Here at the frontier, the leaves fall like rain. Although my neighbors are all barbarians, and you, you are a thousand miles away, there are still two cups at my table.


Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter. If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things, this is the best season of your life.

~ Wu-men ~


Saturday, February 23, 2013

Aikido in Daily Life

Below is an excerpt from an article that appeared in Forbes. The full article may be read here. The link mentioned in the article is to a free .PDF that is worth reading.

Study Aikido To Become A Better Business Leader

Drew Hansen, Contributor
I write about innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership 

The Japanese martial art, aikido, keeps appearing in my life. First I read that Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist, studies aikido. Then I spoke to the director of Naropa’s Authentic Leadership program, and she said that an aikido master presents to the students. More recently I learned that Michael Gelb, the writer and personal development trainer, is a black belt.

How does it apply to leadership?

In Aikido, Harmony, and the Business of Living, Richard Moon expounds on the principles that form the foundation of his executive coaching practice. Generally speaking, aikido emphasizes the blending, rather than resisting, of energy from an attacker (or situation). Paradoxically, I’m learning to succeed by surrendering.

4 comments:

walt said...

Whoa!

That paper by Richard Moon is X-tra fine ... worthy of study. Thanks!

Rick Matz said...

Yes, it's good stuff!

Compass Architect said...

There has been rumors that Aikido is a derivative of Baguazhang.

Rick Matz said...

Aikido has nothing to do with baguazhang. It's wishful thinking by people looking for a grand unified theory of internal martial arts.

Basically everything in aikido can be traced back to Daito Ryu.

Aikido has no circle walking or the single or double palm change.