Engaged Peacemaking is integral to everything we do with this training. I would say it is even a by-product of everything we do. However, before we can be peacemakers, we need to make peace with ourselves. All of our practices ultimately work to engage the parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn leads to health, relaxation, compassion, open-mindedness, and a reduction in stress, fear, and anger. In other words, all our practices lead to a peaceful orientation, even our martial training, as the goal in our approach to self defense is not to inflict pain on anyone but to resolve potential conflict in peaceful, life-affirming ways--further to live our lives without fear, which is really the same thing as stress and anger and the opposite of peace and love.
My role models in Peacemaking are Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesus Christ, and O'Sensei, Morihei Ueshiba (the founder of Aikido). There are many lessons to be learned from these men and many other men and women. I take lessons from these teachers and others and integrate them with our core practices, specifically our Taijiquan training, Self Defense workshops, and Stress Management workshops.
For a deeper look, following are some reading choices on engaged peacemaking. I hope this is of interest to some of you:
The Art of Peace
Jesus and Nonviolence by Walter Wink
Dr. King's Six Steps of Nonviolent Social Change
My role models in Peacemaking are Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesus Christ, and O'Sensei, Morihei Ueshiba (the founder of Aikido). There are many lessons to be learned from these men and many other men and women. I take lessons from these teachers and others and integrate them with our core practices, specifically our Taijiquan training, Self Defense workshops, and Stress Management workshops.
For a deeper look, following are some reading choices on engaged peacemaking. I hope this is of interest to some of you:
The Art of Peace
Jesus and Nonviolence by Walter Wink
Dr. King's Six Steps of Nonviolent Social Change