We had the privilege of hosting a guest class by Darin Yee Hanshi on June 14th. Darin Yee is a 10th degree black belt and President of the International Uechi-Ryu Karate Federation. Yee was visiting Sitka to work with Duane Swanson Sensei who connected us with this opportunity.
Both the style we practice at KKS called Shito-Ryu and Yee’s style Uechi-Ryu share some of the same kata such as “Sanchin” or “Seisan”. Shito-Ryu tends to use both deep and natural stances, whereas Uechi-Ryu trains more in natural stances.
The sparring and defensive aspects of karate have a high degree of overlap between styles. Yee focused on fighting techniques when teaching our level 2 students. He emphasized the need for precise targeting, the exact timing of punch rotation, and proper body positioning while executing a counter-attack to provide good defensive cover.
Besides the seminar, Laurinda Marcello Sensei was also invited by Yee & Swanson to observe Stacy Smith’s Sandan (3rd degree black belt) test that Monday morning. Following the test, Marcello, Swanson, Yee, and Heather Swanson Allio participated in a training session together.
Read more about Yee’s Sitka visit on the IUKF website here.