Posts Tagged ‘integral aikido’

Let the Leader Lead

Friday, October 17th, 2008

Let The Leader Lead!

Let The Leader Lead!

It isn’t every day that a true leader comes along. Certainly not at the level of what we are witnessing today. There are many “leaders” in many aspects of our society but I’m speaking about something different than the conventional leader. I speaking about that rare individual whose ideals, abilities, words and actions all line up and consistently show a higher level of development. There is something about such a person’s character, something in their body language, something about their total package that serves as a shining light and an example of our very own potential both individually and collectively.

Through almost two years of close scrutiny under a campaign spotlight Barak Obama has consistently shown balanced calm, grace under fire, poise in battles both lost and won, and an equanimity that would make a Zen monk jealous. He connects, he listens, and he includes in a way that makes you feel, well, included.

At the outset of the U.S. presidential race Barak Obama was some 30 points behind in the polls. Now he is very probably set to become the next president of the United States. How did he do this? Through inspiring leadership Barak Obama built what is likely the most effective political organization in history.

Garrison Keillor (of lake Wobegon fame) recently summed it up beautifully in the New York Times:

“….Barack’s cool poise in the face of blather is some sort of testament to American heart and humor. The man has walked tall…Onward, America. We’ve all seen plenty of the worst - the sly cruelty, the arrogant ignorance, the fascination with trivia, the cheats, the weaselish and piggish and the buzzardly - but we can rise above it if we will only recognize a leader when one comes along and have the sense to let him lead.”

“If we can only recognize a leader when he comes along and have the sense to let him lead”…..Indeed!

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Here is a video of Barak giving a talk to his team at his Chicago HQ after gaining the democratic presidential nomination. You can see that here is a man who is totally in his element, acknowledging good work done, preparing for what is yet to come and, in his cool and natural way, inspiring others to be responsible for change. After 10 min.s you are ready to follow this man anywhere. For those interested in leadership, this is a must see.

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Speaking of a grain of sand, Sting sending Love……….

Sunday, September 28th, 2008

Sting - Send Your Love

I love syncronicity. No sooner did I do my last post ending with William Blake’s “Grain of Sand” poem than I received notice from Julian’s blog over at Big Sky Yoga with this Sting video. The man just keeps rocking our souls through eternity and brings us back to our home. Timeless, spaceless and all Love.

Forgive the copy cat post this time and click on the vid below. Let Sting’s message sink in and allow the soul to rise up from the depths and take a full breath of fresh air.

As I said, such wisdon, such a beautiful heart, such a beautiful contemplation. Check out these lines:

“There’s no religion but sex and music
There’s no religion but sound and dancing
There’s no religion but line and color
There’s no religion but sacred trance”

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“There’s no religion but the joys of rhythm
There’s no religion but the rites of Spring
There’s no religion in the path of hate
No prayer but the one I sing”

Sing on brother Sting! Bring us home…

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Finding the world in the smallness of a grain of sand
And holding infinities in the palm of your hand
And Heaven’s realms in the seedlings of this tiny flower
And eternities in the space of a single hour

Send your love into the future
Send your love into the distant dawn

Inside your mind is a relay station
A mission probe into the unknowing
We send a seed to a distant future
Then we can watch the galaxies growing

This ain’t no time for doubting your power
This ain’t no time for hiding your care
You’re climbing down from an ivory tower
You’ve got a stake in the world we ought to share

You see the stars are moving so slowly
But still the earth is moving so fast
Can’t you see the moon is so lonely
She’s still trapped in the pain of the past

This is the time of the worlds colliding
This is the time of kingdoms falling
This is the time of the worlds dividing
Time to heed your call

Send your love into the future
Send your precious love into some distant time
And fix that wounded planet with the love of your healing
Send your love
Send your love

There’s no religion but sex and music
There’s no religion but sound and dancing
There’s no religion but line and color
There’s no religion but sacred trance

There’s no religion but the endless ocean
There’s no religion but the moon and stars
There’s no religion but time and motion
There’s no religion, just tribal scars

Throw a pebble in and watch the ocean
See the ripples vanish in the distance
It’s just the same with all the emotions
It’s just the same in every instance

There’s no religion but the joys of rhythm
There’s no religion but the rites of Spring
There’s no religion in the path of hate
No prayer but the one I sing

Send your love into the future
Send your precious love into some distant time
And fix that wounded planet with the love of your healing
Send your love
Send your love

There’s no religion but sex and music
There’s no religion that’s right or winning
There’s no religion in the path of hatred
Ain’t no prayer but the one I’m singing

Send your love
Send your love

“Aiki-Contact Jam”

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

Aiki-Contact Jam - Where Aikido and Contact Meet

On Saturday, Sept. 13th Integral Aikido held it’s first “Aiki-Contact Jam”. I lead this evening together with Noam Carmeli who is both an aikido student and Contact Improvisation teacher. Contact Improvisation had its beginning in the states some decades ago and some of its original influence came from aikido.

Both Noam and I are interested in finding the common ground of dance and martial arts and  how they lead to growth and discovery as it is manifested in the body. We feel there is a great learning potential in bringing the two arts of aikido and contact together.

We began the evening by leading the group in alternating basic aikido Tai Sabaki (body movement) and contact improvisation exercises.

The participants were a combination of aikido students and contact dancers, plus a few others who were new to both. This combination made for a very “yeasty” evening and sparked a nice creativity between the two disciplines.

After the class we had a special “purification ceremony” followed by a demonstration of both arts. We were very fortunate to have Makiko Sakurai with us for the event. She give a performance of an ancient Japanese Buddhist chanting and purification ceremony, which included a beautiful chant followed by the spreading of flower pedals in the space.

Following the purification ceremony I gave a demonstration of aikido with Einav Freedman which was followed by Noam and Yaniv Mintzer giving a demonstration of contact improvisation.

After the demos we opened the space for a “Jam” where all the participants entered the space to dance and explore where aikido and contact meet.

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We were happy to host some of Noam’s friends who played for the event, which created a wonderful atmosphere for the Jam.

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Both Noam and I are still not sure what will come out of this merging of aikido and contact but it is clear that a beautiful potential exists for creativity and self development. We’ll be holding our next “Aiki-Contact” Jam at the end of October so if you are around Tel Aviv then please do join us.

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“Evolution Of Response” workshop, Tel Aviv, Sept. 12th and 13th

Sunday, September 21st, 2008

Evolution Of Response Workshop, Tel Aviv

On this past weekend of Sept. 12th and 13th Integral Aikido held a workshop on the “Evolution Of Response”. I’ve been teaching aikido seminars both here in Israel and abroad for some years now, but as for the “Evolution Of Response” seminar this is the first time I’ve offered it here in Israel.

This seminar is an excellent way to grasp what “Integral Aikido” actually is as it deals directly with “levels” of consciousness. Through out the workshop we look the way we respond to stress and conflict from the different lower and higher perspectives, and the technologies that naturally arise from each level.

I’ve posted about the “Evolution of Response” before but basically what we do in this seminar is to start by identifying with our “lower intelligences”, which are fear based ways of dealing with conflict. By bringing out our more basic tendencies it helps to integrate them into who we are and then give an orientation for our higher intelligences in responding to conflict.

We had 17 participants for the workshop and in addition to aikido students we had participants from dance and other martial arts as well.

Over the weekend in addition to aikido we practiced movement, meditation, inquiry and dialogues as well. True to the integral method we covered practices for the body, heart, mind and spirit.

It was a great pleasure for me to do this seminar here. A truly Integral Aikido community is slowly taking shape and I’m looking forward to more explorations and development together in the future.

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