|
|
 |
 |
A
New AHAN Project Begins in Italy; My Style of Appreciation (The
Three Italians).
My first visit to Italy this April 2004 was
hosted by Samuel Onofri Sensei and his wife Aurora of Nettuno.
Through the narrow streets
of Rome they guided us, steering us skillfully through throngs
of lost tourists and busy natives. It was a testimonial to their
native prowess, they were very good ! Using both hands to gesture
in typical Italian fashion, they patiently explained about the
local architecture, history, foods, and all of the nuances of the
local population. Explaining about the many ruins in and about
Rome, Samuel explained that they were “very, very, very old”.
Most descriptions had at least three “very’s” in
front of them, and rightly so! We stood in awe at ruins that had
histories that began before the time of Christ. They were indeed “very,
very, very old”! In one part of Rome, I stood admiring a
particular ruin. “This one is new” Samuel commented. “It
is only 500 years old”!
Samuel Onofri Sensei at his favorite
ice cream shop in Rome. Center: Samuel Sensei, right: Rick
Thompson |
|
Aurora and Emily, AHAN President. |
During this visit
we stayed about one hour southwest of Rome in the port town of
Anzio. Anzio is home to ruins of its own as the place that the
infamous Emperor Nero had one of his summer palaces. A destination
for Roman natives’ more than foreign tourists, Anzio exudes
a quaint charm. Even over the busy Easter holiday, visitors strolled
slowly arm and arm down walkways by the sea. Older couples lingered
over cappuccinos at local restaurants engrossed in discussion,
Italian style. Anzio was a sleepy seaside town with a charming
pace. The local innkeepers were very kind to us, once they figured
out that although quite illiterate in Italian we were quite harmless.
The local restaurants, we soon discovered did not open for dinner
until 8:00 pm. Venturing out for a meal without our hosts at times,
we were greeted warmly and ushered to our table with grand gestures
of welcome. The guests around us dined on local fresh sea foods
and garden vegetables flavored simply with olive oil, vinegar and
garlic. We learned that an Italian dinner begins with a course
of antipasto (appetizers) followed by courses of pasta or pizza
and main courses of fish or meat dishes. All of the courses were
accompanied by wonderful Italian wines which flowed freely. I really
think that the people of Italy must have an extra stomach to have
for room for all of this plus a variety of exotic deserts and coffees!
As I looked around however, I did not really see anyone who looked
like they needed to go on a diet. It made me question the validity
of the most popular new low carb diet craze in the United States.
Here in Italy I was impressed by how everyone enjoyed their mealtimes,
enjoying well balanced, natural foods accompanied by ample amounts
of joy and comradery. I decided to follow the old saying, “When
in Rome… and joined right in!
At the invitation of Samuel Onofri Sensei of Kihon dojo in Nettuno,
we came to Italy to conduct this fundraising seminar for the Naturalment
Centro-Sociale O.N.L.U.S. This center is a non-profit organization
that provides day care, activities, meals and therapy for children
and young adults with mental disabilities such as autism and turret
syndrome. This first visit to Italy was very successful, and we
laid much groundwork and completed research for future AHAN (Nippon
Kan’s Aikido Humanitarian Active Network) fundraising projects
in Italy for 2005. Approximately forty Aikidoka from the Nettuno
area gathered for this groundbreaking seminar, and everyone practiced
very diligently at a high technical level.
In the 1960’s Hiroshi Tada Shihan (currently Aikikai Hombu
9th Dan) was sent by Aikikai Hombu headquarters in Japan to Italy.
Through his efforts over these many decades, Aikido is practiced
widely in Italy, and the students that attended this seminar reflected
his level of expertise. I highly respect what Tada Shihan has accomplished
in Italy.
All seminar fees collected were donated to the Naturalmente Centro-Sociale
center. To keep seminar costs minimal my travel and lodging expenses
and the expenses of accompanying Nippon Kan staff were covered
by AHAN and not by seminar proceeds. All instructional fees were
also waived and donated back to the project.
At this seminar, raising money was not the only target or purpose.
In our communities there are many individuals and organizations
that do good work for others but remain out of the spotlight. This
seminar was an opportunity to shine a small light on this center,
bringing its goals and purpose to a forefront. So the purpose of
the seminar then was not only to raise funds, but to raise awareness
as well. This kind of community awareness is just as important
as the funds raised for the future of the center.
AHAN supports humanitarian projects in many parts of the world
and the projects that are selected are almost always projects that
do not receive a lot of attention from government or corporate
sponsors. There is always an organization that can be found that
does not have the power or resources to mount massive fundraising
or support campaigns. We relied on the judgment of Samuel Sensei
and his wife, and they found a project of great merit in need of
our help. Through this seminar we were able to practice Aikido
for our enjoyment and also were able to help others at the same
time. This project of support for the Naturalmente Centro-Sociale
began this year with Kihon dojo, and with Kihon dojo at the helm
we hope to expand the project next year!
Homma Kancho (right) gives donation
to Mr. Mauro, President of the Center (left). |
|
In front of Center. |
Inside the Center with staff and residents. |
|
|
This visit to Italy also had another special meaning for me. In
the almost three decades that I have lived in the United States,
there have been three Italian Americans who have had a major effect
on my life…
The late Tony Graziano Sensei.
|
|
The late Tony Graziano Sensei was a respected police officer, leader
of the Brevard County Sheriffs SWAT team and dojo cho of Melbourne
Aikikai in Melbourne, Florida. I met Tony back in the early days
of my career teaching Aikido in the United States. Back in those
days, Nippon Kan was quite small, and there were many times I was
not sure if there would be any food to put on the table that day.
It was Tony Graziano Sensei who opened the door for me, and invited
me to teach a seminar at his dojo in Florida, not once, but for
seven consecutive years! As our relationship grew, Tony also visited
Denver on occasion to attend our Nippon Kan seminars, accompanied
at times by the late Dr. Tom Walker Sensei of Sand Drift Aikido.
His spirit and loyalty were as sturdy as stone, and his friendship
was invaluable to me. In 1994, Tony Graziano Sensei fell ill with
esophageal cancer and endured many surgeries and other cancer treatments.
Five days after his first major surgery (while the three foot incision
in his back was still held together with metal staples), I visited
Tony in his hospital room. He greeted me formally, sitting up straight
and tall in bed, clad in a Japanese yukata (Japanese summer kimono).
He used his bokken to hold himself still, and bowed graciously
with a smile. You could see his determination not to falter, but
his smile could not hide the pain in his eyes. The following year,
Tony Graziano Sensei passed away on May 2, 1995. He will be remembered
not only by me, but by all of the people that he touched.
Charles Deiro Sensei.
|
|
Charles Deiro was one of my original students
when I first began teaching in Denver. When I think back to those
days, I remember
that whenever I looked behind me, Charles was there. He is a little
older than I, and on numerous occasions I asked for his advice
and counsel. His answer to my queries was always the same, “You’re
the boss, Sensei, I am just here to support you. Whatever you
think is best”.
Charles too, like Tony is characterized by his loyalty and trustworthiness.
In those days, as I have mentioned, I was not making a very decent
living teaching Aikido, and it was Charles that gave me a job as
a night janitor cleaning buildings so that I might survive. For
many years, Charles was the Children’s Class Instructor at
Nippon Kan. In the early 1990’s Charles and his family moved
to Milwaukee to pursue new business opportunities where he still
lives today. Charles’s dojo in Milwaukee is the only other
dojo in the United States that holds Nippon Kan’s name. His
son Edward now oversees dojo operations at Nippon Kan Wisconsin
in Milwaukee.
Don Perotta now age 46, played a important
role in Nippon Kan’s
history in Denver. Don is still legendary for his positive attitude
and caring disposition; everyone likes Don! It was about nine years
ago that Nippon Kan moved from our old location on Cherokee street
to our current facility. It was a daunting task, that took almost
two years to complete, and Don was there almost every day. The
project began by tearing down reusable décor in the old
dojo to be cataloged and packed for transport to the new facility.
When the work began, Don pitched in, commenting nonchalantly “What
the heck, I am not working right now anyway, I have a lot of time
and would like to help”. I am not sure Don, or any of us
for that matter knew the number of days we would be working from
sunrise until the wee hours of the next morning without much of
a break. Even though the work continued for over a year, Don never
complained, nor did I ever see him wear the look of exasperation
that adorned my face on a regular basis. He worked steadily, and
constantly, and always with a smile. Except for being fed, Don
worked completely as a volunteer and was never paid for all of
the hours, weeks and months of work he put into the project.
The last part of the project was the completion of Nippon Kan’s
restaurant “Domo”. The morning the restaurant was scheduled
to open, Don took off the tool belt that he had worn daily for
so many months and exchanged it for a manager’s uniform.
With Don’s previous experience as a restaurant manager, we
were able to open and begin operation of the restaurant successfully.
During such a period of growth, and the trials that such growth
brings, I grew to greatly admire and respect Don’s kindness,
patience and sense of teamwork.
All three of these special people, never asked me for anything.
Their loyalty, helpfulness and sincerity did not come with a price
tag. Some day I always thought, I would be able to repay them,
and this trip to Italy became part of a first step. Going to Italy,
I wanted to see if I could discover what the secret was in their
home country that made these three Italians such special people.
I went to Italy in one sense to show my appreciation for those
from that country who had shown such kindness to me. I was lucky
enough to meet Samuel Sensei and his wife Aurora and the other
young Aikidoists in Italy in their steed who also held these special
qualities. Through Samuel Sensei and Aurora, AHAN has found a new
project that supports and helps children in their community, in
their homeland of Italy. I was able to share my appreciation with
them, completing a circle of appreciation that started decades
ago. This way of the circle, like many things in my life, has been
my style of appreciation.
I am now almost in my mid fifties. Looking back on my life, I have
met so many different kinds of people. There have been people that
stood out, and people that directly changed the direction of my
life. These are the people I can’t forget. Thinking about
it, I think everyone has people like this along their own paths
in their own lives.
The fact that I have been practicing Aikido for forty years and
have lived in the United States for 28 years is an accomplishment,
but is an accomplishment that I could not have achieved alone.
There have been so many that have helped me to survive. Looking
back, not all of memories I have are positive, but even those people
who affected me in a negative way, stimulated me and caused growth
in my life. They were an inspiration too and helped me to learn
through difficulties. To these people I also owe a debt of gratitude.
There are many kinds of demonstrations of appreciation. There is
a direct show of appreciation as in the gift of a card, or a meal
or a glass of sake. This kind of demonstration used to be possible
for me when Nippon Kan was the size that I could know everyone
by name. Now that Nippon Kan has grown, it is difficult to be able
to show appreciation to everyone directly.
In Denver, there have been over 17,000 students that have taken
the beginning Aikido courses at Nippon Kan. Over 17,000 students
that have stood before me as I stood before them as their instructor
standing day after day in front of the Founder’s photo on
the Nippon Kan shrine. With so many that have passed before my
eyes, it has been the students that have become instructors, staff
members, senior club members and friends that have made it possible.
Today Nippon Kan is staffed by about 35 volunteer instructors and
office assistants. I did not bring them with me when I first arrived
in the United States; it has taken a long time to build what Nippon
Kan has become today.
A few years ago, I founded AHAN
(the Aikido Humanitarian Active Network), the international humanitarian division of Nippon Kan
operations. This small corner of Nippon Kan is dedicated to community
volunteer services around the world. If you read the AHAN sections
on the website, you can gain a better understanding of the work
that AHAN is involved with. I began AHAN, as my way of giving back,
as my style of appreciation to all of those who have helped me
along the way.
It came to me as a realization that what I could give back was
to build an organization whose activities would make someone proud
to be a member. What I could give back would be Nippon Kan’s
reputation and standing in our community. What began as a realization
has become Nippon Kan and AHAN, and in only a few short years,
hundreds of people have been involved in AHAN activities around
the world. AHAN encourages people from all styles and affiliations
to participate in AHAN activities of their own, and we now have
many requests to visit dojos in countries all over the world. While
I am still young enough and in good health, I have chosen the dojos
who have contacted us from farthest away to visit first. This is
one of the reasons why I have spent a great deal of time these
past few years in countries like Mongolia, Brazil, Mexico, Czech
Republic and now Italy.
The three Italian friends I have introduced to you in this article
are special people among a vast number of special people I have
known. I guess you could say, this article is the Italian edition
of my article column! The sketch you see here is from the first
book I published in the United States in 1988; Aikido for Life.
This sketch expresses the feelings I have of appreciation; my style
of appreciation. From the time this book was first published, (over
sixteen years ago) until today, I believe that Nippon Kan has grown
because it is based on a foundation of appreciation and the repayment
of such kindness. This belief is the inspiration that still motivates
me today. This is what I do and will continue to do…it is
my style of appreciation.
Gaku Homma
Nippon Kan Kancho
April 27th, 2004
|
|
|
|
