Nijurokku!

From: Paul Brennan
Subject: Nijurokku

hi, sensei.

i realize you probably receive 1000s of emails a day, but if you have time, can you please clarify a personal curiosity of mine? it's in 3 parts.

first, what year did you create nijurokku and add it to the system?

second, i understand you created nijurokku for a test. we practice it frequently in our dojo, however, i'm curious as to why you created it. was it part of your personal development for a test you were taking, or was it something you felt important for your students to learn for their tests?

third, there is some debate as to what you feel is the primary purpose of the exercise. is it primarily a punching exercise, movement exercise, etc. or is there no primary purpose for it and it is "just an exercise"?

i would really appreciate any feedback you can give me regarding nijurokku, as i feel it will help me understand the exercise and style of uechi-ryu better.

thank you for your time,
kind regards,
Paul Brennan

Hi Paul:

I believe Nijurokku was created around 1963.
I created it primarily for new students as a level of performance relating to basic and generic material, prior to the formal curriculum found in Uechi-ryu.

Thanks for your kind e-mail and interesting questions.

Best,
George Mattson