Art of Peace
By Jaime Dunkle
Art of PeaceFeb 27, 2023
Nurturing the Seeds of Compassion with Aikido Practice
Mauney Sensei led a seminar at the NOLA Aikido dojo on July 8, 2023. The interview was recorded at the after party. Please pardon any jovial background noise.
How Does Praise Impact Aikido?
In this episode of Art of Peace, Brian Levy Sensei (Dojo Cho and Chief Instructor, NOLA Aikido) and your host Jaime Dunkle (4th Kyu) unpack questions around praise and its effects on learning.
How does praise impact Aikido practice? Research shows that effort-based praise has a positive impact on students in general because it empowers them to put effort into their studies in ways they can control and enact with agency. Whereas ability-based praise tends to neutralize students, rendering them helpless after a misstep. At the NOLA Aikido dojo, Brain Levy Sensei practices what Charles Colten Sensei has shared about effectual pedagogy: the evidence-based method of praising three things that went well and suggesting one thing to try next time.
But what about empty praise from Aikido colleagues on the mats? Should there really be instruction coming from other students during a class that already has a teacher? The answer should obviously be: No. Are there ways to skillfully interrupt and dismantle these distractions and likely unconscious power dynamics that are just as detrimental to learning Aikido as ability-based praise? Listen to this episode to find out…
Beginner’s Mind and the Art of Self-Inquiry in Aikido
What does it mean to have a beginner's mind (shoshin)? Why is it important to ask what’s going on with the body and mind during Aikido practice? What’s the point of having a teacher? Daniel Nishina Sensei from Hibiki Aikido in Portland, Oregon discussed these topics and more in this episode of the Art of Peace.
“Asking why can help you become yourself,” Nishina Sensei said during the interview.
In this podcast, Nishina Sensei also mentions a time when Seishiro Endo Shihan encouraged students to focus on how to soften one’s fun'iki or vibe when asked about internal practice related to vibration.
“I gave it a lot of thought: How do you control your vibe? How do you make your vibe more quiet, soft, friendly, warm, or whatever? How do you change your vibe?” Nishina Sensei said in the interview.
Nishina Sensei brought his sharp yet poetic Aikido techniques to NOLA Aikido for a weekend seminar on Jan. 20, 2023 to Jan. 22, 2023. He kindly joined our podcast on the last day of the seminar.
For more information about Nishina Sensei, go to: https://www.aikidohibiki.com/
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