Benjamin Galarpe
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Benjamin Galarpe (USN-Ret) is considered to be the father of Aikido in the Philippines. He began teaching Aikido at the garage of his house in Tondo in 1959. In 1962, he formally organized the very first Aikido school in the country, the Manila Aikido Club, later renamed Manila Aikikai and now known as the Philippine Aikikai.
Benjamin Galarpe started his training in 1957 in Hawaii under Harry S. Ito. Two years later he earned his shodan from Aikikai Hombu Dojo head master Koichi Tohei who was then visiting the Hawaii Aikikai. He was commissioned by Tohei in the name of Aikikai to spread the teachings of Aikido in the Philippines. He held exhibitions and organized Aikido clubs in Manila, Pampanga and Cebu. In 1965 he returned to Japan to pursue his Aikido training. He was promoted to nidan a year after by Morihei Ueshiba himself. In 1968 his rank was elevated to sandan by Koichi Tohei.
The schism between Aikikai doshu Kisshomaru Ueshiba and the head master Koichi Tohei in the early 1970s pressured Galarpe to take sides and choose his loyalty between the Aikikai and Koichi Tohei's Ki Society. In the end, Galarpe chose Koichi Tohei and joined Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido. The now orphaned Manila Aikido Club, which Galarpe founded for the Aikikai, was left in the hands of his student Manuel "Omar" Camar.
As far as he was concerned, Galarpe's decision to ally himself with Tohei was his personal choice and was not supposed to involve any of his students nor the Manila Aikido Club. However, three of his students, Ernesto Talag of Quezon City, Chan Hok-seng of Pampanga and Max Tian of Cebu, did decide to follow Galarpe's example and remain loyal to Koichi Tohei. Ernesto Talag joined Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido and founded the Ki Society of the Philippines. Max Tian did the same thing and established the Cebu Ki Society. Chan Hok-seng, founder of the Angeles Aikido Club and long-time friend of Galarpe, decided to follow his teacher's example to the letter. But unlike Galarpe, Chan Hok-seng decided to close down his school rather than pass it on to someone else.
Finally in 1972, after more than 10 years of teaching Aikido in the Philippines, Benjamin Galarpe returned to Guam for good. He founded the School of Self Defense which became the base for Tohei's Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido in Guam.
Benjamin Galarpe's students, namely Chan Hok-seng, Ernesto Talag, Max Tian and Manuel "Omar" Camar, became the prime-movers of the Aikido Movement in the Philippines.
