Gaku Homma
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Gaku Homma (本間 学 Honma Gaku, born 1950-05-12) is a Japanese aikido teacher who has spent most of his teaching career in the United States.
He was born in Akita Prefecture and trained as an uchideshi in Iwama and the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Tokyo, under the founder of aikido Morihei Ueshiba and Morihiro Saito in the late 1960s. He moved to Denver, Colorado in 1976 and founded the Nippon Kan as an independent dojo in 1978. This dojo has grown into the largest aikido dojo in the Rocky Mountain region. He has organized several large aikido seminars in Denver, many of them taught by Morihiro Saito.
In addition to the dojo, which is a non-profit institution, Homma Kancho has founded the Aikido Humanitarian Active Network (AHAN), which helps promote and investigate the growth of aikido in the developing world. AHAN activities have included sending computers and aid to an orphanage in Mongolia, supporting a sick aikido student in Nicaragua, and assisting dojos in Turkey and Brazil with charitable fundraising efforts.
Gaku Homma is the author of numerous books and articles about aikido. He travels widely, conducting seminars and charitable works.