.:: TheUKAssociation
OfNipponKempo (ANK)

.::1977 Luther De Gale returned to the UK after a year's training and studying in Japan. With the encouragement and support of the Japanese Nippon Kempo association, he started teaching Nippon Kempo in London. The first training venue was a disused house in Brixton south London. His first student was his brother, who is a co-founder of the association and an integral part of UK Nippon Kempo. Although there was an informal organisation of the various Nippon Kempo clubs that had developed, it was not until 1986 that a formal association was formed.

Between 1983 and 1986, to consolidate our knowledge and techniques, supported by the Japanese Nippon Kempo association, two top Japanese coaches visited England a number times to coach us. First was Prof. Iwao 5th Dan a master of Nippon Kempo and a professor of sports science. Prof. Doya 7th Dan, who trained Prof. Iwao, visited us a number of times to give us advanced training, guidance and advice. Prof. Doya was a direct student of the founder of Nippon Kempo, Muneumi Sawayama. From this period on we have always organised regular group and individual trips to Japan to train with the Japanese and participate in their competitions.

The association was officially formed in August 1986 with 3 executives. We deliberately decided to keep bureaucracy, meetings and politics to a minimum that maximum energy can be put into the business of developing Nippon Kempo in the UK. The three founding executives; Luther and Hamilton De Gale and Paul Cooke are still the incumbent executives. On formation we affiliated ourselves to the then Martial Arts Commission (MAC) which was the official government body regulating martial arts in the UK. With the closure of the MAC we are currently affiliated to the Martial Arts Development Commissions (www.madec.org).

.:: FENKA
Federation of European Nippon Kempo Associations

.:: FENKA was founded by the UK, Italian and French Nippon Kempo associations at an inaugural championship hosted by the Italian association in 1998. The federation presidency is held for 2 years by the championship's host.
The main objectives of the federation are:
1. To develop Nippon Kempo in Europe, based on the founders teachings. (The sport of Nippon Kempo was created by Muneumi Sawayama - the founder in Japan).
2. To develop our methods, procedures and rules based on the founder's guidelines.
3. Form an international alliance (worldwide Nippon Kempo association) with all countries where Nippon Kempo is practised who wish to participate in international competition in accordance with our set criteria.

.:: International Association

.:: At present there is no formal international organisation and no world championships as such. Until 1992 the nearest thing Nippon Kempo had to an International competition was participation in the annual Osaka All Japan championships.

In 1992 the first ever truly international competition was staged in London, England. Teams took part from Japan, France, Italy and the USA. This event was a tremendous success and it was agreed that we should aim to have an international meeting every three or four years.
These international friendlies have layed the ground for an official world organisation to be formed. There are tentative plans to form an organisation with the founding member nations anticipated to be: UK, USA, MEXICO, JAPAN, ITALY and FRANCE.

.:: USA
ANK has an informal affiliation with the US association. They were our guests at the 1992 international held in the UK. ANK to date have not made any formal visits to the US association.

.:: Mexico
Mexican training is particularly well established in and around the Mexico City area.

.:: Zambia
A Japanese school teacher established a Nippon Kempo club while he lived in Zambia working on a government aide programme. Most of the club members were government and Zambia Airlines employees. However, since Zambia airlines ceased operations, it seems that Nippon Kempo is no longer actively practised.

.:: Japan
They are the founding association of Nippon Kempo and have the largest membership base in the world. The founding association is based in Osaka, Japan. The most important national competition, the All Japan Championships is held annually in Osaka every September. Regional competitions are also held in Nagoya and Tokyo. The bulk of Nippon Kempo in Japan is practised at the university clubs. The standard of training is demanding with most members reaching 2nd or 3rd Dan black belt by the time they have graduated from university. There are some recreational Nippon Kempo clubs. These cater for juveniles and ex-university club members whose work obligations do not permit regular training.