publications his name will be remember
ed widely as one of the distinguished American martial artists. We highly
honor him for being the pioneer of uechi karate in America.
Now permit me to speak briefly about what karate is and the mental at
titudes we must keep in our minds are as practitioners.
Karate is one of the cultural assets of our ancestors. It IS the crown
mg product of human activity and the final justification for all the strivings
of humanity to fight for truth. Thus, we consider it as the noblest way of
life. It is an instrument of character building. It enlightens those who
constantly practice ascetic workouts. It teaches us how to act in our life.
Karate is, technically, the martial art of self-defense and, mentally, the
martial way of self-perfection. These principles should not be separated
but must be combined into one for better activation. Then the practitioner
can develop into a healthy well-coordinated personality, both physically and
mentally.
The value of karate lies in its effects. If it can only gIve pleasure,
however spiritual that pleasure may be, it is of no great consequence. The
world is full of inevitable evils. Karate teaches us not to escape them, but
rather to gather fresh strength to face and beat them. It teaches us how
to be men of humility, tolerance, wisdom and magnanimity when we are in
adversity.
Through karate training we can attain the highest ideals of beauty and
strength. Beauty and strength are inner and outer, mental and physical re
spectively. However, the greatest value of karate lies in right action. It
drives us to take right actions whenever and wherever such actions need
to be taken. Isn't the very Master George E. Mattson whom we honor today
a living example of what I speak?
The martially-well-oriented artist sets the highest value on courtesy.
Courtesy is of prime importance. Without courtesy, the essence of karate
does not exist. No one is qualified to be a martial artist without courtesy
e\-en if he excels others in his techniques. This is the very reason why
karate practice begins and ends with the traditional bow. The bow repre
I
sents one's recognition of the meanmg of courtesy. Courtesy must be con
stantly practiced not only during training periods but all the time in our
daily life.
Courtesy IS universal. It goes beyond everything such as nationality,
race, sex, age and religion. Our human relationships should be developed
on the basis of courtesy. Our mutual relationships can be peacefully main
tained so long as courtesy is exercised towards others.
We are all in the universal brotherhood. We are all brothers and sist
ers under the name of UECHIRYU KARATEDO. There will be no barri
ers for mutual understanding and reciprocal assistance among brothers and
sisters even if our language differs from one nation to another. The sense
of brotherhood will be strengthened by the strict observation of coutesy.
It seems to us that neither age nor seniority is respected in America
as IS in Okinawa. We have seen many cases of perspnal conflicts among
members of uechi family. These conflicts are often called political strug
gles caused, in our opinion, by power hungry people who are disrespectful
to their superiors and who have no sense of seniority. Karate is not a
tool to be used for political struggles. If we are respectful to our superi
ors or seniors such power struggles will no longer exist. Our traditional
sense tells that the senior is senior and the junior is junior. This hierar
chical distinction must be recognised by all people of the world of martial
arts. The senior must be looked up to as the senior. The teacher must
be looked up to as the teacher. We wish you to learn the oriental spiritu
al tradition. When you have learned it, political struegles will cease to
exisi. Thus, we are able to maintain our traditional societal rules for the
world of martial arts.
Let's respect one another, and extend courtesy to others. Let's pursue
the philosophy of karate not only for self-mastery but also for the martial
art itself. Practice makes perfect. Through the perfection of personality,
the techniques of self-defense become humanitarian arts.
To conclude my address I would like to quote one statement from the
Bible; Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and
it shall be opened unto you.
Master Kanei Uechi
President of the Uechiryu
Karatedo Association.
Master Kanei Uechi's Message to the Participants
in "Shubukan 1983 Uechiryu Karatedo Summer Camp"
Uechi-ryu Karate-do Association
August 12, 1983
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