Feb 26th-March 4th, 2009
Innocent practice touches the heart
After the seminar events in Kathmandu were complete, Homma Kancho and Yoon Sensei accompanied by me (Bishu Kanta) as guide, set out for the resort town of Pokhara, 240 kilometers west of Kathmandu.
Martial arts are very popular in Pokhara and in the early morning hours, students gather around the sports center, some practicing inside, some outside, but everyone serious in their practice of the martial arts. I took Homma Kancho to see our morning practice, and he was very impressed to see such a large and developed practice in such an under-developed rural area of Nepal. Homma Kancho commented on the positive value of martial art education for the young people in this area.
Homma Kancho and Yoon Sensei also went to visit an English NGO that has been operating an orphanage and boarding school in Pokhara for the last eleven years. At the time of this visit there were 46 students and 8 teachers at the facility. Homma Kancho commented that he was thinking of starting AHAN’s own live-in facility in Asia focusing on youth leadership training and development.
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- With Pokhara Kyokushin Karate students.
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- Future fighters of Pokhara.
Many different martial arts practice together in the early morning hours.
After the visit to the orphanage, we traveled 40 kilometers west, deep into the mountains to my hometown of Jaisidanada and then onward another 20 kilometers to the village of Walling.
It is here that I have invested in building a large sports hall and dojo for the practice of Kyokushin Karate. Students come from many of the surrounding villages in the area to practice, and now a school has also been built for these students as well.
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- From Kanta Sensei’s house high a top the mountain; the dojo down below.
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- It takes 1 hour to climb down and 2 hours to climb up. Kanta Sensei used to walk this path to practice every day.
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- Kanta Sensei’s original home is 200 years old. Photo with grandmother.
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- In the kitchen.
This area is well acquainted with Mao terrorists, and there have been many attacks in this area. In the past few years, over 15,000 Maoists and Nepalese soldiers have died in territory skirmishes here.
Homma Kancho spoke on this tour, “For Kyokushin Karate to invest such great amounts of time and resources to teach the young people in this remote area is a wonderful endeavor. Right now, Kyokushin Karate is being taught in 15 local schools and has 6 local branch dojos. It is impressive that Kyokushin Karate has been in this area for 27 years and it is a marvel to see Bishnu Kanto Sensei’s 50 meter x 25 meter concrete block dojo out here in this area.”
Kanta Sensei helped in the funding to build this new dojo.
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- Kanta Sensei’s old dojo.
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- Kanta Sensei and local instructor inside the new dojo.
After watching students practice hard in this remote dojo, Homma Kancho said, “I have visited many countries and most everywhere I travel you can find Kyokushin Karate. I have often wondered why it is so prevalent in the most remote of areas, and have been interested in learning about the life and philosophy of the Founder of Kyoukushin Karate, Masutatsu Oyama Sosai. I want to know what he found valuable in his own life. His teaching has spread beyond country borders and language barriers and succeeded in all kinds of economic, cultural and political conditions. He has given the people in all of these regions a unifying hope and a dream. I have seen with my own eyes the social discipline, patience, respect and camaraderie instilled in the students here. This alone has made it a very valuable trip for me.
Through my travels, I have also seen martial arts used to support gang violence and even private armies. East Timor is a good example of this and is the opposite of what I am seeing here.
Read Homma Kancho’s Bujutsu Fighting Gangs in East Timor I
Read Homma Kancho’s Bujutsu Fighting Gangs in East Timor II
The practice here and the practice in East Timor cover both ends of the spectrum, and both seem to support my theory that “Human beings make the martial arts; the martial arts do not make human beings”.
The best example of the positive effects of martial art training are evident here in the Pokhara area and I have the highest respect for Bishnu Kanta Sensei for his years of tireless efforts and great skill. Thank you very much for being a wonderful guide to myself and Yoon Sensei.”
Written by
Bishnu Kanta Aryal Sensei
Kyokushin Karate