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On Okinawa today there are three major currents: The Shōrin ryū originating from Shuri-te, the Okinawan Gōjū ryū, created on the basis of the Naha-te, and the Uechi ryū, a style derived from southern Chinese kempō. The Uechi style is even closer to the original patterns of Chinese kempō than the Naha-te. Uechi Kanbun (1877-1948) developed the Uechi style after his studies in the Fukien province.

In the early 1920s master Uechi went to mainland Japan and opened a karate club in the Wakayama prefecture where his style was practiced. After my father had come to mainland Japan, he from time to time needed the help of his fellow countrymen in Wakayama and there was a rather intense exchange between my father and master Uechi Kanbun. That is why some of the kata typical for the Uechi style were integrated into the Shitō karate. One is called Shimpā. Because the second half of this kata was missing, I completed it after my father had died.

Uechi Kanei (1911-1991), the son and successor of master Kanbun, lived in Ōsaka close to the Nishinari district where the Okinawa countrymen fellow association had some rooms. I remember that after my arrival in Ōsaka I often visited them in Nishinari; the rooms of the association were also used for regular karate training.