Chan Hok-seng

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Chan Hok-seng (楊福成) of Angeles City is considered the Father of Aikido in Pampanga. He introduced Aikido to the Kapampangan people in the 1960s when he established the first and oldest Aikido school in Pampanga, the Angeles Aikido Club.

Chan Hok-seng was one of the original students of Benjamin Galarpe, the Father of Aikido in the Philippines. Galarpe began teaching Aikido at the garage of his house in Tondo in 1959, roughly three years before he established the Manila Aikido Club. At that time, Galarpe and Chan Hok-seng were members of the same martial arts brotherhood in Tondo. Chan Hok-seng received his shodan from Galarpe in 1962. In 1965, Chan Hok-seng, together with Galarpe, received his nidan from Aikikai Hombu Dojo head master Koichi Tohei. At that time, Koichi Tohei visited the Philippines to help Galarpe further promote the teaching and propagation of Aikido in the archipelago. In 1968, Tohei again promoted Chan Hok-seng to sandan.

With the blessings of Benjamin Galarpe and Koichi Tohei, Chan Hok-seng formally opened the Angeles Aikido Club in Angeles City in 1965. The inauguration was graced by none other than the head master Koichi Tohei himself. It was then that the first Aikido and Ki Power Exhibition was ever held in Pampanga.

Following the schism between the Aikikai doshu, Kisshomaru Ueshiba and former head master Koichi Tohei in 1971, Chan Hok-seng chose to remain loyal to Tohei and his teacher Benjamin Galarpe. Galarpe had sided with Tohei and joined the newly formed Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido. Out of respect to the Aikikai Hombu Dojo for which he owed the establishment of the first Aikido school in Pampanga, Chan Hok-seng decided to formally close the Angeles Aikido Club. He nevertheless continued to teach Aikido informally to his son and a select number of students. In 1992, Chan Hok-seng's son, Marnie Chan re-opened the Angeles Aikido Club and succeeded his father as its chief instructor.