Aiki Institute Of Spokane

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.

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.

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

“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?

Imagine going to school and living, eating, and training Aikido all day in everything we do, as part of our regular High School classes.   For many of us this would be a dream come true.  Crystal Farm School is asking for our help in making this dream come true for the next generation of leaders of our world.  We dream of a society that operates with the basic principles of Aikido as its foundation.  What better way to make that a reality than to immerse our youth in this learning opportunity?

Crystal Farms is a wonderful project to build a college preparatory residential High School based on the fundamentals of Aikido.  This project started by Thomas Osborn and Frances Welson, who I met several years ago as this vision began, is an important opportunity for us to plant and cultivate a strong leadership in a world we would like  to live in.

Below is an Email I received recently.  I ask that you read it and consider the potential for growth that is available here.  Then consider what you can do to help.  Check out the Crystal Farms website at www.crystalfarmschool.org

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501(c)3
CRYSTAL FARM

a private residential college preparatory high school 1421 Northampton Street, Holyoke, MA 01040
phone & fax 413 532 9034 www.crystalfarmschool.org

October 2008

Great News!

PLEASE POST THIS AT YOUR DOJO OR ON YOUR WEBSITE.

We are excited to report the receipt of an educational foundation grant “toward the establishment and support of Crystal Farm School, dedicated to leadership training in a residential high school setting.” This grant came through the work of an Aikidoka who believes in the vision and possibilities of Crystal Farm School.

We need your financial support and contacts now, more than ever. This modest grant has made it clear that there is support out there, but we need your help in finding it and we need contributions from many of you to show other foundations that members of the Aikido community, you folks who best understand the principles underlying Crystal Farm School, personally support and encourage this work.

What we most need is assistance in finding those individuals who have the personal resources to provide substantial support for Crystal Farm School or who can make an introduction either to people who have those resources or to people who have connections with foundations.

Small donations are important, too. If every dojo contributed $100, if even half of the Aikido community gave $20 each, we would have a solid foundation on which to begin building. So please consider making a personal gift, or collecting contributions from your Aikidoka colleagues and sending a gift in the name of your dojo.

The response over the next few months will determine whether Crystal Farm School can become a reality. Please help us make it happen.

Please, also, visit our website www.crystalfarmschool.org, e-mail us at info@crystalfarmschool.org or call us at 413 532 9034. And if you believe our school is worthwhile, please contribute.

Thank you.

Thomas D. Osborn Frances G. Welson
Head of School Director of Development