Dear Aiki Extensions Supporter -

Please consider posting this message on your dojo notice board or otherwise sharing with colleagues, along with your contact info. This message can also be found online at this link (http://www.aiki-extensions.org/newdecade.pdf), if that is an easier way for you to share.

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On behalf of Aiki Extensions, I would like to extend the greetings of the season - of the recent past: the festival of lights, of the winter solstice, and of the yuletide - and greetings of the immediate future: the birth of the next decade.

Greetings, in particular, to all of you who believe aikido can help improve the world we share. Greetings to those who would rather imagine the world as it should be, and then work to realize that vision, or support those already on the front lines wielding the practical wisdom and strategic insight of aikido to make the world better than it was . . .

Greetings to the heros already making a difference, and to all of those who just might have such a hero inside themselves ready to come out.

° Heros like Paul Linden - who uses aiki-principles as an award-winning somatic educator for victims of abuse (http://www.being-in-movement.com/)

° Heros like Jamie Zimron begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting - who uses aikido as the foundation for peace efforts in Israel and the West Bank (http://www.aikidomideastpeace.info/)

° Heros like Bill Leicht begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting - who as coordinator of AE's Peace Dojos International weaves martial arts schools of many styles together to work more effectively for peace. (http://aikiext.org/Projects/Peace_Dojos), who developed the original Bronx Peace Dojo and who helped found Peace Dojo Lua Branca in Columbia. (http://urbanvisions.us/)

° Heros like Jose Bueno Marinho - who established an aikido program for kids in the favela slums of Sao Paulo, Brazil

(http://www.aiki-extensions.org/projectsBrazil.asp)

° Heros like Brandon WilliamsCraig - who wields aiki-principles in his work networking community-builders (http://bdwc.net)

° Heros like Charles Colten begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting - who is implementing an aikido-in-the-schools curriculum for K-12 education (www.aikidointheschools.com)

° Heros like Tekele Tesfaye - the first yudansha in Ethiopia, who runs a multi-ethnic aikido and circus arts program for kids in the villages and refugee centers, where they put on shows of acrobatics and aikido to draw attention prior to distributing AIDS education material. (http://www.aiki-extensions.org/projectsAwassa.asp)

These people, and many other like them, are as close as most of us will get to a knight in shining armor. Each of these has embarked on their own quest, and they are all inspired by O Sensei's particular and powerful code of chivalry. Each is taking their understanding of aikido out of the dojo and into a non-traditional environment - an elementary classroom, a physical therapy clinic, an after-school program, a business consultancy, a psychology practice, a youth-violence prevention program, a recording studio, a police academy, etc.

Your dojo probably has someone who belongs on this list - and Aiki Extensions would like to hear about it.

Please email us about them (info@aiki-extensions.org), or give their information to any Aiki Extensions member (such as the one who posted this letter). We need to know about them because it is our mission to be the Round Table bringing all these aiki-knights together, providing them with support, and encouraging them to continue on their respective quests.

If you would like to know more about earning your way onto a list like this - join as at www.Aiki-Extensions.org.

If you want to help us continue to support all of this aiki-inspired activity - your tax-deductible contributions can be made online here:

(http://www.aiki-extensions.org/waysdonate.asp).

Yours,

Robert Kent begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting, President

Aiki Extensions Inc.

www.aiki-extensions.org

650.365.6432

Aiki Extensions is a nonprofit network of aikido practitioners who take aiki principles off the mat and into the world in areas like youth violence prevention, K-12 conflict-resolution curricula, business consulting, psychotherapy, and Israeli/Palestinian peace programs.

Labels: aiki, aikiextensions, honmen, professional

Labels: bdwc, bio, professional, responses

AIKIDO & PSYCHOTHERAPY: The First Workshop

Contributed by Paul Rest, 2nd dan

On March 7th of this year, a day-long workshop was held at Kayla Feder's dojo in Berkeley, CA.� The purpose was twofold: First, to explore the intersection of these two disciplines, Aikido and Psychotherapy.� Second, to provide Continuing Education credits for those therapists attending who are licensed in the State of California.

The workshop was also a benefit for Aiki Extensions and the great work that organization is doing.� David Lukoff was the driving force behind the effort.� Participating with David were Beth Tabakin, Brandon Williams Craig, Jamal Granick, Patrick Faggianelli, Kayla Feder Sensei and myself.� The workshop began early Saturday morning with a review of dojo etiquette and an overview of the workshop. Kayla Sensei then bowed us in.� I gave a brief introduction about Aikido and O Sensei, directed to those present who were in the psychotherapy field and were being exposed to Aikido for the first time.

David then gave an introduction to the background on the writing and research that has been done to date on Aikido and Psychotherapy.� Referenced in his remarks was a paper he and Patrick had written in 2006 in The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology (Vol. 38, No. 2) titled "Aikido and Psychotherapy: A Study of Psychotherapists Who Are Aikido Practitioners."� (This is available on David's web site: www.spiritualcompetency.com.)

David and Beth then gave an informative talk on Aikido as a practice of self-care for those in the helping professions.� Beth mentioned how some of the breathing and movement practices from Aikido have helped her clients who have worked with her in her private practice.

Then Jamal addressed the workshop on the topic of "Presence."� At various times during his presentation, he had the group do an exercise where, following his lead/movements, we all did a ki-ai together.� This was not just a "follow the leader" exercise but one where we all looked ahead with a relaxed gaze and "felt" more than "saw" Jamal's initiating the ki-ai.� From the first "ki-ai," which we all admitted sounded jagged, to one where it began to sound like we were beginning to link up to the last one where we all had the "presence" to "ki-ai" in unison, we all gained a deeper understanding of the power of presence.

We then took a break for a shared lunch.� As at most gatherings where Aikidoists are present, the pizzas disappeared quickly!� It was also a time where those presenting and those attending had an opportunity to informally talk and share.

After lunch, Patrick discussed his work as a licensed psychologist in the prison system and also his private practice.� Patrick related the experiences he had had with his dissertation interviewing therapists who had Aikido training.� During the interview process he conducted, often involving more than one session, Patrick related how his interviewees came to realize that they had either been using some of what they had learned in Aikido as a self-help/self-centering/self-healing tool in their practice(s) or were seeing how it could be used.

David and Beth next presented their insights into "Learned Optimism." Focusing on "learned optimism" as a core concept in "the evolving field of 'positive psychology'," various studies were discussed.� It was also brought to everyone's attention that Saotome Sensei has often remarked that an optimistic philosophy is not enough; you must also train the body.� We all did the two-step where we began by repeating to ourselves a "pessimistic self-statement."� Then, we did the same two-step with an "optimistic self-statement."� We all could see and feel the differences between "A" and "B."�

After a brief break, we all practiced a randori in small groups, learning to move with incoming energy/conflict by moving off the line and out of harm's way.� For the non-Aikidoists and non-martial artists present, this was a new and challenging way to move.� As we continued the practice, it became exciting and fun.� Before long, everyone had the flow of the randori and the mat began to look like an Aikido class.

I gave additional remarks about the growth and development of Low Impact Aikido followed by Brandon discussing, "Integration."� Brandon brought up the work Aiki Extensions is doing and his work with AE.� He also addressed his work in conflict facilitation and how his Aikido practice has informed this.� Speaking from his dual backgrounds in Mythology and Psychology, Brandon noted the how the two fields have intertwined in his own work along with his practice of Aikido.

David closed the workshop with a heartfelt thank-you to Kayla Sensei for the use of her dojo and the warm hospitality.� The workshop provided a great blend of the material that needed to be presented for the Continued Education certificates while allowing ample room for questions and discussions among those present.� It was agreed that another workshop be scheduled about the same time next year.

For those wishing to receive more information please contact David Lukoff or myself and we'll do our best to provide you with the material requested or answer your questions.

Paul Rest lives in Sonoma County, CA.� He trains at Two Rock Aikido (http://www.tworockaikido.com) under Richard Strozzi-Heckler, 6th dan.� He has written numerous articles about Low Impact Aikido ("Aikido for Everyone") and on other Aikido topics.� He can be reached at paulrest@paulrest.com or at poetry@sonic.net.�

Labels: AiBerk, aiki, Aikido, aikiextensions, demo, professional

1. practicing group facilitation in order to build sustainable communities wherever there is an opportunity (neighbors, non-profits, service clubs, intentional communities, religious groups, businesses, etc.). Professionally, I use variations of the phrase "doing conflict well" in consulting gigs, and aikido is one of my favorite somatic metaphors for learning that process. I use various names for the methods I teach, most of which are clarified at bdwc.net under "Big Ideas."
   
2. proposing to other facilitators that we identify as a field of study and community of practice so we may have a collective impact, of which consequent generations may be proud, on peace-making worldwide.
   
3. treating the larger culture as a community in the making, as though a global, communitarian mythology were being constructed that is psychologically mature and designed to opt out of fundamentalisms.

Labels: bdwc, bio, processarts, professional

• Discharging executive responsibilities in professional support of a shared vision
• Facilitating group processes designed and implemented to result in ongoing groups which discern and learn from internal mistakes, keep the needs of the greater community in focus, and make dynamic mission-moving decisions while improving the quality of life of everyone involved.
• Working within an existing structure to improve the sense of connection and practice of communication between members, building the capacity of the whole to respond quickly, flexibly, and ethically to difficult situations.
  

In 2008 I will serve an existing organization and finish my dissertation. Then, hopefully still in partnership with that group, I will return my focus to fostering a coalition of individuals and organizations to create a partnership that builds a culture which gives rise to Community on purpose. This community will support all ages in learning and practicing the Process Arts such that peace is redefined as conflict done well and the arising, worldwide, communitarian myth is reinforced in which individual freedom, martial nonviolence, and the hands-on love of all life are woven together.

I intend to do this by co-founding a community of professional conflict facilitators who will learn, demonstrate, teach, and offer public actions. This community may then grow to include study in all levels of academic, public, and alternative endeavor, a school of its own, a residential apprenticeship program, and offerings for the ethical deepening of business and the process of shaping public policy. At this point we may offer services to the international community. From the beginning the partnership will model the behavior it advocates but inevitably both succeeds and fails in realizing. It will welcome "external" change requests and critique, remain faithful to an ongoing auto-critical process, and be transparent throughout, changing, fostering, and sharing leadership regularly and growing only to the point that a felt sense of quality of relatedness will allow.

Labels: bdwc, professional