This month, Satomi Kai Aikido held a special class as part of International Aiki Peace Week.

Aiki is the core of Aikido, and means not going against the flow/movement the attack, but instead sidestepping the power of the attack, joining into its flow, then adding to it so as to unbalance them, and control their ability to attack.

Aikido practitioners around the world take part in this event, inspired by the unique peacemaking legacy of it’s founder Morihei Ueshiba. He believed that this principle of harmonizing with aggression was something that should be extended to behaviour outside the dojo, with the ultimate goal of making the world a more peaceful place.

This is an annual event organized by Aiki Extensions. Their aim is to support everyone interested in taking aiki principles off the mat and into the world, running programs in areas like youth violence prevention, K-12 conflict resolution curricula, business consulting, psychotherapy, and Middle East peace programs.

Our own marking of the event included a ‘Silent Class’ where every student and the teacher had to remain completely silent from beginning to end. The main goal was a more focused and contemplative session, with students more introspective and observant of their own movements. It also raised a number of other interesting challenges including non-verbal communication and feedback. In particular, teaching without talking was a real challenge.

In addition to the meditative aspect of the class, we also had a ‘naughty-jar’ for anyone accidentally talking or laughing, which raised some money for the EACH children’s hospice.