Sensei’s Writings

At the end of every seminar, a large stack of student passports are brought to me for signing. These passports contain a student’s identification and a record of a student’s ranking history and seminar attendance. The passports are brought to me to sign to document attendance at my seminars. The passports are issued by this federation or that association and …

Translator note: The following article has been reconstructed from Homma Kancho’s Japanese article “Nisegane Tsukuri wa Dochira Ka” and edited for English comprehension. Who Are the Real False Profiteers? I have heard people that say, “Practicing Aikido will change your life”, or “If you practice Aikido all of your problems will magically disappear”. I am sorry, but I don’t think …

Written by Gaku Homma, Nippon Kan Kancho The homeless meal service on December 20th, 2009 marks the end of our 19th year of service to the homeless at the Denver Rescue Mission. This coming January we will begin again for our 20th year. When we began this project I was only 40 years old; still young, strong and powerful. I …

by Gaku Homma I created a new phrase the other day, “Hinso Kaiketsu” in Japanese. For me it describes the heart of the challenge of facilitating true conflict resolution. I will go into more depth on the meaning ofHinso Kaiketsu, but first I would like to tell you about some of my other experiences and how they relate to Aikido …

Preface by Nippon Kan Founder Gaku Homma A few days ago I passed a milestone as I moved from my fifties into a new decade of life; at least by the Japanese way of counting birthdays. It was almost 20 years ago that I decided that I no longer wanted to celebrate my birthday with big parties or a lot …

Reflections on the Year 2008 Every country has its own language defines words differently depending on their culture. For example, every country and culture has a word for God, yet there are as many definitions and descriptions of the term God as there are words that name him. It is ironic that the concept of God is prevalent in most …

By Gaku Homma Nippon Kan Kancho July 16th, 2008 As usual, AHAN Coordinator Maji Sarkar and Barbar Ratan were at the airport to meet me when I arrived in Dhaka. Barbar Ratan is actually a barber. He is very savvy about local affairs and has many connections. Both he and Maji are very nice to have as part of the …

August and September 2008 Nippon Kan General Headquarters has made many friends through AHAN all over the world, and has a special relationship with AHAN Mindanao Coordinator Ava Yancha and her students in Illigan City, Mindanao Island in the Philippines. Ava has been especially active in the development of peace and human resource development through the Aikido she shares with …

Written by Gaku Homma Nippon Kan Kancho May 5, 2008 Immigration was so crowded and the lines so long in Bogota that I missed my connection to Cali. This unfortunately was the last flight for the evening, which meant I would be spending the night in the airport. Colombia is a warm-weather country, but inside the airport was downright cold. …

Written by Gaku Homma February 11, 2008 When I awoke that morning, I could tell that something was wrong. In the sky, Australian military helicopters hovered slow and deliberately, low on the horizon. UN police vehicles and military cars moved in quickly through the streets. I had a meeting scheduled that morning with the principal of the police academy. At …

East Timor Feb 5th-11th, 2008 Feb 5th, 2008 Flew from Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia to Dili the capital of East Timor on Malpachi Airlines. The airplane cabin temperature was freezing. Why do they need to keep it so cold? The gentleman seated next to me explained that there was a very good reason– sothe flies and mosquitoes could not survive. Another …

Written by Gaku Homma January 5th, 2008 Wherever I teach, I usually begin with two thoughts. “Human beings make the martial arts; the martial arts do not make human beings”. “Bujutsu (martial fighting techniques) have been developed from man’s human instinct for survival. Budo or the Way of the Martial Arts has developed from man’s search for self”. I have …

I will never forget that child. The sound of his voice and his image will always remain in my memory. His voice was high like a child’s but from blocks away you could hear the distress in his tone. I could hear his voice above the din of the crowded streets of Dhaka. Riding in a rickshaw, we passed a …

Written by Gaku Homma Nippon Kan Kancho July 30th, 2007 I am not a priest or a politician. Nor am I an activist. I could be described as one who makes dust by repeatedly hitting the mat. That’s what my family used to say anyway. When I told people that I was going to Iran, my statement was usually met …

written by Gaku Homma Nippon Kan Kancho June 15th, 2007 *suwariwaza is technically defined as “seated techniques”, but” kneeling techniques” is a more accurate description. On June 30th, 1966 the music of the Beatles was introduced to Japan and by 1967 Twiggy had landed. In the late 60’s and early 70’s, the Beatles popularity was at its peak and English …