Homma Kancho Visits Mindanao Island, Philippines; Illigan City, Malawi Village

February 20th-25th, 2009

Homma Kancho visited Aikidoka in two cities on Mindanao Island in the Philippines. At the end of last year, this area of Mindanao was a hot-bed of local terrorist activity which interrupted normal life in a number of ways. There was a high risk of kidnapping, and as a precaution, even the AHAN Nippon Kan Mindanao staff were not notified of Homma Kancho’s visit until a few hours before his arrival. A large, public seminar was not advisable under these conditions, and Homma Kancho taught instead, a number of small practices held in private party halls.

The purpose of this visit was to support AHAN Nippon Kan Mindanao coordinator Ava Yancha in her efforts to build a new permanent dojo. Meetings were held during this visit to discuss timing and other details to move forward with these plans. Ava used to have her own dojo, but with all of the political unrest and terrorist activities, her dojo was forced to be abandoned. Other stops on this trip included teaching Aikido in Malawi- a Muslim area outside of Illigan City, and a visit to a refuge facility for abused children in Illigan City to drop off donations of food, hygiene product and school supplies.

It was concluded at the new dojo building meetings, that it would be better to wait until the political environment in the area had stabilized to pursue further development. It was decided that for now it was better to concentrate on developing a strong student base using an existing facility at the MSU IIT University. This practice program was in dire need of new mats, so Homma Kancho arranged for the donation and delivery of 70 new mats for student practice.

The funds for these mats were donated to AHAN by Nippon Kan General Headquarter graduate uchideshi, Cihan Karaogluol from Turkey. Cihan donated these funds to AHAN last year as part of his Ramadan traditional donations. This donation was used to purchase these new mats for students in Illigan City. The children in Malawi drew wonderful pictures for Homma Kancho which can be viewed by linking HERE.

Written by
Nippon Kan General Headquarter Office Staff

AVA’S REPORT

Homma Kancho’s visit this time was a surprise. We were notified only a few hours before his arrival that he was coming and we were instructed not to tell anyone he was on his way. It was only I and Juan that traveled to Cagayan de Oro this time to pick up Homma Kancho at the airport.

Homma Kancho arrived dressed in his usual inconspicuous white t-shirt and khaki pants. Same as usual, Homma Kancho is always one to blend in with the locals. Actually he usually carries a few white t-shirts in his day pack and changes them like handkerchiefs in the hot sun of Mindanao.

Our first stop on this marathon of a visit was to see Saidamen, one of my Aikido students from Malawi. Saidamen joined the police academy last year and to show his support, Homma Kancho asked to go to the academy to visit him. Saidamen already has an engineering degree from the university but with no work available in the area, Saidamen decided to join the police academy to qualify for a vocation that could help him support his family.

Saidamen’s hair was cut short, and from all of the serious training, his body was strong and lean. “He looks good” Homma Kancho commented as the two checked each other over. Homma Kancho had not seen Saidamen in about a year. There are many anti-government rebels living in Saidamen’s home village, many who were reportedly involved in the terrorist activities in recent months in Illigan City and surrounding areas.

Last year during the worst of the attacks, I too left my home and everything I owned behind and fled to Cagayan de Oro. I still have not returned to Illigan City and am living in a small village outside of town.

Saidamen will graduate in three more months, and by the look on his face, he was thrilled to see Homma Kancho again. The police academy was about a three hour drive from Illigan, but when we returned, Homma Kancho went directly to teach Aikido practice.

The following day Homma Kancho and I traveled to Malawi Village to re-visit Saidamen’s father-in-law’s home, which also houses the local dojo in town. Saidamen’s father-in-law had been injured in an ambush, and since there are no nearby medical facilities in the area, he was home. Homma Kancho was concerned about him and went to check his condition. In this area, skirmishes and ambushes between the military and anti-government Muslim factions are still common…and deadly.

Our philosophy at AHAN Mindanao is the same as Homma Kancho’s. We are a humanitarian organization and open to people of all sides. As a martial artist, Homma Kancho has gained a great deal of respect in this area with the Muslim people. Homma Kancho has said, “I am not a politician or a priest. My job is to make dust by hitting the mat every day; I am just a simple martial artist.” Even the Moro-Islamic groups of Malawi laugh at this joke, for they know he speaks the truth.

Homma Kancho looked at Saidamen’s father-in-law’s wounds and brought him his own medicine for little comfort and aid. Homma Kancho also gave the children of the village presents of crayons, paper and other school supplies. He asked the children to draw him pictures and was intrigued by the pictures the children of Malawi drew for him spontaneously. These children, who live in a war-torn region lacking in most of the human comforts we take for granted, drew pictures of cute houses, rainbows, birds and happy families. So content and innocent were their drawings and so inconsistent with the realities of life in their village.

LINK HERE to What Can We Learn From these Pictures?

We returned from our visit to Malawi and Homma Kancho taught practice the following day again in Illigan City. After practice members of AHAN Mindanao delivered rice and other foods, hygiene and school supplies to a shelter for abused children.

Homma Kancho was only here for four days, and even though every day the schedule was packed with activities, Homma Kancho still insisted on teaching three Aikido classes to the eager students here. Homma Kancho saw some of the casualties of the political troubles in Illigan City and brought comfort and hope to everyone he visited. Homma Kancho told me on our drive back to Cagayan de Oro, “In the instability that has resulted from the violence and unrest here, many people have kept a candle of hope lit through their practice of Aikido. This is both touching and impressive. In the strife and struggles that you all are experiencing now are the seeds of future peace. Keep your practice of Aikido alive now in these conditions and you will be strong when better days finally come.”

Homma Kancho left us with thoughts and plans for our future dojo. We visited a proposed building site and went over architectural drawings he had brought with him with Saidamen. When the time comes, Saidamen, with his background in engineering will be able to help us build our new dojo.

To help our students practice now, Homma Kancho arranged for the delivery of 70 badly needed new mats for our practice. He told us that the funds for these mats were donated to AHAN by Nippon Kan General Headquarter graduate uchideshi, Cihan Karaogluol from Turkey. Cihan donated these funds to AHAN last year as part of his Ramadan traditional donations. Homma Kancho also bought 10 used computers that will be used here for future AHAN activities in the Illigan area.

We will not forget the gifts from AHAN or the teaching that Homma Kancho brought to us on this trip. I thank God for all of his efforts and the efforts of AHAN.

Note: I would like to give more detail about the political situation in Illigan City and the personal risks Homma Kancho took by coming to visit with us here, but I cannot for our own personal safety reasons. Thank you Homma Kancho for coming to visit us.

Written by
Ava Yancha
AHAN Nippon Kan Mindanao Coordinator