Uechi-ryu Karate Do: Secrets and Steps to Mastering Uechi-ryu
Uechi-ryu Karate Do: Secrets and Steps to Mastering Uechi-ryu
Five thousand soft-cover copies were printed, plus a 750 hardcover edition. The first soft-cover edition included all black belt promotions awarded by the Uechi‐ryu Karate Association from the first official test in 1958 through the publication of the first printing of URKD. Each of the eight printings had a different color cover. (The first printing had a yellow cover and the last a red cover) The hard-cover special-edition book had a black cover with calligraphy embossed in the upper-right corner. The author signed and numbered the hard-covered books, and this edition quickly sold out.
The book was well received by both the Uechi community and martial artists from other systems. It was retired after the eighth printing because the “flats” (artwork from which the printing plates are made) were lost by the printer and the plates had deteriorated and could no longer be used. The soft cover book has since become highly sought after by book collectors and Uechi students. Used copies are being sold on eBay and Amazon for very high prices.
Because the first official printing of URKD contained the promotional listing that subsequent printings did not, it, too, has become very scarce and much sought after. When it was decided to publish a new edition of URKD, using the technologically advanced scanning capabilities of today’s software, the first copy of the book was used. This book, besides having the best-quality photographs and text from the new printing plates, also has the distinction of including a trip to Okinawa following its publication, where autographs of many famous karate teachers were included in the book as a keepsake.
In addition to the original promotions (1958 – 1974), the list of teachers has been expanded to include additional years of official promotions (sanctioned by Okinawa Uechi‐ryu Karate Association). Mattson also added additional material describing the history of this very popular book. Grandmaster Kanei Uechi posed for many of the kata photographs while staying with Mattson in Boston, Massachusetts, during one of his visits. This book contains the only photographs of the Uechi sensei doing kata.