# Uechi-Ryu Circle Block



## Drobison491 (Aug 31, 2020)

I've been studying Uechi-Ryu for a month now and for some reason I'm still having problems with the circle block.  The concept is an easy one, its just not translating well.  I watch other people do it and it seems sharp and focused, but when I do it it feels like i'm just throwing my arm in a random circle. 

I know techniques can be hard to address on a forum, but any advice would be appreciated.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Aug 31, 2020)

Drobison491 said:


> any advice would be appreciated.


Try to use your body to push/pull your arm. The goal is "only see the body movement, don't see the arm movement." To develop "body method" is important.

I like this guy's form very much. It's not Uechi-Ryu form, but you get the idea of how to use body to push/pull your arm.


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## Flying Crane (Aug 31, 2020)

A month is nothing.  Just keep working on it.


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## Drobison491 (Aug 31, 2020)

facts.  

I know a month is nothing, just wasn't expecting to still feel like i have to left feet...err...hands in this case.  It's slowly coming, Just hasn't clicked just yet.  

On the upside Sanchin and Kumite 1 have vastly improved


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## isshinryuronin (Aug 31, 2020)

Not sure at all what you are calling a "circle block"  There are several different techniques that can fit that description.  If you have an Okinawan or Japanese term for it, or post some visual, we can all be on the same page.

Master Uechi Kanbun spent many years in China studying Pangainoon kung fu, and his Okinawan version of it is perhaps more Chinese and circular than other Okinawan styles.  I think circular moves are inherently more difficult to learn than  linear techniques since the tangent/arc is changing (not good at advanced math terms) and usually *multiple* things are happening offensively and defensively during that single technique.

After just one month, be happy if you can take a proper step and lock your hips.  Relax during the move you are posting about, work on coordinating the rest of the body with it, be slow and smooth, and soon you will have it down.


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## Drobison491 (Aug 31, 2020)

I'm pretty sure it's called a wauke.  

The concept is simple one.  It shouldn't be hard to duplicate.   

Lol yeah stepping took a minute, I still step to wide at times.


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## punisher73 (Aug 31, 2020)

One of the training methods to get the motion down is to put your arm against a wall and "trace" the motion with your arm/hand.  Your other hand (depending on lineage) either is by the elbow and "follows" that or is positioned in front of the solar plexus until you are ready to chamber it.


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## O'Malley (Sep 1, 2020)

Have you tried waxing on and off?


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## _Simon_ (Sep 1, 2020)

Drobison491 said:


> I'm pretty sure it's called a wauke.
> 
> The concept is simple one.  It shouldn't be hard to duplicate.
> 
> Lol yeah stepping took a minute, I still step to wide at times.


Ahhh ok sort of similar to the blocks at the end of kata Gekisai Ichi before the double punch. Sort of like kake uke...

All I'll say is really slow down the movement to silly slow levels, and the vid you posted is probably a good way to break it down, one hand at a time. Then slowly together, really feeling the flow of it and synchronisation, and only when you're comfortable then speed it up.

Doing it in front of a mirror will help too, but I reckon it'll be a matter of ironing out any tendencies to make it mechanical or to want to make it a linear/straight-line block. Circular stuff takes a certain flow and relaxation, relaxing your shoulders will help (not hiking them up).

I find Uechi ryu fascinating as heck! Keep posting more about it! You know, if you want to 

But yeah one month is very early stages still for what seems an intermediate block like that but keep practicing brother


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## Kung Fu Wang (Sep 1, 2020)

Drobison491 said:


>


My concern about this video is - he only moves his arm. His body is not moving.


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## hoshin1600 (Sep 1, 2020)

Drobison491 said:


> I've been studying Uechi-Ryu for a month now and for some reason I'm still having problems with the circle block.


Hi Drobison, welcome to the forum.  a month,  ah well, give another 10 years and youll be fine.
who are you training under, what organisation,  everyone does the wauke a little different? what i find most students get wrong is trying to do what @punisher73  suggested.  he is correct that the wall tracing thing is a method teachers use to get the action down, however once you have done that about 100 times you would need to get away from that one dimensional plane. what Chip is showing in the video is a bit misleading due the camera and angle. depending on your teacher, you may *not* want to do your "circle" in a plane that is completely vertical as if it is painted on a wall. try this..... if you imagine a hula hoop and your hand is following the circle i would recommend the hula hoop be on a 45 degree plane starting at your waist and raising up to your shoulders and well as going out away from your body.  i see a lot of beginners doing the action from the elbow , so that the hand is moving from the elbow.  in this case my correction would be to lock your elbow more or less stiff and move more from the shoulder and hips.
all this being said it is really up to your teacher.  some organisations are pretty open to interpretation while others that are more close to Okinawan ties are very strict and taking my or anyone's advise from here would get you some head tilting looks followed by a "what the heck is that" comment.  
be patient keep working i. it takes time for the brain to make those neural pathways.


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## punisher73 (Sep 1, 2020)

hoshin1600 said:


> Hi Drobison, welcome to the forum.  a month,  ah well, give another 10 years and youll be fine.
> who are you training under, what organisation,  everyone does the wauke a little different? what i find most students get wrong is trying to do what @punisher73  suggested.  he is correct that the wall tracing thing is a method teachers use to get the action down, however once you have done that about 100 times you would need to get away from that one dimensional plane. what Chip is showing in the video is a bit misleading due the camera and angle. depending on your teacher, you may *not* want to do your "circle" in a plane that is completely vertical as if it is painted on a wall. try this..... if you imagine a hula hoop and your hand is following the circle i would recommend the hula hoop be on a 45 degree plane starting at your waist and raising up to your shoulders and well as going out away from your body.  i see a lot of beginners doing the action from the elbow , so that the hand is moving from the elbow.  in this case my correction would be to lock your elbow more or less stiff and move more from the shoulder and hips.
> all this being said it is really up to your teacher.  some organisations are pretty open to interpretation while others that are more close to Okinawan ties are very strict and taking my or anyone's advise from here would get you some head tilting looks followed by a "what the heck is that" comment.
> be patient keep working i. it takes time for the brain to make those neural pathways.



Good call on the further advice.  I was only commenting on the very beginning idea of the motion.  But, you are correct that there are multiples planes of action that can be used.  In some lineages the circle is also larger or very abbreviated on the initial movement, as always "it depends".  This was the method I learned from George Mattson as a new student.


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## hoshin1600 (Sep 1, 2020)

my overall critique on the Wauke is that a lot of people end up looking very robotic. they flap their arms around looking like a windshield wiper.  i think the underlying cause is that they get a picture of the cookie cutter version of the action in their minds (often through kata)  and often the instructor holds this same image. the student then goes about perfecting the action based on the concept of a  "perfect movement".  i prefer to have the student learn the basic action then let the application and all of its variations train their bodies to move naturally.  the blocking action should be developed through the application not an abstract picture perfect copy of a copy of a copy.  i find when you approach it this way your actions take on a character that stand out and are not easily replicated but end up being much more functional.


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## Drobison491 (Sep 2, 2020)

hoshin1600 said:


> who are you training under, what organisation, everyone does the wauke a little different?



My instructor is Steve Vosa.  He trained under Bob Campbell and George Mattson.  He's said that at the height of the circle to slightly reach out towards the eyes and then bring it back in to the ready guard. So it's not supposed to be a flat plane.  Though I can see the benefit of using the wall to start.  I think that's what Ihor Rymaruk put in his book.



_Simon_ said:


> I find Uechi ryu fascinating as heck! Keep posting more about it! You know, if you want to



I'll keep posting about my journey.  I've definitely fallen in love with it.


Thanks for all the advice I'll continue to take it slow and get my reps in.


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## hoshin1600 (Sep 2, 2020)

Drobison491 said:


> My instructor is Steve Vosa.  He trained under Bob Campbell and George Mattson.  He's said that at the height of the circle to slightly reach out towards the eyes and then bring it back in to the ready guard. So it's not supposed to be a flat plane.  Though I can see the benefit of using the wall to start.  I think that's what Ihor Rymaruk put in his book.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Well it sounds like you got it ,at least conceptually.  While the name Vosa doesn't ring a bell im sure we crossed paths at one of the Mattson summer camps if he attended regularly. But being a Campbell student I can say your in good hands.


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## Buka (Sep 2, 2020)

Drobison491 said:


> My instructor is Steve Vosa.  He trained under Bob Campbell and George Mattson.  He's said that at the height of the circle to slightly reach out towards the eyes and then bring it back in to the ready guard. So it's not supposed to be a flat plane.  Though I can see the benefit of using the wall to start.  I think that's what Ihor Rymaruk put in his book.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You go, bro, keep that love strong.

George Mattson's dojo was the first dojo I ever set foot in. And it was years before I ever actually trained.
It made me crazy over Martial Arts, I watched Bob Campbell pretty much the whole time that day.

I know George and Bob fairly well since then, Jay Salhanick - President of Bob Campbell's Uechi organization - is an old, good friend, we trained a lot together over the years.

And they all started just like we did. One day at a time. Keep at it, bro.


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## Drobison491 (Sep 3, 2020)

hoshin1600 said:


> Well it sounds like you got it ,at least conceptually. While the name Vosa doesn't ring a bell im sure we crossed paths at one of the Mattson summer camps if he attended regularly. But being a Campbell student I can say your in good hands.




Conceptually it makes sense, but being used to more linear/sharp blocks, it feels like i'm just throwing my arm around lol.  



Buka said:


> I know George and Bob fairly well since then



Small world.  I haven't heard much about Mr. Campbell and only a few (interesting) stories about Mr. Mattson.


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## Buka (Sep 3, 2020)

Bob Campbell is one of the most experienced and well traveled Karate men I've ever known. He's trained all over the world in a lot of arts to a very high level. In Kung fu as well. He is a true Martial gentleman and a scary good fighter.

He's been living in Hong Kong for decades now. If I remember correctly he's an attorney, but he trains pretty much every cop, military and security force there. At least he used to.

It was always fun when came back to the east coast for seminars and such.


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## Drobison491 (Sep 3, 2020)

That would be awesome to attend one of their seminars


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## hoshin1600 (Sep 3, 2020)

Buka said:


> He is a true Martial gentleman and a scary good fighter.


Mr. Campbell is just scary to me all around.  Back in the day he had calves the size of my waist. Somewhere around 1995 at a summer camp Bob took a group of us out to a Chinese restaurant. He told all of us to put the menus away, he would order, and he talked to the Chef in Chinese and ordered all kinds of stuff that wasn't even on the menu. Times like that were the best. I swear I would laugh all night at those camps.


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## _Simon_ (Sep 4, 2020)

Want to hear more about some training camps people have had... thread emerging now!


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## Buka (Sep 4, 2020)

hoshin1600 said:


> Mr. Campbell is just scary to me all around.  Back in the day he had calves the size of my waist. Somewhere around 1995 at a summer camp Bob took a group of us out to a Chinese restaurant. He told all of us to put the menus away, he would order, and he talked to the Chef in Chinese and ordered all kinds of stuff that wasn't even on the menu. Times like that were the best. I swear I would laugh all night at those camps.



Lol, yeah.

Last time I saw him was at a banquet for some Uechi guys who were being promoted to seventh and eighth Dans. I was there because I had been invited. I got bushwhacked. Got called up to the podium and was given a Life Time Achievement award in Okinawan Arts....even though I don't actually train in Okinawan Arts.(long story) 

Stopping by his table at the end of the night he was telling jokes in Chinese to a group of people. And, man, they were laughing their butts off. It was a great night, but kind of surreal.


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## Drobison491 (Dec 1, 2020)

so this thread has been silent for a few months, but I figured I'd give an update.  I've now been training for 4 months and I'm finally beginning to feel more comfortable in the stances and with the circle block (main reason for the start of this thread).  My instructor recently promoted me, still a white belt but now i have a shiny green bar at the ends of it.  I know some Uechi Ryu schools use the full gambit of color belts, but we only use white, green, and brown.  Also one other white belt has now joined our small school (7 people, included the instructor), which is kind of cool the other students have been training with my instructor for 10 years or more so not being the only beginner has been good.

Long winded way of saying that after a few months the circle block is becoming more natural, guess i was a little impatient at the beginning, thinking it should have come instantly.


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## Flying Crane (Dec 1, 2020)

Four months is nothing.  Keep at it . 

Glad to hear you are making process.


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## Drobison491 (Dec 1, 2020)

oh I still feel very new, but not as lost as month 1


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## Kung Fu Wang (Dec 1, 2020)

Drobison491 said:


> after a few months the circle block is becoming more natural, ...


When you train circle block, do you

1. freeze your body and just move your arm? or
2. freeze your arm and just move your body?


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## Drobison491 (Dec 1, 2020)

its primarily an arm movement,  being a beginner (during Kata/Bunkai is slightly more fluid for the beginner) I was taught to complete the step, execute the block then complete the next technique so between those two we would freeze the body and move the arm.  The advanced students typically execute the block during while executing the step.  

Is that what you're getting at?


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## Kung Fu Wang (Dec 1, 2020)

Drobison491 said:


> we would freeze the body and move the arm.


1. Beginner level training - freeze the body and move the arm.
2. Advance level training - freeze the arm and move the body.

Do you have to start from 1 and get into 2? I don't think it's necessary. When you move both arms at the same time, it's hard to notice you body movement. But if you just move 1 arm, your body can pull/push your arm when you freeze your arm at your shoulder joint.

In the following clip, you can see his body movement.


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## Drobison491 (Dec 1, 2020)

excuse my ignorance only 4 months into this.  I'm being taught to stay pretty ridged in the upper body, so when I execute a circle block its solely an arm movement, the elbow stays close in but moves in a small circle in conjunction with the fore arm.  the for arm reaches out to meet the attack as soon as possible and the fingers are usually directed at the eyes of the attacker  (blocks are to be used as strikes when possible).  

to your first point, the completion of the the step then execution of a block is just a training device to make sure our technique becomes sound, once it is then the execution of the block while stepping or turning becomes more fluid.


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## JowGaWolf (Dec 1, 2020)

Drobison491 said:


> excuse my ignorance only 4 months into this. I'm being taught to stay pretty ridged in the upper body, so when I execute a circle block its solely an arm movement, the elbow stays close in but moves in a small circle in conjunction with the fore arm


 This may be the easiest way to learn the technique.

I train in Kung Fu and I have often heard Sifu's say that they didn't add the body movement because it's easier for most people to learn the technique and then later learn how to drive power to the technique..  When I teach Kung Fu, I tend to do the same thing for some of the techniques.  I tried the other way before and sometimes people get frustrated with trying to connect body motion with the technique.   If you want to have a lot of students who will keep paying then you do what you can not to make too many frustrating experiences.  If you spent 4 months training at your school and all you feel is frustration, then you may not return for the 5th month.


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## _Simon_ (Dec 1, 2020)

Drobison491 said:


> so this thread has been silent for a few months, but I figured I'd give an update.  I've now been training for 4 months and I'm finally beginning to feel more comfortable in the stances and with the circle block (main reason for the start of this thread).  My instructor recently promoted me, still a white belt but now i have a shiny green bar at the ends of it.  I know some Uechi Ryu schools use the full gambit of color belts, but we only use white, green, and brown.  Also one other white belt has now joined our small school (7 people, included the instructor), which is kind of cool the other students have been training with my instructor for 10 years or more so not being the only beginner has been good.
> 
> Long winded way of saying that after a few months the circle block is becoming more natural, guess i was a little impatient at the beginning, thinking it should have come instantly.


Awesome to hear, yeah often it just takes time and feeling your way into the movement.

And congratulations on the promotion! Well done


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## Kung Fu Wang (Dec 2, 2020)

Drobison491 said:


> I'm being taught to stay pretty ridged in the upper body, so when I execute a circle block its solely an arm movement,...


What we are talking about on this has nothing to do with any particular MA style. We are only talking about common sense and logic.

If you freeze your shoulder joint, by just rotating your waist and hip left and right, or in circle, your body will pull your arms. Why do you want to train this way? When a punch comes toward you, first your move your body to be outside of the attacking path. Whether your arm can block that punch or not is no longer important.

This is called "body method" in MA training. Boxers are good in using this principle to dodge punches.

Not saying your current training is wrong. But your goal should be "only see the body movement and don't see the arm movement".

In this clip, he lets his body forward bending to pull down his hammer fist (body pull arm). It's different from to freeze the body and only punch the arm.


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## wab25 (Dec 2, 2020)

Drobison491 said:


> the completion of the the step then execution of a block is just a training device to make sure our technique becomes sound, once it is then the execution of the block while stepping or turning becomes more fluid.


First off, keep doing it as your instructor wants you to do it. (sounds like you are already)...

When I learn new moves or patterns... I find it very complicated to try to get the body going, with the footwork and the hand work from the start. I get easily confused. What I have found that works for me, is to just do the hands. Learn the path where the hands need to go. As you get comfortable with moving the hands, you can start to put more speed and more power into doing it. Whats interesting is that as you move your hands faster, they will start to move your body. If you practice, with your body as still as you can be, and do the hands, the hands will start to pull your body slightly. Now, you focus on what your body is doing in response to your hand movement. You can then "reverse" it by having those body movements initiate the hand movements. You can't see the difference but you can feel it. Once you get a little body into it, the hands should be moving with more power, pulling on more parts of your body. Soon, you can get to what KFW is talking about, where they are body movements. For me, I have to start with the hands and work backwards to the body.

When they want me to keep my upper body rigid... to me that says 'its important to connect the hand motion to the hip motion, not to the shoulder motion." In this case, as you increase power in the hands, ignore the body motions, but focus on the hip motions. How is this hand motion pulling on my hip? How do I initiate that hand motion from my hip?

Keep up with the training.


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## Flying Crane (Dec 2, 2020)

My opinion is that the OP ought to follow what his sensei is telling him, as I need to take on faith that there is an appropriate sequence in developing the skill.  As he is very much in the beginning stages of his training, it is not helpful for people to jump in and suggest he try doing things that, while they may be part of the progression, he is simply not yet ready for it.  His sensei is in a position to decide when the time is right.  Otherwise, well-intentioned advice can just add confusion.


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## JowGaWolf (Dec 2, 2020)

Flying Crane said:


> My opinion is that the OP ought to follow what his sensei is telling him, as I need to take on faith that there is an appropriate sequence in developing the skill.  As he is very much in the beginning stages of his training, it is not helpful for people to jump in and suggest he try doing things that, while they may be part of the progression, he is simply not yet ready for it.  His sensei is in a position to decide when the time is right.  Otherwise, well-intentioned advice can just add confusion.


I know some advance Jow Ga practitioners who recently had training over the summer.  They got a big surprise when their Sifu said the following " Try to move move your body and punch together. I only taught you to do it like that because it was easier for you to learn like that.  Moving the body with the punch is advance." (paraphrasing).

I was shocked because I've been moving my body with my punch for a very long time.  I assumed these students knew it because they know more Jow Ga than I know.  What wasn't surprising was the statement "it's an advance skill set."

I personally don't know if it was an advanced skill set for me or if it was just something I naturally fell into.  I don't remember how or when I learned to move my body with my punch.  The one thing I did learn is that it can be very frustrating to teach people how to do this.  Either I was just not communicating it correctly or the students just flat out didn't understand it.  Maybe it's one of those things you have to feel in order to understand.  Whatever the reason, it's very difficult for a lot of people to tie in their body to the punch.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are some MMA fighters who couldn't do it.  You'll hear a lot about using the hips, but that's not the same thing as using the body to power the techniques.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Dec 2, 2020)

JowGaWolf said:


> Moving the body with the punch is advance.


It's easy to see that there is a big difference there.

Punch without moving the body.






Punch with moving the body - look at his waist/hip.





.


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## drop bear (Dec 3, 2020)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> Try to use your body to push/pull your arm. The goal is "only see the body movement, don't see the arm movement." To develop "body method" is important.
> 
> I like this guy's form very much. It's not Uechi-Ryu form, but you get the idea of how to use body to push/pull your arm.



That was worth it just for the sound track.


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## drop bear (Dec 3, 2020)

Drobison491 said:


> I'm pretty sure it's called a wauke.
> 
> The concept is simple one.  It shouldn't be hard to duplicate.
> 
> Lol yeah stepping took a minute, I still step to wide at times.



Are you trying to control your hands? or trying to control your elbows? Generally with any of that sort of fighting movement if you make sure your elbows are in the right place your hands look after themselves.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Dec 3, 2020)

drop bear said:


> That was worth it just for the sound track.


Let's take beginner level training aside, am I the only person who thinks the following clip training is better?


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## wab25 (Dec 3, 2020)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> am I the only person who thinks the following clip training is better?


Better for who?

Beginners need to start with something much simpler and move on to a more complete version. As Flying Crane pointed out, its a progression and if you throw too much, too soon at someone they can't take it in. For a person just starting out, that clip training is not better, its much harder. I personally would need to start, most likely with the hands first. Then the feet. Then both together. Then integrating the body. Maybe its just me and I am slow... but if you expect me to go from no experience in that art to what that clip shows, it isn't going to happen. I will probably do more things wrong than right.

The best training, is the training that is at or slightly above where the student is at.


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## isshinryuronin (Dec 3, 2020)

drop bear said:


> Are you trying to control your hands? or trying to control your elbows? Generally with any of that sort of fighting movement if you make sure your elbows are in the right place your hands look after themselves.



This clip (did not copy in quote) shows the elbows in, as they should , but could be better anchored at the end.  Hip action is missing and no footwork is included, though the clip may be intended solely for most basic demo.  Still, some hip should be stressed as it's so integral to the move, even for beginners.



Kung Fu Wang said:


> Let's take beginner level training aside, am I the only person who thinks the following clip training is better?


This clip nicely shows advanced use of the entire body.


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## _Simon_ (Dec 3, 2020)

wab25 said:


> Better for who?
> 
> Beginners need to start with something much simpler and move on to a more complete version. As Flying Crane pointed out, its a progression and if you throw too much, too soon at someone they can't take it in. For a person just starting out, that clip training is not better, its much harder. I personally would need to start, most likely with the hands first. Then the feet. Then both together. Then integrating the body. Maybe its just me and I am slow... but if you expect me to go from no experience in that art to what that clip shows, it isn't going to happen. I will probably do more things wrong than right.
> 
> The best training, is the training that is at or slightly above where the student is at.


Yep, also something that I don't think has been mentioned, sometimes a block just needs to be a quick parry, and doesn't need your whole body moving to support the deflection. Can't count how many times in sparring that I've done a quick parry/deflection for a really quick follow up strike. If I'd have used my entire body moving with that block, I would've just gotten thwacked.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Dec 4, 2020)

_Simon_ said:


> sometimes a block just needs to be a quick parry,


Sometime you just want to deflect a punch. Sometime you want to move your body out of your opponent's attacking path (or hurt your opponent's punching arm).

For

- speed, your body chase your hand. When you smash a mosquito with your hands, your hands will move before your body stat to move.
- power, your body push your hand. When you push a car, your power will come from your leg.

In fighting, sometime you may have to trade power with speed. When you throw 3 punches within 1 second, your body will not have enough time to generate 100% power.

In the following clip, you see more hand movement than body movement.






In the following clip, you can see more body movement. There are some moves that he did not even punch out his arm. But you can still see his power has been generated from his body.

The day that you can punch without using your arm, the day that you truly understand power generation.


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## WhiteBeltNoStripe (Dec 30, 2022)

Drobison491 said:


> I'm pretty sure it's called a wauke.
> 
> The concept is simple one.  It shouldn't be hard to duplicate.
> 
> Lol yeah stepping took a minute, I still step to wide at times.


I didn't understand what you were saying until I watched this and tried to mimic it.  I too seem to have a problem performing the movement as simple as it looks.


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## WhiteBeltNoStripe (Dec 30, 2022)

Drobison491 said:


> so this thread has been silent for a few months, but I figured I'd give an update.  I've now been training for 4 months and I'm finally beginning to feel more comfortable in the stances and with the circle block (main reason for the start of this thread).  My instructor recently promoted me, still a white belt but now i have a shiny green bar at the ends of it.  I know some Uechi Ryu schools use the full gambit of color belts, but we only use white, green, and brown.  Also one other white belt has now joined our small school (7 people, included the instructor), which is kind of cool the other students have been training with my instructor for 10 years or more so not being the only beginner has been good.
> 
> Long winded way of saying that after a few months the circle block is becoming more natural, guess i was a little impatient at the beginning, thinking it should have come instantly.


My new Uechi school also uses the traditional (I'm guessing it's traditional) ranking system of white, green and brown only.


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## drop bear (Dec 30, 2022)

WhiteBeltNoStripe said:


> I didn't understand what you were saying until I watched this and tried to mimic it.  I too seem to have a problem performing the movement as simple as it looks.



I saw some people the other day struggling with parries. And their issue was they were trying to paw at the strike with their hand rather than create a solid frame.

That block is about the frame. You can see the elbow lock in towards the body. Rather than extend towards the opponent.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Dec 30, 2022)

drop bear said:


> I saw some people the other day struggling with parries. And their issue was they were trying to paw at the strike with their hand rather than create a solid frame.
> 
> That block is about the frame. You can see the elbow lock in towards the body. Rather than extend towards the opponent.


That's a very good point. When you parry down your opponent's punching arm (or guarding arm), you should let him to feel your body weight.


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## hoshin1600 (Dec 30, 2022)

The wauke shown in the video is a very basic beginner version. It's a muti purpose tool. that guiding hand really doesn't move much in application. It gets locked into place and the hips turn to actually deflect the attack. The circle hand has one application as a clear and then grab. Uechi is a derivative of a Chinese tiger style so there are lots of grab and control. In specific you would be grabbing the shoulder, biceps area or behind the neck. Most beginners have problems with this block because the actions are very small and subtle and beginners tend to move their arms around too much. It's not really a block as such. As the name wa- uke means . Wa , harmony or blending,  uke- defense


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## JowGaWolf (Dec 30, 2022)

hoshin1600 said:


> The wauke shown in the video is a very basic beginner version. It's a muti purpose tool. that guiding hand really doesn't move much in application. It gets locked into place and the hips turn to actually deflect the attack. The circle hand has one application as a clear and then grab. Uechi is a derivative of a Chinese tiger style so there are lots of grab and control. In specific you would be grabbing the shoulder, biceps area or behind the neck. Most beginners have problems with this block because the actions are very small and subtle and beginners tend to move their arms around too much. It's not really a block as such. As the name wa- uke means . Wa , harmony or blending,  uke- defense


This is similar to movements in Jow Ga Kung fu and Tai chi. I use it all the time when I spar against my MMA sparring partner or any one who tries to dominate my center with grappling. I don’t use it for dealing with punches unless the punch is at my chest. 

 I like to think of it as blocking my opponent's effort to control my center and not as blocking like a shield.  For me it's good for defending under hooks while positioning my hands close to my opponent's face. This gives me the options to strike the face or initiate head control.  

For BJJ folks, if your T-Rex had longer arms then it would look like this.


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## JowGaWolf (Dec 30, 2022)

drop bear said:


> I saw some people the other day struggling with parries. And their issue was they were trying to paw at the strike with their hand rather than create a solid frame.
> 
> That block is about the frame. You can see the elbow lock in towards the body. Rather than extend towards the opponent.


I blame Hollywood for that. It's a classic misunderstanding of what we see with our eyes and what our brains think is happening.  All it takes is to receive a good parry to understand  the energy that is put into it.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Dec 30, 2022)

A "downward parry" should follow with an "upward comb hair (or upward arm wrap)". If your opponent rotates his arm the same direction as your arm is doing, when you reverse your arm rotation direction, his arm will meet with your arm.


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