Aiki Institute Of Spokane

You may have recently seen or heard of an incident where a Seattle law enforcement officer punched a 17 year old girl. The video is all over the Internet.  I am not so interested in discussing if this officer was justified or not but instead what about our society has led up to this incident happening at all.

The police are a reflection of our society.  This action takes place in one fashion or another daily in one city or another in this country.  The law enforcement officer is reacting according to the norms of our society.  We are increasingly willing to react with overwhelming violence when confronted with a problem.  This is a reaction of being in fear.  We are afraid to lose what we have or we do not have the tools to give us options when confronted.

What does this have to do with Aikido?  On a very simple level the officer if trained and proficient in Aikido would have been able to apply a simple wrist lock technique to the first young lady rather than hand fighting with her.  This would have subdued the situation quickly.  Secondly when the second girl shoved him he would have been able to either throw her to the side or control her without having to resort to punching her in the face.

On a higher level, before this episode got physical, training in Aikido and awareness would have allowed the officer to not even get into the situation that was bound to become volatile.  He put himself in a dangerous position to do what???? Hand out a ticket for jaywalking?  Could he have better de-escalated the situation?

What of the young women?  What would have brought this violent behavior toward the officer?  What about our society teaches these young women and men to behave in this way.  This violent, reactionary, disrespectful, disregard for people is instilled in us through out our lives in the media, games, competitive sports, our language, schools, business practices, and gangs.

I recently spoke with a gentleman who was inquiring about Aikido class for his son who had trained in another art for a short time.  When I mentioned that we do not teach punching and kicking as a self defense but rather how to control the situation with body movement, throws, and joint locks the father went silent.  When he regained his composure he was unable to conceive of defense without punching or kicking.  This is the society that we live in.  Again the police are a reflection of our society.

Aikido teaches us a way to live in peace and without judging others or engaging in needless, meaningless competitions that amount to pissing matches that often turn bloody, and demanding of vengeful attacks of retribution.

As disturbing as the video of this incident is to me, equally disturbing were the comments that supported the violence and encouraged the next officer to do more than throw a punch if confronted with this situation. Again the police are a reflection of the norms of our communities and of our society.

How do we change this?  Train our law enforcement officers better.  We teach Aikido both physically and philosophically to them.  We use Aikido training and peace training to encourage people to work together rather than competitively.  It will take generations to make the changes so we need to get started NOW!  We are very good at using the primitive lizard brain.  It is time to make the most of our rational thinking brain the neocortex.

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The Founder Gardening

On a cool and damp May day the young students of Roshinkan Dojo applied their ki to the planting of a  vegetable garden at a house for veterans undergoing treatment at the local VA hospital.

The week preceding the great planting affair we spoke with our students about the connection between Aikido and gardening. How earth, water, and sun blend to grow the seed into a life giving plant.  How the plant contributes to the ever flowing breath of life exchanging co2 for oxygen.  How a plant is centered, rooted deep in the ground while extending for the warmth of the sun, all the time remaining relaxed to bend with the wind and keeping its weight underside so as not to topple over. How we must care for our plants just as we must care for our training partner if they, we, are to grow.

Yes to truly understand Aikido we must in some way touch the very nature of our being.  Feel the universal ki that flows throughout the natural world.  Get our hands dirty with earth, taste the freshness of a cool mountain stream, feel the ocean’s breath on our cheek.

I lived for a while in the big city.  After a couple of years I felt out of touch.  Something was amiss.  I came to the realisation that for those two years I had not walked barefoot in grass.  I had not layed down on the earth and looked to the skies.  For those two years I had walked only on concrete and asphalt.  Never seen the sky that was not cluttered with the skyscrapers that surrounded me.  The air I was breathing was conditioned by hvac systems.  I needed to get out.

Regaining my health and sanity came with spending time in the mountains and ocean front, laying in a meadow of grass and flowers, walking on grassy slopes and sandy beaches, feeling the ocean breeze on my face along with the stinging of rain.  Refreshed and recharged I returned to a feeling of connection.  Even more so now that I realised what it meant to not have this.

Not long after I lived on a sailboat for a few years.  Never before had my senses been so alive.  My life and the survival of my boat were contingent upon my awareness of the winds, currents, tides, water, and earth that were always a part of my consciousness.  I began to feel the universal ki running through my life.

It is important that we do not separate ourselves from the earth we live on.  My brother is found of saying that we are “just critters on this planet”.  Insulating ourselves from the universe is a path to disaster.  Take your shoes off and bury your toes in grass and earth.  Get your fingers dirty in the soil, feel the rain and wind on your cheek.  Plant a garden and rejoice in caring for the plants that feed us.

James Landry

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Not that I would ever want to admit that doing kids classes is good for me but I feel it only necessary to attribute the beginning of the following concept to being in kids class.  Consider yourself warned.

Often in class I will see a technique or opening and think I’ve done that one before or oh thats just like the one we did Monday.  I believe this to be a common part of the human existence, to make things more palatable to my mind I connect it to something my mind is already familiar with.  I accept that this is a strong skill to have when I’m looking for something in the fridge because I can look for the package that looks just like what I remember and it totally works out.  I also accept that this thinking closes off or limits what I can see or understand of the uniqueness of the technique I’m looking trying to learn.

Now this whole thing started when I was lined up in kids class.  The kids are doing really well and Sensei no longer needs to use me as an uke, he calls the kids up and they do a great job.  This however presents the situation where I need to pay attention and, more importantly, I need to look like I’m paying attention while Sensei teaches a technique I have seen and done upwards of a dozen different times.  I am there after all to set an example and it better be a good one or Sensei will “demonstrate” the bad behavior right out of me. So, I created a new way to watch each technique and each version of each technique and for that matter each time Sensei does each version of each technique, a state of openness where I actually watch to learn.

I know this sounds like what we are all doing all the time in class but I mean really learning something from each time Sensei shows the technique as if I had never seen it before.  Looking at the angle Sensei slides off the line, the way Sensei anticipates movement and puts himself in a position so that the next step is faster, easier, smoother.  Essentially I maintain beginner’s mind with the added benefit of not always having to watch each thing because I know a little of what is going to happen.  I can watch Sensei’s hands on a technique every time he demonstrates and learn something different each time.

I guess a piece of this is a desire to stay in the moment.  I’m not good at meditating, it is a struggle for me.  Aikido as meditation seems much easier.  Staying in the moment not thinking about how I am going to do the technique.  Staying in the moment not thinking about how I did it last time.  Not asking “Is this on my test?”  Staying in the moment and learning a technique by watching it for this moment.

Now you might say what is there to watch or learn the 50th time you’ve seen the same technique taught by the same instructor.  Well, there are always the little things like angles, hands, breathing, energy emphasis, weight placement, you know the things that make Aikido effective.  But, beyond this, there is also the idea of the broadview.  The big spiral that starts at the grabbing hand and runs all the way to Sensei’s knee as he pins.  The vertical pop that takes someones balance as they step (oh but keep your center down while you pop). The way an entry presents a target that is never attained but constantly sought by uke and leads them in an ark of destiny that ends **splat** on the mat.

I also find my moment taking me to a contemplation of real life application.  Now please don’t confuse this for Kyle’s “What would you do if I did this?”  I mean a real life application.  Ichyo is kind of like a graceful conversation.  I know you disagree but a slide off topic over here puts us in a position where we look at things the same way, then I take control of the situation by making my point (below my center) and then zigzag around the topic until you can at least see my point of view if not agree, if I’ve done it well.

So I challenge you to keep a state of openness to each demonstrated technique and try to stay in the moment and watch it like you’re actually going to try and learn something. Not only that but find some little thing and some big thing that enhances your understanding of the technique. Then, when you really feel adventurous relate it to a real life situation.  I promise we can talk about it over a beer or root beer sometime and you’ll find we’ve been learning and imagining the same things in different ways all this time.

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In class the other night I was instructing irimi nage.  In doing so I said to bring uke’s cheek and nage’s bicep together.  Interestingly this was interpreted as forcing uke’s head to nage’s arm.  This of course set up a struggle.  Uke fought, nage pulled harder, tensing the shoulders and stiffening the next movement of tenkan, pivot.

This is not all together unknown in our off mat lives… What he said is we need to get together on this project.  What I heard was you need to get over here and follow my direction.

How do we get together?  We must each make a move.  A drowning man can’t be saved by yelling at him to get over here.  We have to go into the water, and help him.  We must lead him, guide him, and if necessary hold him up while we make for shore.

So often we force the challenge to come to us and fight with it until it has been beaten into compliance.  Let’s give our challenge a name, Zeke.  Zeke may not take the road we wish, Zeke may make a bumpy journey, Zeke may fall down, get bruised, wet, cold, tired, and angry.  Imagine if we walked out and guided Zeke along a path, a road that we would wish to walk.  In so doing Zeke feels more relaxed and secure.  Zeke is better able to understand us, to understand our guiding, nurturing, compassionate side, to understand where we are going.  Having walked the same path we now have a friend, a ally, a shareholder, a partner, we are in concert, we have come together.

Meet you nage part way.  Go on the journey with them, hand in hand, center with center.  Show them the way.  Move together as one, then send them on their way, renewed, invigorated.

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Potentials…What are all the potentials of all the good things that we listed regarding our Aikido training? In part 1 we listed some of the good things that come about because of our training in the Aikido dojo. Now it is time to take the next step in this process of PPCO; Potential. What are the potentials of our actions? Where might all this good stuff lead?

A positive that was listed is Increased Awareness. What might be all the future benefits of increasing our awareness?

• I might avoid that accident when the other driver slides through the intersection, unable to stop in the icy road conditions, thereby saving injury and money in repairs.
• I might avoid being mugged by the sketchy looking guy hiding in the entry way of that dark building, keeping me physically safe and my cash in my pocket.
• I might make a connection with a work partner that will be of benefit to my work making me a star to my boss and earning me that promotion and raise.
• I might see an opportunity to invest that will increase my wealth and lead to that vacation in Fiji.
• I might see that my relative needs my help but is unable to ask. This leading to a closer relationship with that relative and a good feeling for doing something helpful.
• I might see that my supervisor is having a challenging day and that it would not be a good time to press him on an issue, saving me from being chewed out.
• I might see that my supervisor is feeling light, happy, and powerful today, giving me the opportunity to positively present an issue to her. This leading to more interesting challenges at work.
• I might feel the pain in my stomach that may indicate that I need to cut down on my coffee intake before I end up with bigger health problems.
• I might have less conflict in my day, which will result is less stress resulting in a healthier life.
• I might get more work done.
• I might find more time to spend with my family.
• I might find more time for me.
• I might find new ways to teach that have a positive effect on my students.

Let’s look at the potential of another positive of our Aikido training; Social Network.

• I might meet people I would never have talked to if I did not meet them on the mat.
• I might learn about a new job opportunity that will increase my salary.
• I might find someone that can help me with that project that I am stalled on.
• I might learn about an author that I have never heard of but sounds like something I want to read.
• I might find support in solving a child rearing issue that will reduce my stress and help my child live a more productive life.
• I might laugh more making my day more fun in general.
• I might try a new beer opens my taste buds to different styles of brewing.
• I might find new, better ways to solve problems that leave me more energized and with more spare time.
• I might meet someone that opens a new path for my life, leading me to more fulfilling work.
• I might fall in love.
• I might find new perspectives that keep me interested, increasing my lust for life.
• I might be challenged to open my mind, which opens up all sorts of possibilities.
• I might meet someone that could help me get my message out to a larger audience, thereby, positively effecting more lives.

This is the short list of just two of the positives we listed regarding our Aikido training. Take a few minutes to add your own thoughts to these lists. Then think about why you train in Aikido. All of the positive reasons for coming to the dojo. Then list all the potentials, the benefits, the spin-offs, the opportunities, of those positive reasons.

Now you are beginning to see the true substance and power of our training. Now you begin to see how training ourselves effects the community around us. How the community of our dojo, the community of our Aikido Association, the community of Aikido Practitioners, effects the community that is our society, our civilization.

Next up…How to deal with concerns in a positive and constructive manner.

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Conflict is a door

Closed and locked it is a barrier.
We are only able to beat against it until we are bruised and beaten or
The door is shattered left serving no purpose.

Open and swinging wide with the support of its hinges
A door is an invitation to explore opportunities.

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Aikido is a lot of things. In that list I don’t often include the word easy. Aikido requires you to always do your personal best while simultaneously helping your partner do their personal best and doing everything in your power to keep them safe. One of the more interesting and challenging ways to do this is by leading your partner into whatever position you need them to be in.

This concept of leading means that in kokyunage and iriminage as nage I may not grab my partner’s head or neck and force it into the right position, it means I hug my partners head into my shoulder or adjust his or her head into the crook of my arm by timing my tenkan and arm movement correctly. Same goes for uke who may also be the leader, I may not ram my head into the right spot lacking patience with my partner, instead I help him or her feel the right position. This version of leading seems strange to me. In American culture we value a leader who knows what they want and takes it by any means necessary. In Aikido we value a leader who knows what is best and safest for everyone and creates a kind way of developing that situation which works best for both uke and nage through fluid movement and relaxed arms and posture.

The other tool I find particularly useful is by leading with a void. This is even stranger to me than the kindness approach described above. The best way to lead it to do nothing, or create a nothing? Often times if a throw isn’t going smoothly for me as uke I can pin point the moment my body started to resist, most often it is because there is a danger present, either I think I’m getting thrown onto someone’s knee or someone is stepping forward at the end of the throw and taking up some of the space I was intending to fall in. By having a void or vacuum in place instead of a knee I have a safe and easy place to land. The same goes for the role of nage. As nage your best throws begin by breathing in the attack and creating the first vacuum for uke and allowing them a space to breathe out. When throwing you are most successful when uke feels an emptiness they can fill by falling or rolling.

These two tools enhance my ability to lead as both uke and nage when participating in Aikido. They also create the best tools for supervising my staff and leading my client’s in stabilizing their lives. Sometimes the best way to lead a staff member or a client is by giving them a safe space to figure something out on their own. There is a common joke amongst social workers that we can stand a silence longer than anyone. When dealing with an issue someone feels passionately about it is best just to ask questions and sit quietly while they figure it out. More often than not I gain the most valuable information about my staff and clients in these void filled conversations. This information allows me to understand best what motivates them and also to anticipate what they will do in difficult situations.

Understanding someone’s motivation allows you to, in a kind way, create a situation where they are personally motivated to do the right thing, instead of me motivating them. This is invaluable because you cannot force someone to work. You can make it seem like the best option by showing the results of the work, higher pay, higher self-esteem, increased productivity, decreased stress. It makes no sense to yell at someone and then expect them to do what needs to get done when you aren’t there. It makes more sense to wait and time your corrective action to a moment when it will be best received. Instead of telling someone what they’ve done wrong stay relaxed and seek to understand what is going on.

These are just two of the tools that have helped me to be recognized as someone who can work well with a wide variety of people and lead them without seeming to dominate them or be condescending to them in anyway. This recognition has led me to become a manager in my last two jobs starting from the lowest position in the agency. I know that I myself have grown and changed a lot while taking Aikido and I like the feeling of being able to apply those changes into my everyday life, to make it better. Becoming a supervisor obviously has monetary benefits but more importantly by modeling this type of leadership I am teaching it to non-Aikidoists (if there is such a thing) and allowing them to change and grow in a way that will make their lives better.

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To live in possibilities. Take the time to watch this presentation by Benjamin Zander. This is the transformative nature of Aiki. This is the celebration of life that leads to creativity, harmony, peace, and prosperity. A precious 20 minutes that will open your eyes and ears to the conversation of possibilities. Aikido is not just practiced on the mat. Bring this feeling to your Aikido and see what happens. Imagine the possibilities! This is the conversation I want to have.

I originally saw this at Presentation Zen And it comes from Pop Tech

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During this time of down turned economy we all know someone who’s investments have lost.  We all know of someone with a tragic story, lost retirement, lost home, families breaking under the stress.  At these times we are reminded of the fragile nature of our material world.

There is an investment that we can each make that will create opportunities for true wealth building.  The potential to not only grow our personal wealth but the wealth of our family, our community, our nation, our world.

This investment is in our personal well being.  Our physical health, our mental strength, our spiritual growth.  This is the investment we make each time we walk into the Aikido dojo for committed training.  The two or three or more hours we spend each week in formal practice, along with (hopefully) the hours of commitment in our daily lives yields a payoff that stretches from our center, out into the world around us.

Our physical health increases through the physical practice.  This allows us the energy to do our work in the world so that we can obtain the shelter, food, and clothing that we all need, along with the other accouterments that go along with modern lifestyles.  It gives us the stamina to raise our children, take care of our grandparents, dig in the earth to sow the garden that feeds us, and swing the hammer that pounds the nail holding the supports of our house together.  It recharges our immune systems to ward off illness and gives us the flexibility to bend around the barriers in our lives.

Our mental strength grows as we test our powers of observation and creativity.  Our mind is challenged to observe and then direct the body.  The mind? must translate the visual and exterior view to a movement starting from the interior, growing to encompass the whole body in  somatic understanding. We are lead to creatively enter into a way of thinking that knows no enemies, only partners;  no bad, nor good, only opportunities; no past or future, but only now.

In the dojo we create a spirit of love, cooperation, and harmony.  We connect ourselves through our physical and mental practice to the larger universe.  We learn to feel the flow of energy as it surrounds us and moves through and with us.  We touch the larger picture and realize that we are as much a part of it as the pigments that blend together are a part of forming Michelangelo’s The Creation of Man.  Our spirit is rejuvenated and rejoices in the practice of our art.  We then take this spirit with us as we leave the dojo.  Touching all we meet with its infectious truth and natural beauty.

In this way we affect a growth in spirit and consciousness throughout the world, as our touch is passed on from person to person, group to group, community to community, nation to nation, the spirit of harmony, the art of peace, grows and spreads.  We find ourselves more creative, more cooperative, more in sync with the natural process of life.  So our wealth increases, both in the mind-body-spirit manifestation, and in the realm of material wealth as we spend our energy in cooperative creation and growth rather than in deceitful destruction.

This investment we put into our training in Aikido has a very high payoff.  It is slow.  It is gradual.  It is sustainable.  Your dues, your time at the dojo, is an investment that ripples throughout our society benefiting each individual and our existence as a civilization.   Invest in yourself … in your peaceful existence.

Watch your investment grow as you touch those in your life, and they touch others.   Imagine what could happen if more people made such an investment.  Go ahead, imagine it.  If you can passionately imagine the people of our world investing cooperatively, creatively, peacefully, harmoniously, then we can make it happen!

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“A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind.”
O’Sensei

“What makes someone credible?” or “Why do we trust someone?” These questions were asked by Albert Mehrabian in his book Silent Messages. The answer in his studies and confirmed by many studies after, 7% content, 38% voice, tone, and tempo, and 55% body language. “If we agree that from a somatic perspective, voice, tone, and tempo fall into the category of body , we can conclude that 93% of building trust and credibility is communicated through the body.” Richard Strozzi-Heckler, “The Leadership Dojo”

Is the study of Aikido a valuable leadership tool? Given the above statements I think it is easy to see the value in training as it relates to our abilities as a leader. In the leadership trainings I facilitate, the very learnings that are present on the Aikido mat are present in our exploration of leadership in the conference room.

Our posture, the way we move, says so much about how we see ourselves and how we see the world around us. Are we relaxed and centered as we move forward facing the challenges that lie ahead? This is the posture of a leader.

Entering into our challenges it is possible to lead our partner with clear, concise discussion (taisabaki), generating a graceful, satisfying solution(waza). As we enter into the dialogue of a challenge we must be upright, balanced, open-eyed, so that we may perceive the opportunities that present themselves, and be in a position that allows us to freely move into those openings so that we may secure the most appropriate solution. Our exchange must be honest, with conviction, flowing from the very essence, not clouded with ego, or stiffened with expectations. As we implement our successful solution we must follow through completely (zanshin), and hold ourselves with grattitude for the hard work that all have put forth in rising to the challenge and creating something new and wonderful, we bow to our partner.

Wouldn’t it be great if all of our leaders studied Aikido?

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