Organizing Response

Aikido training helps us prepare effective response to violence but how to respond to the Newtown attack?

Below are a number of links that provide some means of response.  They come from an education newsletter that is also listed at the very bottom.   Perhaps they offer a path to keep moving.


http://www.monroeps.org

The Newtown Alumni Fund is giving monies donated to the local Rotary Club Fund: (Newtown Alumni Fund, PO Box 3217, Newtown, CT 06470)

If you want to act, do something kind and share it via #26Acts, tweets about acts of kindness in memory of those lost.

And if you want to take a small step toward making our communities safer, join One Million Moms for Gun Control and write your Senators and Representatives.

https://www.edsurge.com/n/2012-12-18-opinion-compassion-courage


Sensei Don often said Aikido is a discipline of action not passivity.  Here is an essay I had broadcast on the subject of Newtown.  

http://www.ripr.org/post/hope-midst-tragedy

"Sensei" Murray

Just sharing this quote from today's New York Times's interview with Bill Murray:

". . . The more relaxed you are, the better you are at everything: the better you are with your loved ones, the better you are with your enemies, the better you are at your job, the better you are with yourself."

Well said Mr. Murray. 

See the full interview here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/movies/bill-murray-star-of-hyde-park-on-hudson.html?smid=pl-share

Since Sensei Don’s passing, my training has been a little bittersweet.  He passionately wanted us to keep the dojo healthy and vibrant, and so we have.  Yet, we’re left to redefine our training in his absence even if we would have it otherwise.

A recent Saturday class with Sensei Mike felt like that foundation of healthy, vibrant training upon which our dojo is built.  Class was energizing.  We nearly had to go to three lines.  We had brand new students and many Sempai.  Everyone was extremely positive and focused.  The energy was palpable- I felt like we were gliding on the mat. 

I can’t wait until next class to move that passion forward. 

Knowing It All

Steve Blass, the former major league pitcher, often speaks about a syndrome for which he has unwanted fame.  One night, after years of being very successful, he came into a game and could not throw a strike for anything.  He struggled to regain his ability for a couple more years, but in essence his career was mysteriously over. 

Recently I was training with fellow Sempai and it came to light that I was not capturing center.  The technique was Morote Dori Kokyu Nage and for some reason, I just wasn’t getting it.  Was I having a moment like Steve Blass’s?  Something wasn’t right.  Working with sempai to find the glitch I was shocked when he pointed out my elbow positioning.  It was elevating in exactly the way I’ve coached people not to elevate.  

My question was, “Why am I doing that?”  It’s likely because of a new weight training exercise I added to my workout. The exercise requires the elbow to elevate in exactly the manner of my unsuccessful Kokyu Nage.  This has happened before when my tennis game has invaded my technique or my baseball swing overtakes Aiki Ken.  

That’s why knowing it all is never my goal on the mat.  I always focus on doing my best (the spirit of Bushido) while remaining open to the fact that my best can be better.  Feeling and feedback help to sort out my tennis game and baseball swing from effective technique.

A look back-

I ran across this article recently and I was struck by two things.  First, how Sensei Don put himself on a mission to make his life about "doing good." Second, this account is just a snapshot of how he spent all the years since. 

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20011225/NEWS/312259987&cid=sitesearch

Embracing the Warrior Spirit

 

I celebrate today and am holding on to it as the last I had to share the Earth with such a noble and gifted human being, a mentor and friend to so many.  I am breathing every breath with full appreciation for how it connects me to him on this day.  

Attitude . . .

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

 

 

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Training and the Brain

Brain research of the most recent ten years is gathering incredibly precise information about how the human brain learns but also about the incredible variability from one brain to another.  That old hunch about each person being unique can be verified by a growing body of research.  It also shows how creative the brain is in forming itself and how wildly interconnected it is.


Aikido, it turns out is incredibly good for your brain.  Research shows that varying challenge, exercising all parts of the body in coordinated movement, and off-loading working memory with automated stress response strategy is incredibly good at stimulating neuro development and minimizing cortisol exposure (stress hormone that's good to have when you're face to face with a lion, but not so good for extended periods).

The video below is interesting for a lot of reasons but I post it here for how Jill Bolte Taylor speaks about energy and how we perceive our surroundings.  Fair warning, the video includes view of a real human brain.