It came to me the idea of grabbing the ball on the rebound, paying homage to Mr. Alioune Badara HANN, I was going to say Master Alioune Badara HANN, or rather “senseï” as called in martial arts jargon, who comes from be honored by his sports family in the afternoon of this Sunday, August 07, 2022, located at the Dorama dojo, in the mythical district of Ouagou – Niayes. This Master of karate, one of the most senior in our country and even on the African continent, was celebrated by the practitioners of this noble art, whom he trained for half a century. Yes ! It was about giving back to Caesar what is Caesar’s. Since this modest man, living on the upper floor of humility and discipline, has confused his life with the training of men, of man, via this sporting discipline, the substrate of which is physical training , spiritual and mental of the human being. Born in 1946, this trained accountant wears his age well. “Ma sha Allah”.
This Sunday, August 07, 2022, Master Alioune Badara HANN was honored by his family. The Senegalese karate family, his natural family, his foals, all generations combined, his friends, acquaintances, neighbors and others, have unanimously praised the exceptional career of this martial arts icon, who wrote his name in golden letters in the history of this Asian discipline.
The celebration was very beautiful in the sense that his disciples, from here and elsewhere, did not skimp on the means to give their mentor the honor due to his rank. But also, the presence of the administrators, the former presidents of the National Karate Federation, the cream of the discipline, a host of former champions, combined with the numerous and glowing testimonials about him, emanating from his biological brothers, of his sports brothers, his companions and so on, enhanced the prestige of the ceremony. Man symbolizes rare human qualities, embodies our cardinal values, and carries a natural kindness specific to altruists.
The party was very nice
The words of President Maguette SOW, Masters Alioune Badara DIACK, Yatma LO, Alioune SARR, Bouna NDAO, President of the Federation El Mokhtar DIOP, sports doctor Doctor Mbaye PAYE, his brothers, Master of Ceremonies Souleymane BẬ DIALLO, and the president of the event’s organizing committee, Bernard DIENE, hatched the exemplary and atypical profile of this pride of Senegalese karate. And icing on the cake, in addition to the presents received for him and in addition to the demonstration of “katas” and “kyons” of the young disciples of the club, the paroxysm of the ceremony was a nice surprise; I’m talking about the 4 x 4 vehicle that his disciples, from all walks of life, generously offered him. Indeed, it is only his merit!
Allow me to speak of his person, because, knowing him, this man of singular nature never likes to speak about him, a fortiori that the other does it about him. Always preferring to remain in the fray, as a good Mouride disciple, this septuagenarian is part of this galaxy of illustrious people, who have opted to always display a low profile, in all circumstances; which remains, it must be admitted, the characteristic of great men, I say the best, the chosen, the champions. However, I will allow myself to scratch his modesty a little, because, for my part, his work should serve as a lesson, in other words, it occupies a place of choice in the history of the martial arts of our country even in the history of Senegalese sport. Whether he likes it or not, that’s the reality!
156 black belts trained from the birth of the club to the present day
Logical is, therefore, the commemoration of the sporting life of the precursor of the Dorama Karate Club, in view of the exponential number of competent and talented “budokas” he has generated, to name only the one hundred – fifty – six black belts to trained him; from the birth of the said club to the present day. It has to be done !
The man started karate in 1966 at the JCS of the famous LIDO swimming pool, current SAVANA hotel, with Maitre Robert PICARE, a French technical assistant in service in our country. Persevering and enduring, ABH dug his furrows in this art, which earned him to climb the ladder to become a teacher, that is to say, to release the rank of Master in this noble discipline from Asia. He is a seventh dan black belt in karate, in other words he is part, if I am not mistaken, of the quartet or quinté of the highest ranks in our country.
In 1971, he put the Dorama karate club into orbit and sought its official recognition in 1973. It was in 1979 that he received the club’s receipt which, today, remains a star in the meanders of Senegalese sport, with regard to of his track record. Already in 1969, he completed an internship with Master Hiro Moshizuki. And last but not least, he was major of the first promotion of first degree coach, in 1988.
Appointed to the college of national coaches in 1987 by Maitre Fernand NUNEZ, Alioune Badara HANN combines seriousness, rigor, generosity and self-sacrifice in this way where cheating is prohibited. This is how he will distinguish himself by his proven skills coupled with his sense of people. This trainer of the Senegalese national karate team, from 1988 to 1999, distinguished himself by this constancy and this innate courage – an important part of his personality – beyond the qualities mentioned above, to the point of giving our country these fighters who have earned us so much satisfaction, both nationally and internationally.
History records, among other things, that the seven majors of the Dorama are all champions in their categories, in open and six times by team. This is to say that Master Alioune Badara HANN has given Senegal African champions of the caliber of Bernard DIENE; Souleymane BA DIALLO; El Mokhtar DIOP who is none other than the current president of the Senegalese Karate Federation; Cheikh THIARE; Mor Thiam SEYE and icing on the cake, the world champion, Mamadou Ali NDIAYE. These champions who, among many others, have distinguished themselves through generations, carried the standard of the club and that of the national team of Senegal. I say those stars who made the national anthem of Senegal resound wherever the duty of competition summoned them. Moreover, Master Alioune Badara HANN is a great Champion.
The Champion who trained champions. To speak of him is equivalent to speaking of a state of mind, of a philosophy, that of the martial arts. It is – if I dare to express myself thus – to speak about Wisdom, because the man is a Sage. Beyond the Wisdom of the septuagenarian, required from the angle of age and experience, I speak of this Wisdom of which I had the clear heart to have rubbed shoulders with it many times, in the 80s via its moral lessons administered, as soon as the karate class was over. Being fired from DUC – Karate, I was lucky to have benefited from it to have taken advantage of my rest days coinciding with his days of training, in the sports temple of Dorama.
However, beyond the model he is, of course, he should serve as a model for the average Senegalese. I am thinking of this type of Senegalese who is quick to change, shamefully, in behavior so little that he is awarded an appointment to a position of responsibility, or a simple social, professional, political promotion and so on, inclined to take himself for the center of the world, to believe oneself superior to the other, which is nothing other than the expression of complexes, of a deficit of course, of confidence, of competence, of culture and of Faith in God; I’m talking about ill-concealed jealousy or ignorance, as is the case today with many politicians, unfortunately.
To tell the truth, no one can evoke the humanities of Sensei Alioune Badara HANN without putting the focus on a name, that of Bernard DIENE, this one, who is none other than the first black belt trained by him, in 1972, already. Young Bernard had just turned 19. A believer, a calm, balanced, lucid, rigorous and affable man. Champion of Senegal, champion of Africa, he sacrificed to tradition, becoming Master of the dojo at the Ouakam Air Base, then another at the Parcelles Assainies in Dakar. This man amply deserves the pseudonym of “eldest son” of the Dorama family, tricked out to him in the maze of the club. As mentioned above, he will have been at the heart of the system that worked for the success of this celebration.
It would not be, all the same, superfluous to recall that the man has several strings to his bow, since he was a footballer. And in this sport, he played at the Union Sportive de Gorée, in 1965, where he wore the captain’s armband. He also shared the football field with my big brother Amadou Diama TOUNKARA alias Zator. However, during his years of practicing karate at JC D., at the same time, he practiced judo in the Gendarmerie dojo, one of his classmates was Habib GUEYE, a former bodyguard of President Abdou DIOUF.
With that, I could hardly help congratulating the initiators of this ceremony in the sense that nothing beats celebrating great men during their lifetime. Normality would have it that way. This luck, it must be said, smiled on this caring father who never needs to be asked to take care of the large HANN family. Once again, I allowed myself this digression, unbeknownst to him, because, somewhere, being also the son of Ouagou Niayes because of the large paternal house of the TOUNKARA which came out of limbo in 1957, located in the city of Saint – Louisienne , and as I had to attest to during my oral testimony. I associate with these congratulations my friend Mamadou HANN, his younger brother and no less Master of the SENELEC dojo, located in Cap des biches.
From Master Alioune Badara HANN, I retain that simplicity, humility, humanism, rigor, competence and courage remain words, character traits, I would say the common denominator, substrate on which the silhouettes of great men walk. From him, I retain, again, that courtesy, discipline and respect for others are also attributes inherent in believers who sublimate themselves in everyday life, on the way to progress.
This is to say that the laurels braided to him, on this day of commemoration, are only the exact narration of a whole evolution, of a life, from the angle of the observatory of relatives and not from the end of their spyglass! Congratulations to Dorama! Congratulations Master!
Long life, Sensei Alioune Badara HANN! God bless you ! “HOUS”