Robert Pater

Martial arts grabbed me when I was young. Made so much sense, using opponent's force against him, efficiently focusing your own resources, living relaxed and effective. Fast forward 35 years and thousands of falls, punches and kicks later (I like to think I've been thrown, kicked and punched by among the best). I see internal martial arts as beyond self-defense, more than physical fitness, really the best way to live your life. I remember my wing chun gung fu sifu Hung Chow giving me tips about fighting that applied as much to my daily life and work as an organizational consultant.

Speaking of which, I've melded my understanding of martial arts principles (from Wing Chun, Aikijujitsu, Kenjitsu and others) to my work with organizations. Always been interested in making years of practice accessible to those who don't have the time nor inclination to practice grappling or striking. These principles - like Secondary Pressure, Proximity Principle, On and Off, and many others - have shown their merit wherever I've applied them to home, sports and business. I've developed the MoveSMART(R) system for applying select martial arts mental and physical strategies (no, not fighting) to boost worker safety (balance, leverage, control). And have, of course, applied martial arts strategies to elevating leadership skills on all organizational levels. Clients have included: 3M, ADT, Airgas, Alaska Airlines, Alaska Tanker Co, Alcoa, American Airlines, American Electric Power, Amtrak, BHP Billiton, BP, Centerpoint Energy,ChevronTexaco, Detroit Edison, Domtar, DuPont, Dynegy, Expro, Frito-Lay, Halliburton Energy Services, Harley-Davidson, Halliburton, Hawaiian Airlines, Honda, Invenergy, Johnson & Johnson, Kinross, Martin-Brower, Michelin/BF Goodrich, Layne Inliner, MSC Industrial Supply, Nissan, Northwest Natural, Panama Canal, Pitney Bowes, Portland General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, Premier Power Ireland, Reyes Holdings, Rock-Tenn, Sembawang Shipyard Singapore, Southern Nuclear, Textron, Tokyo Electron, Tucson Electric, United Airlines, U.S. Steel, Vestas, Vigor Industrial, Xerox and many others.

I've been so lucky to learn from and (still) work with some exceptional people, many of whom are martial arts adepts. And many who've never trained in formal martial arts but successfully utilize higher level principles from the martial art of business and living.

Still love to write - over 200+ articles and counting on leadership, culture, personal safety, communications, stress power and more. Hope you find something useful for you in what I've been learning.

Robert Pater

Portland OR