The Hidden Power of Aikido: Transcending Conflict and Cultivating Inner Peace (Sacred Planet) - Softcover

Perry, Susan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1644118971 ISBN 13: 9781644118979

Publisher: Park Street Press, 2024

Synopsis

Real-life applications of Aikido for self-transformation, conflict resolution, and joy.

In addition to the physical practice, the modern martial art of Aikido also offers profound principles for transforming interpersonal conflict into peaceful interaction.

Illuminating the inner philosophical and practical aspects of Aikido, forty-seven-year Aikido practitioner and 6th-degree blackbelt Susan Perry, Ph.D., uses personal stories of joy, achievement, and hardship to demonstrate real-life applications of the transformational principles of Aikido. She introduces what Aikido is and where it comes from, providing a brief biography of its founder, Morihei Ueshiba. She explains in detail how Aikido helped her resolve difficulties at work, as a student, and as a teacher/sensei. Through each story shared, the author offers a glimpse of the beginner’s mind in action, the key to changing even the violent energy of an attack into peaceful interaction.

Presenting Aikido’s step-by-step protocol for developing the receptiveness of the beginner’s mind, a state essential to personal transformation, Perry explains how distraction and timing can be used to deescalate potentially violent or dangerous situations. She discusses the founder’s philosophy of conflict, showing how Aikido can help peacefully resolve difficulties that arise with pushy, intimidating, and unpredictable people, those who are stubborn or don’t listen, insincere people who want something from you, and chaotic situations. She explains how a deepening practice of the martial art leads to an aiki state of inner peace, fusion, and boundless joy.

Revealing how Aikido can help you face your fears and develop your heart and soul, this book shows how this martial art helps you embrace change, cultivate a strong center, and ultimately live a joyful life of engagement with the world.

About this title

About the Authors

Susan Perry, Ph.D., has practiced Aikido for nearly 50 years. She holds a Rokudan (6th-degree black belt) in Aikido, a doctorate in philosophy, and a Godan (5th-degree black belt) in Japanese calligraphy. Best known for founding and publishing Aikido Today Magazine, she is now president of Aiko Institute. A former assistant professor in the California State University system, she lives in Claremont, California.

John Stevens is the author of Aikido: The Way of Harmony.

John Perry is an emeritus professor of philosophy at Stanford University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Park Street Press
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1644118971
• ISBN 13: 9781644118979
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288