Kathy Park - Aikido Off the Mat: One Womans Journey Using Aikido Principles to Stay Sane in Body, Mind, and Spirit

Copyright 2018 by Kathy Park. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout written permission of the publisher. For information contact Blue Snake Books c/o North Atlantic Books.

Published by Blue Snake Books, an imprint of North Atlantic Books

Berkeley, California

Cover sumi art by Kathy Park, photo by Lynda Relyea.
Cover design by Jasmine Hromjak.
Book design by Happenstance Type-O-Rama.

Printed in the United States of America

Aikido Off the Mat: One Womans Journey Using Aikido Principles to Stay Sane in Body, Mind, and Spirit is sponsored and published by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences (dba North Atlantic Books), an educational nonprofit based in Berkeley, California, that collaborates with partners to develop cross-cultural perspectives, nurture holistic views of art, science, the humanities, and healing, and seed personal and global transformation by publishing work on the relationship of body, spirit, and nature.

North Atlantic Books publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our websites at www.northatlanticbooks.com and www.bluesnakebooks.com or call 800-733-3000.

PLEASE NOTE: The creators and publishers of this book disclaim any liabilities for loss in connection with following any of the practices, exercises, and advice contained herein. To reduce the chance of injury or any other harm, the reader should consult a professional before undertaking this or any other martial arts, movement, meditative arts, health, or exercise program. The instructions and advice printed in this book are not in any way intended as a substitute for medical, mental, or emotional counseling with a licensed physician or healthcare provider.

Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication data is available from the publisher upon request.

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To all those who refuse to give up pursuing a vision of peace, love, beauty, and justice for all.

I n the late summer of 1989 I was busy preparing for my second Aikido trip to what was then still the Soviet Union. Those were in the heady days of glasnost (opening), so bravely and fatefully initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in what quickly became the waning days of communism. While the Cold War had driven a seemingly insurmountable wedge between Americans and Russians, glasnost was bringing a thaw and unprecedented opportunities to create bridges across the many decades of divide. Aikido, rightfully known as the art of peace, was truly a perfect vehicle to forge connections and be a positive part of that process.

When I called my training partner and friend Kathy Park about joining our group of Aiki troubadour-ambassadors, she eagerly jumped in. I was honored and delighted! With her rich warmth and empathy, keen intelligence, artists eye, and abundant Aikido skills, I knew her contributions to our group and means of fulfilling our mission would be many. She had frequently come over to teach at my dojo, The Womens Aikido School of San Francisco, so I knew her teaching abilities and she knew my students going on the trip. Off we went, our perfect and powerful delegation of six American women and one man (not coincidentally from Kathys home dojo) on what was a very impactful and truly unforgettable Citizens' Diplomacy Aikido journey.

In the nearly thirty years since our intensive trip together in Moscow, Leningrad (soon renamed St. Petersburg) and the Russian countryside, Kathy and I have not seen each other face-to-face. Ive missed pairing up and rolling around on the mat as we used to. Through the grapevine Ive been aware that shes taken her artwork, teaching, and healing practice to great new levels. But not until the advent of Facebook have we been able to renew our friendship, and have I seen glimpses of her absolutely stunning drawings, paintings, and sculptures. And not until Kathy asked me to review her Aikido Off the Mat manuscript have I been able to Aiki-journey with her again, intimately, deeply, boldlyand so happily!

Through many posts and comments exchanged, what has emerged is an exciting sense of the ongoing parallelism in our paths. Back in our early Bay Area Aikido days, Kathy and I also both studied to become certified holistic bodywork practitioners, at what was The Lomi School in Marin County. Our teachers were early leaders in the field of somatic (body-based) psychotherapy. They incorporated Aikido in conscious movement practices, along with body/mind approaches to personal growth and healing. So we were able to sink our roots deeply into issues of embodiment and empowerment, with the shared sensitivity of having grown up as tomboys and into women warriors out to heal the world.

Without exactly planning it, my adult career and work in the world has all been based in Aikido. Continuing to follow founder Morihei Ueshiba OSenseis vision of Aikido as medicine for a sick world, Ive been an active board member of Aiki Extensions since 2005. Our small but mighty nonprofit has served to launch innovative conferences and ongoing programs including Training Across Borders, Middle East Aikido Project, Aikido Ethiopia, and PeaceCamp Initiative. In the sports and business worlds, Ive developed my junior golf abilities and passion for human potential into KiAi Golf and The KiAi Way Inc. trainings, to support excellence and peace in every way, shape, and form.

It is through our shared background and somatic sensibilities that Kathy kindly asked me to write the foreword for this important volume you have before you. Essentially, her hybrid memoir/practice volume is a guide through our own human experience, filtered through Kathy's consciousness and the art of Aikido itself. The reader will find in these pages MUCH more than imagined or bargained for! As Kathy story-tells from on and off the mat, we are walked in to considering how things are inside our own bodies and minds, on the planet, and in our challenging lives and struggling societies.

Kathys writing is thoughtful, bold, and clear. You will find fascinating commentaries that are very helpful in understanding what feels so off-center and out of balance in our lives today as well as what we can do to restore sanity and humanity in the world. The principles of Aikido are universal, in tune with and expressive of natural law, with the explicit intention and power to bring us into harmony with nature. As such, the author is keenly aware of Aikidos far-reaching implications. Speaking consistently from an Aikido point of view, Kathy voices fearless critiques of a world that has fallen dangerously out of harmony with Mother Earths ecology. She does not shy away from making crucial connections between the Art of Peace and vitally pressing concerns around womens empowerment, environmental peril, diversity and equality, embodiment and ethics, equitable economies and political leadership, and our health and well-being.

Almost any martial artist, and certainly every Aikido practitioner, will relish diving into these pages. Quite simply, if you train, you ought to love this book! Kathy gives us much to identify with and be stimulated by as she articulates what we go through in taking ourselves to the dojo, donning gis (uniforms), and subjecting ourselves to all kinds of physical, emotional, and spiritual rigors. Then she takes us further in exploring the relationship of training to living, and how our growing skills and understanding might show up in the personal, professional, and broader social dimensions of our lives.