Orange County Uechi-Ryu Karate

Sensei

William J. Corriveau
(Sensei Bill)

Sensei Bill has been studying Uechi-Ryu Karate since 1996. He began his study while living in New Hampshire under the guidance of Dan and Karen Dovidio in which he achieved the rank of Shodan (Black Belt) under the Botokukai Association.

In April 2002, Sensei Bill relocated with his wife to Southern California and continued his training under the guidance of Sensei Mike Dedonato and Sensei George Sitton at the Garden Grove Okikukai Dojo and the Okikukai-West Association.

Soon after, in 2002, Sensei Bill began teaching karate to neighborhood children. Finding enjoyment in the challenge of teaching children, he then became a karate instructor for an after-school program called the Youth of America Outreach Program. He taught successfully in the towns of Norwalk, Anaheim, and Garden Grove.

In March, 2005, Sensei Bill was asked by the Instructors at the Garden Grove Okikukai Dojo take over the task of Dojo owner and operator, as it was no longer possible for Sensei George Sitton to maintain those responsibilites. Sensei Bill became the head instructor of the Garden Grove Okikukai Dojo.

Later, in 2005, Youth of America was bought out by it's San Diego based "sister" program America's Youth.

Because of his excellence in teaching, Sensei Bill was the only Youth of America instructor to remain employed by the new Americas Youth administration and remains today the instructor for Garden Grove,  Anaheim and Fountain Valley.

 

In August of 2008, the building in Garden Grove that housed the Dojo was re-renovated as an apartment building.

To accommodate students, Classes are now Available in Anaheim, Garden Grove, Fountain Valley and Santa Ana, CA.

In March of 2016, the collective group of classes known as the Garden Grove Okikukai Dojo was renamed the Orange County Uechi-Ryu Karate Dojo.

Under the guidance of Sensei Mike Dedonato and Senior Members of the Okikukai West Association, Sensei Bill now holds the rank of YonDan.  (4thDegree Black Belt)

 

Sensei Bill is also a Co-Organizer of the Orange County Open-Style Martial Arts Meetup group which encourages and facilitates a forum for Martial Artists of all disciplines to come together, share,  and learn from each other without politics or ego.
                                                          

Kanmei Uechi and Sensei Bill

at Sensei Bill's

Shodan Test

 

"The Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) were conquered and united into one kingdom. To insure his rule, the king confiscated and banned possession of weapons by people other than his troops. A second ban on weapons was instituted by Japanese conquerors approximately 200 years later. These two incidents are generally credited as the cause for the intense development of the empty-handed fighting techniques..."
-- Special Forces (USA) manual ST 31-204