Emails sent to Nippon Kan

To: info@nippon-kan.org
Sent: July 29th, 2008
Subject: A Thank you

Dear Nippon Kan Staff,
This is Reggie from Boise. I wanted to extend my thanks for being so warmly welcomed by the dojo. I found the training sincere and focused, and fun! Everybody was kind and welcoming to me as a visitor. I’d love it if Homma Sensei knew that I was thoroughly impressed with his students, which I consider indicative of his own qualities as a teacher. Thank you also for your help.

Best Regards,
Reggie

To: info@nippon-kan.org
Sent:July 28th, 2008
Subject: Our first community service project

Dear Gaku Homma Sensei,
I am writing to inform you about a community service project that a small independent dojo in Topeka, KS is participating in. The inspiration for this project came from the many articles and activity reports regarding AHAN that I have read from your website.

I am the instructor for the Aikido program at Professional Martial Arts (PMA). PMA is a small dojo where Aikido, Karate, Taiji and other programs share training time.  Because of everyone’s busy schedule and a small student population, I decided to start with a small service project that would be easy for students to get involved in. For this project, students in the children’s Aikido and children’s Karate programs were asked to bring food items to the dojo to donate to Doorstep, Inc. Doorstep, Inc. is an agency that “helps Topekans/our neighbors survive crises, improve their way of life and become self sufficient.” Being a small dojo, I challenged the students to collect 2 boxes of food to donate. At this time, they have exceeded my goal and have collected 4 boxes and still have another day to donate items. It is very exciting to walk through the dojo and see children so happy to help others in need. I have seen some children who appear to get more enjoyment out of donating the food then when they received a promotion for Aikido.
Although the food drive is a small project I think it will serve as a launching pad for future community service projects. I would like to thank you for all of the humanitarian efforts you have put forth and let you know that your efforts have now had an impact in Topeka, KS. I am looking forward to someday visiting Nippon Kan to train and learn more about AHAN. Many of my students are also interested in visiting the dojo so I am beginning to organize a trip to Denver in the future (it is likely that it will be several months down the road so we can all raise enough money for the trip and to schedule time off of work and/or school).

Sincerely,
Brian Gillaspie 

To: info@nippon-kan.org
Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2008 11:08 PM
Subject: Thank you Homma Kancho

Dear Homma Kancho,

The best way I can think to start this letter is to express to you the very deep, and heart felt gratitude that I feel for you and your work. There is not a day that goes by for me that I do not take the time to express in my thoughts, or through my words, the thankfulness I feel for being allowed to be a part of Nippon Kan.

Let me say that I am not alone in my thankfulness. Not that I am any sort of spokesman for anyone else, or that I would take it upon myself to speak for the other members of the dojo, but I have had many conversations with other members who have all expressed similar feelings of gratitude.

Mainly I am thankful that you have created for me (and others) the chance to serve. So often in our culture of self advancement we overlook the needs of others and I am certainly guilty of this. But through your efforts I feel that I am being included in helping to make this world a better place for all of us. When you said on the mat the the other night that some people view the tragedies of China, and the flooding of Bangladesh as a way of creating balance, as though this were some sort of population control, and you said "maybe so, but I think that maybe there is something we can do". Well that struck me as significant. Recently I heard you recount how you started as an Akido instructor here in Denver, how by simply showing up at a local dojo with some friends to practice, you inadvertently upset the resident instructor, who then never returned. Because of this mishap you were asked to make it right by picking up, and teaching in place of the missing instructor, and you said OK. This I find also very interesting. You went on to explain how you eventually built the current dojo and how you envisioned adding the cultural center and restaurant as a way to create interest in the dojo. All of these events I find very interesting, because by your words and by the proof of your actions, it never occurred to you that you couldn't do these things. What I see in you is an unwavering belief in what you are doing, and this substance of faith, or belief if you will, has translated into goodness not just for yourself, or a small group of people, but has gone on to touch the lives of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, and I would even venture to say millions. For this I am deeply thankful to you.

By simply being yourself you have inspired in me a desire, and a belief, that I can be something more than I previously believed  that I was. You have given me an opportunity to serve not only my community, but to help enrich the lives of people on the other side of the world. I may never see the faces of the people I help through my small donations to AHAN, but I fully trust and believe that every effort I extend to them is carried forward by you, and all the other members of this organization, amplified and enriched by each person who participates.

When you explained the purpose of the keiko Gi drive, how that these uniforms would go to young children who would then go on to lead and inspire others in their community, I wanted so much to give to these deserving youngsters, and I could think of no better use for that money than to sponsor a keiko gi.

These feelings of gratitude are not a recent development. From the beginning of my training at Nippon Kan I saw that there was more to being there than learning a martial art. Early on I felt these things but I did not want to write for concern that it was not my place to be so forward, and that I did not want to stick out like a sore thumb. I now believe that gratitude is always the right attitude, and I am sorry for not thanking you sooner.

Homma Kancho, thank you Sir for your humanitarian service, thank you for allowing me to be a part of this great work. You and the beautiful people who make up your organization have had a profoundly positive effect on my life. Not just me personally either, this has had an impact on my family, friends, and every person I have had the pleasure to speak to about it. Thank you Sir.

With sincere gratitude,

Nippon Kan Student