Kanbun — Jon Mills

Kanbun Uechi lives during a turbulent era in East Asia from the late 19th into the middle of the 20th centuries, an era in which the Edo Period of Japan, the Sho Kingdom of Ryukyu, and the Ming Dynasty of China, all representing multi-century feudal regimes, come to consecutive and precipitous ends. Like his countrymen in the Ryukyu Islands, Kanbun is thrown about like a leaf upon an ocean of geo-politics, great power struggles, wars, capricious and unstable governments, economic insecurity, and personal danger. This is the story of how Kanbun became one of three main proponents of karate to bridge the transition from mainland China to Okinawa to Japan and to the rest of the world. His personal growth paralleled his training through Ryukyu toodi to Chinese wushu to Okinawan karate.