Aikido

For adults and children Aikido offers an experiential entry into the practice of process-level awareness.

=Aikido= [|Aikido] [|History of Aikido pt 1] [|History of Aikido pt 2]

Morihei Ueshiba - O-Sensei
[|Morihei Ueshiba] [|Aikido - O-Sensei Morihei Ueshiba at Iwama] [|Aikido Moriteru Ueshiba 1986] [|Morihei Ueshiba - The Founder of Aikido (complete) 1 of 5] M[|orihei Ueshiba - The Founder of Aikido (complete) 2 of 5] [|Morihei Ueshiba - The Founder of Aikido (complete) 3 of 5] [|Morihei Ueshiba - The Founder of Aikido (complete) 4 of 5] [|Morihei Ueshiba - The Founder of Aikido (complete) 5 of 5]

[|Morihei Ueshiba - Divine Techniques (complete) 1 of 4]

[|Morihei Ueshiba and Aikido - Takemusu Aiki (2 of 3)] [|Morihei Ueshiba and Aikido - Takemusu Aiki (3 of 3)] [|Ueshiba the Archmage ?]

Links, various: [|Citizendium.org (alternative to wikipedia) wiki article on Aikido]

from : http://www.forbes.com/leadership/2007/12/20/schaub-randori-philosophy-lead-innovation-cx_ks_1220aikido.html


 * [[image:http://images.forbes.com/media/assets/forbes_logo_blue.gif width="142" height="46" caption="Forbes.com"]] ||
 * Forbes.com ||

Management Philosophy Kathleen Schaub 12.20.07, 6:30 PM ET Martial artists have spent thousands of years discovering special skills that enable them to respond to life's challenges quickly and with maximum efficiency. Aikido, which in Japanese means "the way of uniting //Ki// spirit," is an art that does just that, and my own Aikido practice has given me much practical counsel. Some of my most vivid lessons were from the first day I participated in //randori--//an exercise where, instead of defending against just one partner, several people attack at once. Imagine seven large men running at you, throwing punches. Business complexity often arises from a similar spirited interaction of many players with independent motives. Thanks to guidance from my //sensei//, I emerged from my first session overwhelmed; bruised but victorious. The lessons offer a useful approach to turbulent events--even in the modern business world. In Aikido, your center (or //hara//) is a physical place where energy and balance originate. It's also a state of mind. Staying calm, one avoids overconfidence, anger, and fear--those destroyers of intelligence. Keeping your center means you will always act from the position of your greatest power. Complex situations, like //randori//, throw lots of things at you simultaneously. Like many people, my natural instinct was to react first to the nearest danger. I call this the LIFO (last-in, first-out) reaction to complexity. LIFO people react to stress by abandoning important objectives for whatever threat lands in their lap next. However, this reaction allows opponents to dictate the situation. In //randori//, a LIFO reaction gets you blown hither and yon, frustrating you and accomplishing little. //Randori// taught me to start proactively in a thoughtful place--at one end, regardless of the onslaught's source. In complex situations, picking a logical entry point for action (The highest priority? The task with the longest lead time? The player with the most influence?) puts you in control. A mass of attackers comes at you from all sides. Your gut screams, What are you doing walking into that swarm? But your gut is wrong. One of my early //senseis//, who mashed up Aikido technique with a little street fighting, said, "When you're in a knife fight, you are going to get cut. Your objective is not to die." I scrupulously avoid knife fights, preferring my friends in the //dojo//. But I learned from Aikido that you can't succeed if you fear moving forward. In complex business situations, inexperienced people tend to freeze up, and a common reaction is completing only the minimal requirements in hopes that the situation will resolve itself. //Randori// wisdom teaches that even when things are extremely uncertain, you must act. You must constantly move forward, proactively seeking a better position of power. //Randori// throws you into a pack of circling wolves, and you do //not// want to end up in the middle. Keeping attackers in front of you could save your life. However, //randori// attacks are fast and random, making it difficult to plan maneuvers. As the //Star Wars// //sensei// Yoda said, "Always moving is the future." I found this positioning task the greatest //randori// challenge, because it requires an extraordinary degree of anticipation. You have to sense where your opponents will go next. Aikido trained me to anticipate by extending my attention beyond the action in front of in my face to see the larger situation. Everyone can do this--otherwise we'd be watching the windshield wipers instead of the road. In business, this is an information task. Expanding your horizons with diverse experiences and data from a wide range of sources helps you envision a more accurate future. This dynamic vision gives you a place to anchor information gathered as the wolves circle. You can prioritize actions and make better choices. Finally, //randori// requires you to reach out to the world with gusto. //Ki// (the energy force) transforms the situation in an inexplicable way. Situations with energy cycle through to resolution, while situations without energy muddle endlessly. We often underestimate how much power we add to the environment simply with our own personal force. Yes, self-discipline and leading effectively are the simple and practical principles behind many martial-arts techniques. Martial artists have discovered special skills that enable them to respond to life's challenges quickly and with maximum efficiency, just as I have applied Aikido to all aspects of my world--including the office. //Kathleen Schaub is a vice president with [|Sybase], a leading provider of enterprise infrastructure and mobile software. She practices Aikido at a dojo affiliated with the Pacific Aikido Federation of Mountain View, Calif.//
 * Aikido Offers Exercise In Meeting Challenges**
 * 1. Keep your center.**
 * 2. Start in a logical place.**
 * 3. Keep moving.**
 * 4. Anticipate.**
 * 5. Extend Ki.**