On Feb. 25th, 2018 the Integral Dojo hosted a Community Call w/ Miles Kessler and Patrick Cassidy on our on-going “Aiki-Discussion” of the topic of “The Dharma Of Aikido.” In this 1st of 2 community calls, Miles, Patrick, and the “Aikido At The Leading Edge” global sangha discussed many aspects of Aikido as a martial art and Aikido as a spiritual Path.
Last November I was interviewed by Ted Meissner for an episode of “The Secular Buddhist” podcast. This is the official podcast for the “Secular Buddhist Association”, which describes themselves as “a natural, pragmatic approach to early Buddhist teachings and practice”. Within their secular and pragmatic approach, I saw a lot of parallels with the trans-lineage approach I bring to the Integral Dojo.
Ever wonder if you are developing in your practice? How do you know? With all of the ups and downs, wrong turns, pitfalls, backslides, and seemingly endless plateaus, development can be quite a messy affair. It will not always be clear to you if you are developing, or not. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a blueprint for development? A checklist of aspects that if you could cover them all, then you could rest assured that development is happening. As it turns out such a blueprint exists. It is called “The 5 Aspects Of Development” and when you cover all of these aspects to a satisfactory level, development just happens.
The practice of self-reflection is essential for growth at any stage in Aikido. As a teacher, having the chance to practice and reflect with other teachers is something I highly value.
This past May I had the great pleasure of hosting an online global tele-summit called Aikido At The Leading Edge. It was an amazing event that brought so many gifts to my life, and the lives of over 2,300 people. Perhaps the greatest gift for me was that I had an opportunity to connect with 46 amazing teachers from the global Aikido community.
As a person who is walking the Path of Aikido surely, you know the dirty little secret about this art we all know and love; mastery in Aikido takes time! Everyone knows that there are no shortcuts to getting good in Aikido… or are there?
