What do you think of these drawings; what do you see? These pictures were drawn by children with very different cultural and social backgrounds. Some of these drawings are from Mindanao Island in the Philippines, drawn by children living in a village torn by civil war. In the room adjacent to the room where the children sat drawing pictures, one …
Nippon Kan General Headquarters’ 10,000 square foot facility and grounds house the Nippon Kan dojo, Domo Restaurant, gardens, museum and boarding facility. General upkeep and maintenance is a priority and could not be accomplished with out the support of so many of our students and staff. Cleaning, plumbing, electrical, heating, air conditioning, parking lot maintenance, auto repair and more are …
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 …
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 …
By Arturo Alvarez Kawai December 2008 Right in the middle of the Colombian province of “Valle del Cauca”, west of the Cauca river and east of the mountainous chain of “Los Andes”, lies the city of Cali. Once a common subject of negative headlines worldwide, Cali has fortunately become a more peaceful city, better known for its commercial activities and …
Nov 24th, 2008 Martial art instructors teaching Japanese Martial Arts in the metro Denver and Front Range area were invited to a meeting in November with the Consul General of Japan in Denver. The focus of this meeting was a discussion on the history of the Japanese martial arts in Colorado and to report on the current status of the …
Oct 23rd to Oct 29th, 2008 Yasuo Kobayashi Sensei of Aikido Kobayashi Dojo came to the United States in October to teach a three-day seminar at Nippon Kan General Headquarters. Kobayashi Shihan is one of the surviving direct students of the Founder Ueshiba and a living testimonial to the days and teaching of the Founder and of the first generation …
October 15th, 2008 In preparation for Kobayashi Shihan’s arrival at Nippon Kan, dojo student volunteers busied themselves, tidying up the grounds and doing maintenance work on the dojo mat. With such a large dojo facility, Nippon Kan could not survive without the support of students who help in many different ways to keep the dojo running smoothly. We thank everyone …
August 23rd, 2008 Bi-annually, promotions are celebrated for students in Nippon Kan’s Youth Program. This past August, 32 of Nippon Kan’s youth program members received promotion certificates. Nippon Kan does not hold testing; all of our youth program promotions are based on instructor evaluation. Emily Busch, Nippon Kan AHAN International Project Director explained to youth program members, observing families and …
Nippon Kan receives correspondence by mail and email from all over the world most every day. Some of the letters we receive are from other dojos who have been inspired by AHAN to start community service projects in their own communities. At Nippon Kan we are always delighted to receive these kinds of reports since one of the biggest goals …
Homma Kancho travels all over the world but when he is in Denver he spends time counseling Nippon Kan Headquarter senior instructors and staff. “I won’t be around forever,” he warns good naturedly. “The time I have spent traveling the last few years is actually good training for the Nippon Kan staff. If something were to happen to me without …
Nippon Kan General Headquarters receives many visitors who come to join us for practice at the Nippon Kan Dojo. Below are letters from students and visitors about their experiences at Nippon Kan. These letters reflect the attitude, manners and philosophy of Nippon Kan students. Included is a letter from a dojo in Topeka, Kansas with projects of their own, inspired …
May 10th, 2008 It is unique to see a traditional authentic Japanese Kendo Tournament in Denver, Colorado. For this local tournament hosted by Ito Dojo, 5 high-ranking Kendoka traveled from Japan to serve as instructors, officials and judges. The tournament was well orchestrated and the Kendoka competing in the tournament were powerful and very skillful. I was very impressed with …
April 19th, 2008 The 28th International Sabaki Challenge Karate Tournament took place April 19th, 2008. The Sabaki Challenge is an international Enshin Full Contact Karate competition organized by Enshin Karate Do Founder and Homma Kancho’s long time friend, Joko Ninomiya Kancho.www.enshin.com. Competitors from all over the globe participate in this tournament, and Ninomiya Kancho gave special recognition to Homma Kancho …
