March 22nd, 2009 This year, at the 14th annual bowling tournament between Nippon Kan and Enshin Karate, Nippon Kan won. This “friendly tournament” was originally thought up by Homma Kancho as a way to celebrate the birthday of long time friend and fellow Denver martial art pioneer, Joko Ninomiya Kancho, Founder of Enshin Karate. Unfortunately, this year’s tournament fell just …
March 10th-14th, 2009 Earlier plans to visit Myanmar were finally realized this past March with Homma Kancho’s exploratory tour. This visit was a surprise visit by design, and Homma Kancho went alone and unannounced. Homma Kancho was interested in learning about humanitarian organizations at work in Myanmar for possible ways AHAN might be able to contribute that are within our …
March 5th-March 8th, 2009 After leaving Nepal, Homma Kancho took a quick trip to Bangladesh to check on ongoing AHAN projects there. Currently AHAN supports two orphanages in Dhaka with one ton of rice per month, computers and other building, medical and school supplies. On this trip, Homma Kancho was also interested in researching a facility he had heard of …
Armed with 24-7 patches on their uniforms, the Nippon Kan uchideshi engage in a level of practice that is not easy. All in all, the current uchideshi are young, in good spirits and seem to enjoy their practice. With only a half day on Sundays to call their own, they have little time to rest, and this past Sunday, even …
Feb 26th-March 4th, 2009 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 …
Feb 26th-March 4th, 2009 Over 200 people attended this annual spring seminar conducted by Homma Kancho at the Nepal Multiple Martial Art Center. A unique mixture of Nepalese regular army soldiers, Nepal armed police, civilians and students made up the attending student body. The seminar was held for three days, and the group was divided into two levels of experience. …
Feb 26th-March 4th, 2009 Training Seminar for the Nepal Army Rangers Homma Kancho instructed a special spring training seminar for the Nepal Army Rangers this past Feb 26th-March 4th that concentrated on the teaching of original Aikido Nippon Kan NSDT (Nippon Kan Self Defense Techniques). There were over 500 Army Ranger Special Forces in attendance, and training was held outside …
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 …
February 13-15, 2009 Aikidoka in the capital city of Guatemala City came together last year to form AHAN Nippon Kan Guatemala. This February, Homma Kancho visited for the first time and taught at a six hour practice held at the Escuela Central Aikido, coordinated by Pablo Buentafe. Homma Kancho was accompanied on this visit by AHAN Nippon Kan General Headquarters …
February 2nd, 2009 Captain Doug Kelly, Nippon Kan General Headquarters NPO President for the past 6 years retired as President this year. Captain Kelly was instrumental in the procurement and development of Nippon Kan’s current facility. With career promotions and a growing family, Doug found it was time to “pass the baton” to our new Nippon Kan General Headquarter President …
December 31st, 2008-January 4th, 2009 As is our tradition, Nippon Kan ended classes for 2008 with Keiko Osame (last practice of the year) and began practice for 2009 with Keiko Hajime (first practice of the year). For the past few years, in keeping with Homma Kancho’s philosophies of AHAN, the celebrations have been kept simple. Homma Kancho spoke of his …
