Uechi-ryu is based on the movements of animal styles, the Tiger, Dragon, and Crane. It trains with dynamic body tension creating movement through iron skin conditioning. It is a superb close quarters upright boxing system. It contains a little from all five major animals there is an empahsis on breathing from Dragon andCcrane/ Tiger movements. The focus of training is quaility of movement of quantity and repetition is necessary for this art. Taking more discipline and focus when training in Uechi-Ryu Karate Do.

Kata

There are eight empty-hand katas in Uechi Ryu; the longest has 36 steps. Only Sanchin, Seisan, Sanseirui are from Pangai-noon. The others were added to the style by Kanei Uechi. Many of the names of the newer kata were formed from the names of prominent figures in the art, e.g. Kanshiwa from Kanei and Sushiwa. The current list of empty-hand kata is:

1. Sanchin (Three Modes/Conflicts: Mind, Body and Spirit)
2. Kanshiwa
3. Konshu
4. Seichin
5. Seisan (Thirteen modes of attack and defense)
6. Seirui
7. Konchin
8. Sanseirui (Thirty-six modes of attack and defense)