Great News About "Mastery"

是好消息

  by Lance Giroux

July 27.  Scottsdale AZ.  Spent the afternoon with Emily Fraim, George Leonard's daughter and Trustee of the Leonard Family Trust.  Surprise!  She handed me two copies of George's book Mastery.  So?  They're written in Chinese.  Wow!  She followed that gift with, "I think it's also now being printed other languages too." Double wow.  (More about that next time.)

Mastery, now in Chinese (simplified); thank you Sterling Lord - George's publishing agent who continues to serve the Trust, owners of the copyrights to all George's written works, including his scripted simulation many readers here have personally encountered: The Samurai Game® (TSG).

While George and Annie, his wife, were alive I pushed them to have Mastery published in languages beyond English and German, especially Chinese.  To me it seemed natural and paramount, having walked neighborhood parks these past years, morning and night throughout PR China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and SE Asia to witness thousands of people engaged in embodied mindfulness practices - tai chi, walking meditations, sword work, breath work, etc.  These practices directly reflect what Mastery brings to the surface and promotes. 

Think "people": 1.35 billion in PR China, add 618 million in SE Asia, plus 24 million in Taiwan, and another 7 million in Honk Kong.  That's a big bunch of folks.  Even if only a small percentage of them were to have the opportunity to gain from this book, that small percentage is significant.  Mastery has never gone out of print and has never been absent from brick and mortar bookstores since it was first published in 1991.  Twenty-three years in continuous publication is an exceptionally long time for a paperback of this nature.

A special smile to Keith Bentz, who, to my knowledge, was the first individual to legally produce The Samurai Game® (TSG) in Hong Kong and Taipei - and with that effort the work of George Leonard was introduced into the greater Asia region.

Legally deliver?  Yes.  Why say this, because illegal TSG knock-offs have sprung up throughout Asia, Mexico, and elsewhere - even in the USA.  Read my blog about shenanigans of this type.  In this regard Mastery in Chinese is again great news; and a definite boon to the legacy of George Leonard.  Those who read Mastery, even if they attended a rip-off, will make the connections for themselves.  People are smart.  They know the difference between what's real and what's fake.  Sad though, given TSG revolves around a code of honor - Bushido in Japansese / Wushitao in Chinese / The Way of the Warriorin English / Camino del Guerrero in Spanish.

Large populations are now being served with TSG, and stand to benefit with Mastery.  Twenty-one of the current sixty-some authorized facilitators live along an arc that stretches from Chengdu, China to Taipei to Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur to Singapore and then continues south to Brisbane, Australia.  Having Mastery available in both English and Chinese allows for a significant impact.  Think "lessons learned and lessons applied".  Who gains?  Families, companies, universities, elementary schools, training organizations.

Mastery. The Samurai Game®.  Yin.  Yang.  Connection.  One body.  It doesn't matter the starting gate; all one needs to do is step on the path.  Read Mastery and you deepen an intellectual understanding of what is expressed through TSG.  Participate in TSG and you vault into action to embody what is articulated through Mastery.  

Mastery has been promoted in every TSG event that I've been involved with throughout Asia and SE Asia over these past eleven years.  People ask, "When can we get it in our language?"  Now they can. 

Same thing is true multiple time zones away.  The word is spreading in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla and on.  The demand continues.  Inquiries for TSG andMastery are now coming from Colombia, Ecuador and Argentina - thanks to diligence and unselfishness of some really good people, e.g. Jenaro Pleigo of Mexico City and the others living in Mexico who have followed his footsteps.

Back to Asia.  Caroline Su wanted to get Masterytranslated to Chinese so bad she began hammering me about it every time I traveled to Taipei.  Likewise, Lyric Chan of PR China.  A few months ago, when he visited Petaluma for facilitator training, what did he grill us for to compliment his work?  Mastery.  Was it Caroline or was it Lyric who lit the final fuse that eventually burned a path to light a fire under some publisher in the region.  We don't yet know, and that doesn't matter.  What matters: it has happened.

Hopefully Sterling Lord's efforts will expand to translations in other languages, and assist the expansion of George's work through TSG now underway in Russia; well launched and spreading thanks to Konstantin Volzhan and Marina Klimova.  Numerous TSG's have been conducted in Tyumen, Moscow, and Rostov-on-Don over the past year.  This November I go to Samara.  A journey continues. 

Knock on a door long enough, it opens.  

A good and important thing, and something worth sharing.

Mastery.  Published in Chinese. 

J  是好消息(This is GREAT news)

© Lance Giroux, August 2014

The Man At The Sliding Wood Door

Richard Strozzi-Heckler, PhD

Every story starts somewhere - this one starts in the middle.

Before I tell it, I want you to know that this month's article is an overt, straight up call to action. Go to Amazon and order Richard Strozzi-Heckler's newly released book The Art of Somatic Coaching. It doesn't matter what your profession is. Order and read it right away.

This non-fiction journey lays a foundation of purposeful study, understanding, insight and action. With the kind work I've been doing for forty years you know a suggestion like this isn't made lightly. This piece well assists anyone who has ever attended a personal growth course offered by one of the many seminar companies - e.g. est, LifeSpring, PSI, Actualizations, Landmark, Klemmer & Associates, AsiaWorks, WorldWorks, Challenge-U, Top Human, MexWorks, WorldWorks Mexico, LeadMex, Spiral of Success, etc., etc. The Art of Somatic Coaching completes something that some of these companies never attended to or only marginally noted or only recently have begun to study. Richard sent an advance copy at my request. I've taken the time to read the entire work. It is an honor, almost an obligation, to strongly advise you to do likewise.

If you are a coach and have ever coached OR trained someone; OR if you have ever been coached by someone; OR if you have ever used a consultant to forward your business or personal life ... then I say - ORDER and READ THIS BOOK. The same holds true if you have children or have worked with children. Does this endorsement need to be more strongly made?

December's Ronin Post article "Taxi Ride" (about PTSD and Tom Osborn and aikido and what I saw in Russia, etc.) created an unexpected flurry of replies. Good! We need to take action when it comes to attending to the impact (large and small) that past events and social environments have on our lives - at home, at work, in communities and nations. In "Taxi Ride" I related a story of someone who had been invited to attend an advisory meeting of high government officials charged with the responsibility of military actions in Afghanistan.

An earlier Ronin Post article (October 2013) related to a reflection about someone who has contributed greatly to my life. Those who train aikido with me know the "who and where" referred to in those first paragraphs of October Reverie: Surrendering Enough to Commit. As for everyone else, I was content to leave that an unanswered question on purpose.  But some things later require explanation and expansion. That time is now, again on purpose. Both articles, December's and October's, referred to someone without naming him.

The small barn referenced in October's article is a somewhat magical place midst pasture and grape vines, a martial arts school: Two Rock Aikido Dojo. The word "dojo" translates directly to "way place". This is the "way place" where I've regularly studied and trained for the past thirteen years. I often visit other dojos around the US and in foreign countries. No complaints regarding any of them. But there's nothing quite like Two Rock Aikido dojo.

As for the "who" of both articles -- October and December -- the "fellow in charge", the man standing by the sliding wood door, the man who occasionally includes poetry into our aikido practice? The man who was heading off to a meeting with high ranking US officials? This man is Richard Strozzi-Heckler, Ph.D. Richard is "Sensei", dojo cho, i.e. the school's chief instructor. He is my sensei and has been since I first stepped on the mat in 2000. Our affiliation began years long prior to my aikido practice. First he was a colleague. Then he became a confidant; and finally, a treasured friend.

Were it not for Richard, I would not have seriously questioned the path I was on prior to our beginning to know each other. Moreover, I would not have taken bold action to step onto a new path of life, a path that I intend to continue for as long as I live.  

There is more. Most of my friends and acquaintances know how important is the connection I had with George Leonard. But many of them don't know that were it not for Richard I probably would not have encountered George, or if by chance I had, I might not have been ready for the kind of listening and momentum needed to make that encounter take root and flourish - opening a door for thousands of people to benefit in a unique way.

My George Leonard encounter initiated two opportunities. The first was the opportunity to witness a live demonstration of aikido. From this sprung an appreciation for what Richard was up to, and the potential that he and his work could have for the world. By observing George and his co-demonstrator (Charlotte Hatch of Mill Valley, CA) work, it was clear to me that something much larger than a martial art was being played out. The organization I had been part of at that time was largely unaware of and, in my opinion, disinterested in the implications of what was then described as "a mind-body connection." Today, the world well knows of Richard's research and work, its form now being referred to as Somatic Coaching & Training. (Again - a reminder - order and read his book)

The second opportunity that the George Leonard encounter provided: it opened a door for me, a method if you will, of engaging others whereby I could (and still do) travel the world to give, explore and validate for myself what George (and Richard) had set out to communicate and accomplish.  What they were both up to then, and what Richard remains actively and sincerely committed to, was a powerfully peaceful, yet equally energetic, schooling in ways of being and action. This has purpose: accomplish constructive outcomes for individuals, communities, regions, nations and the world.

Viewed collectively, the approach that Richard and George took is vastly distinct and different from the motivational talking heads and quick-fix break-through seminar companies of then and now. Not that I want to fault those companies. After all, in many respects they help open human beings to the possibilities of having better futures.

George Leonard passed away four years ago. To this day his work and Richard's work remain distinct from these companies. Their work was NOT and is NOT about instant anything. Rather, they were and are about honest growth, deep study and prolonged practice for the long haul. Their work truly addresses the concerns and connections of physical, emotional, familial, organizational and global health and wellbeing.

It's now been twenty-nine years since I first met Richard, twenty-two since I first encountered George. The countries I've now traveled number seventeen. The nationalities assembled into meeting spaces I've worked now exceed 125 - people coming from all continents except Antarctica. Many of these people have gone on to work on themselves as well as recommend a sincere study in the work these two men have inspired.

So, for the sake clarity, disclosure and acknowledgement, I thought it wise to explain, give thanks and expand on the October and December articles so you would know.

Here are two requests. The first relates to The Samurai Game®, which I assume you know to be the above referenced vehicle provided me by George Leonard. The second is with respect to the work of Richard Strozzi-Heckler.

1. The Samurai Game®.

As of this month the simulation can now be legally produced and directed by almost 60 people scattered across fourteen countries. These facilitators have been trained and certified in the safe and ethical production of The Samurai Game® performances. My request: let folks know about it. It is available for individuals, teams, organizations and schools. Tell others how to find the information and the names of those persons authorized to produce it by visiting www.SamuraiGame.org. And, if you would like, come participate again. Its performance is always new ... fresh ... alive!

2. Richard Strozzi-Heckler, PhD., Founder of Strozzi Institute.

He and his organization continue to make a profound and constructive impact in the world - ranging from the individual level to a level that impacts geopolitics and peaceful resolution to real world conflict. Richard's work is soundly researched and grounded. It has withstood the scrutiny of academics and leaders upon whose words and works lives have hung in the balance.

In the world of effectiveness training there are thousands of people who refer to themselves as "trainers", "coaches" and "consultants". Some are sincere and quite good. Some are kind of OK. But many of them, in my opinion, don't deserve even a moment of consideration. Why would I say this? Because a lot of "coaches" have only taken time to memorize a few scripts and from there they have gone on to set up websites and enrollment tools. But they engage in no sincere life-long practice themselves. They do little or no self-integration, and some are not committed to sincere service. At best they could be described as "want-a-be". Sadly, some are world-class charlatans feeding off the needs of others solely for the purpose of satisfying a bank account or fame. Some have ripped off other people's work and called it their own. And, so that you know, some have ripped off George Leonard's simulation The Samurai Game®. The bulk of these folks don't study much. They practice even less. They are a sad and disappointing representation to what could otherwise have been a grand and honorable undertaking.

BUT - If you are interested in "the real deal" - in seeking self exploration and growth, in moving yourself and/or your organization (or in advising others who want to do so) onto a long-term path of practiced embodied learning and effectiveness for action, then at a minimum explore Richard Strozzi-Heckler, Ph.D., and his organization.

Richard is sincere. His standards are high. His work is exemplary.  

When I met him I thought, "What a masterful student of life this guy is!" What I've noticed over the years is that he remains that. And because he remains a masterful student, he has become a masterful teacher and leader.

Begin your research here.

Engage with him and Strozzi Institute here.

Do either and you will find something healthy, something satisfactory.

So - as a minimum - go to Amazon today and order The Art of Somatic Coaching, authored by The Man At The Sliding Wood Door.

© Lance Giroux, January 2014

Congratulations

 Congratulations Marina Klimova! 

First Russian citizen certified to produce & direct The Samurai Game®

November 14, 2013. Today I watch autumn's first snow in Moscow. My ride from Hotel Garvor to Paveletskaja (the main metro station) is slow, though not as slow as other ventures taken the last few days around this historic city.

The metro station is the first stop on my way to Rostov. I'm looking forward to being back in Rostov. Not that Moscow hasn't been good; it's been great. Gracious people to be with. Wonderful attitudes reflecting the spirit of growth: inquisitive, challenging, reflective, gracious, sometimes struggling, sometimes surrendering. Almost always dignified.

I arrived here a week ago at the invitation of Irina Pak. Originally from Latvia, Irina has lived in Moscow a number of years. She owns and operates a seminar organization structured like many others that have sprung up around Russia the past two plus decades.

Having worked within such a company myself from the mid-1970's through the mid 1990's I made a vow never to be permanently employed by such again. But serve them I do and will, provided their individual leaders and owners demonstrate sincerity and respect towards students, clients and employees. Sincerity and respect are both evident with Irina.

Seventy-two participants attended our Moscow production of The Samurai Game®.

The week prior was spent in Rostov-on-Don, there to serve Marina Klimova who owns a similar company. She carries a like respect for those she serves and employs. We had sixty-two participants in Rostov. There Konstantin Volzhan joined us. He flew in from Tyumen to observe and study. He, like Irina and Marina, owns a similar company from which he serves the Siberian region. And, along with Marina, he visited Petaluma, California in September for the Facilitator Training Course week.

A collegial spirit exists between Konstantin, Marina and Irina. This is good. Russia is a big country in a big world. There is no reason to hoard, or aggressively compete or play the zero-sum games of one against the other that, unfortunately, have plagued many seminar organizations.

My trip back to Rostov culminates this three-week stint. Marina has arranged for a corporate production coming up this weekend. Last weekend she completed her training requirements and is now certified to direct The Samurai Game® on her own. But I'll support her first "solo" delivery before venturing home.

So --- Congratulations Marina Klimova! As with Moscow's morning snow, you are "a first"; but not for a season only; rather for an era. You are the first Russian citizen certified to produce and direct this grand creation of George Leonard's.

Congratulations Konstantin and Irina! You were and are key to Marina's success. I accept your requests and am looking forward to being back in Russia in September 2014 to serve you both again.

©Lance Giroux, November 2013

www.SamuraiGame.org

Using Step #2 of The Five Step Path

 

Diana Montiel Contreras completes Samurai Game® facilitator certification February 24 in Mexico City

   

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature nor

do the children of man as a whole experience it.

Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

-Helen Keller (from The Open Door, 1957)

Rachel is new to the aikido mat, late 30's, attentive and quick to adjust to input. She's often self-critical. Yet, her movements are surprisingly aligned, unified and relaxed for anyone at this stage of the game. She has yet to purchase a gi (training uniform). Taking that step, while practical (right clothes for the environment), is also bold. It's a statement that says, "Yes, I'm in. I'm scared, but stepping across this line anyway." We keep an eye on Rachel. We let her know that we once walked (and still do) the same path that she's on. Knowing this we understand that she'll probably take her next step.

Nate got his new trumpet just like he wanted, but his first experience of the town's youth orchestra was terrifying: too many people, and too much happening. Christian, the orchestra leader, was keen to Nate's talent. He knew his fears and asked him to stay afterwards to talk about what was going on. Christian listened and basically said nothing. Then just before Nate was about to leave Christian offered, "I know you want to quit and you can, but I think you're doing great - I see it in your timing. Come to one more session and then decide. When I'm afraid I'm in the same spot you're in right now ..." Twelve years later Nate is accomplished in many instruments. Along the way he served two years as band president at a major California university. Today, he works as a corporate merchandising manager. Music is not his profession. It IS his life. He's guided numerous students of his own, and he's led hundreds of others to excellence.

Both of the above stories are true. I know Rachel and Nate, but by different names.

Taking a small step to move across the thin line of fear is HUGE. It's a matter of intent, spirit and heart. 

In the last issue of The Ronin Post we addressed Step #1 of the Five Step Path. This month we look at Step #2. And, as with last month, we'll reframe it for personal reflection and organizational self-assessment.

Recall the three crucial practices that support the overall process:

1. Be present with people and situations.
2. Make external focus your mindful practice.
3. Simultaneously, stay connected with what's happening for you, i.e. physically (your body responses), mentally (your mind chatter & images) and emotionally (the flow of your feelings).

STEP #1. You need to be always looking for strengths and uniqueness in others. This creates the essential connections for rapport, respect and growth, and kick starts the process.

Step #2 requires an understanding of some basic distinctions important to one's ability to move the process forward. These distinctions should not be taken for granted. As with buying a gi or coming back to one more band practice, Step #2 transcends the realm of being a witness. Step #2 requires ACTION.

STEP #2. ENCOURAGE and INPRIRE others to DEVELOP, PRACTICE and UNLEASH their own strengths and uniqueness.

Encourage - from courage - springing from cor (Latin) - heart - supporting people with respect to engaging their own fears. Courage is just a word until fear is present. To encourage others you must allow them to have and to articulate their own fears (concerns, worries, self-doubts, etc.) and in the midst of that having and articulation - you must assist the steps for action.

Inspire - to breath [life] into.  You must actively walk your talk when it comes to your own fears, concerns, worries, etc., and you must being willing to be seen as someone who moves into and through your own fears.

Develop - grow

Practice - repeatedly apply

Unleash - release from restraint

STEP #2 requires actions of opportunity, yet Step #2 has nothing to do with being an opportunist. You must be willing to sincerely put other people first. You have to be able to consider their needs beyond your own self-interest. You must understand that your mission is to move other people to become stronger, perhaps even stronger than you will ever be. The Native American people of long ago called this as becoming, "a give away person". Give for the sake of giving and so that others might grow and gain.

This attitude can seemingly run contrary to the idea that giving is an ingredient to gaining, which, of course, it is. But you can't be thinking about getting something for yourself. Thoughts directed at personal gain, that whisper, "What's in it for me?" - empty your mind of these. With practice this is possible, and if you are vigilant you may find yourself swept into a dynamic (and different) reality dedicated to art of servant leadership, a world of possibility within which you can and will develop other leaders.

On the other hand, if thoughts of personal gain dominate The 5 Step Process, then the process becomes self-defeating. Giving for the sake of giving is expansive and generative. The spirit of your efforts will attract others and extend into the world. Giving for the sake of getting is contractive. That kind of spirit ultimately reduces things to a standstill. In a word, giving for the sake of getting - sucks.

As a method of projected self-reflection Step #2 is turned inward as follows:

Imagine that your friends, neighbors, relationships (old and new), enemies, children, colleagues, etc., were to show up here today for the sole purpose of revealing to you what they have witnesssed to be true about WHAT ENCOURAGES AND INSPIRES YOU. What would they say?

As was discussed when it comes to your own strengths (your Step #1) you may find yourself denying what you hear, and you may have been selling yourself short - or you may not have noticing how it is that you go about seeking encouragement and inspiration.  But take the time and reflect: What would your parents and children say? How about an ex-husband or ex-wife? Set aside any need to be small about this.  Observe in your imagination what these people may have seen regarding you.  What is the internal dialogue you have about this?

As a process to enhance organizational development and assessment Step #2 is turned inward like this:

Suppose your employees and staff (past and present), co-workers, colleagues, clients, vendors, customers and competitors - all of the people who have comprised your professional life - suddenly convened. How would these folks honestly and straight forwardly describe your what ENCOURAGES and INSPIRES YOU professionally?

Think about this. Use your imagination.

Here's a challenge.

For the next fourteen days commit ten minutes of every day to writing the answers to the above two questions, i.e. as a way of personal reflection and as a way of organizational or professional assessment. Add this to your ongoing examination of personal and professional strength and uniqueness. Heck, if you followed last month's step you know that two hours of your time spread over two weeks is not that hard of a thing to do.

We'll address Step #3 of the process in the next issue of The Ronin Post. But for now, spend some time looking at what encourages and inspires you - and take one small step across a line some line of your own to develop, practice and unleash a strength of yours... just for one month.

What do you say?

"Whether our action is wholesome or unwholesome depends    

on whether that action or deed arises from a disciplined

 or undisciplined state of mind."

-Dalai Lama XIV, (The Art of Happiness)

© Lance Giroux, April 2013

Using the First Step Path

 

Lawrence Warry certified as a Samurai Game® Facilitator  

   

"There is more to life than increasing its speed"

-Mohandas K. Gandhi

It's March 24^th and I sit with eight others upstairs in a Den Haag (Netherlands) pub. We've just ended an aikido class in nearby Leiden with Lawrence Warry teaching, this after just debriefing the weekend's Samurai Game. Lawrence played a huge part in that Game. He was responsible for creating the workshop. Plus, it was this weekend that he co-facilitated and completed his training to be certified as a Samurai Game® facilitator. Tonight, toasts and stories abound. We laugh and relax.

We end our evening reflecting on what we noticed about those who attended with us, particularly their strengths, not just at the Game but on the aikido mat as well. Fitting - because before speeding off to the aikido dojo this is also where we ended our workshop, i.e. exercising The Five Step Path to Effectiveness and Leadership. It's a process I sketched out twenty years ago when working with a woman whose natural ability to influence was obvious to me but unseen by herself. Her name is Betty Sue. Our interactions, spread over a one year training process that created a cornerstone and has greatly assisted my ability to serve others ever since.

In the interest of time, and needing to get this month's Ronin Post off to you, I'll only cover Step #1. Then I'll reframe it as we did today at our workshop, so you can use it for personal reflection and as an organizational self-assessment tool.

There are three supporting practices to using the process:

1. Practice being present with people and situations.
2. Practice being externally focused on those you are attempting to influence.
3. Practice being simultaneously aware regarding what's happening for you, i.e. physically (your body responses), mentally (your mind chatter & images) and emotionally (the flow of your feelings).

To engage in Step #1 you must realize that it is really quite simple and basic. Like a switch, it kick starts the entire process, and it does so in ways that generate profound and continuous learning for you and for others

STEP #1. Spend the majority of your time looking for strengths and uniqueness in others, especially those you are attempting to lead or influence, e.g. your staff, your children, your clients or potential customers, even your adversaries or what you may call your competition. STRENGTH is what you're looking for. This perspective will open your creative and intuitive abilities to relate to people and processes. You will gain insights into what these people have to offer - not only to you, but to the world and environment around both you and them, and to the future. It is by looking for strength that we can and do establish rapport, and very importantly we build relationships of respect.

As a method of projected self-reflection Step #1 is turned inward as follows:

         Imagine that your friends, neighbors, relationships (old and new), enemies, children, colleagues, etc., could show up here today with the sole purpose of revealing to one another, as well as you and folks neither of you know, what they have learned to be true about YOUR STRENGTHS. What would they say? You may not want to agree with what comes out of their mouths. You may have some secret need to remain in denial of some of this stuff, i.e. selling yourself short - or you may have been speeding so quickly through life that you just haven't been noticing these things about you. But take the time and reflect: What would your mom or dad say? What about your son or daughter? How about the ex-husband or ex-wife? Sure, and why not? Scrape away the emotionality of old issues and simply observe what these people may have seen about you that they would call "Your Strengths and Your Uniqueness". What floats to the surface of your mind?

Next, as a method of organizational development and assessment Step #1 is equally provocative when turned inward. It goes like this:

         Suppose all of the employees and staff (past and present) of your organization suddenly convened in a large room. And there they were met by your customers, your clients, your vendors, and YES - your competitors. How would these folks honestly and straight forwardly describe your organizational STRENGTHS, your product STRENGTHS, and your service STRENGTHS?

Think about this. Use your imagination.

Here's a challenge.

For the next fourteen days commit ten minutes of every day to writing the answers to the above two questions, i.e. as a way of personal reflection and as a way of organizational or professional assessment. Heck, that's just two hours of your time spread over two weeks, and rather slowly done.

We're going to address Step #2 in the next issue of The Ronin Post. But for now, spend some time addressing.

Are you wiling to give this a try?

There's nothing to lose, just a lot to gain.

"How would you like to quickly learn my secret and do what I am able to do FAST?

Ah, you all answered YES! Great! (he smiled) Then let me tell you truthfully the secret is -

TO PRACTICE S-L-O-W-L-Y. "

Mitsuge Saotome, Shihan (Master Aikido Teacher)

spoken at Two Rock Aikido Dojo, Petaluma, CA

© Lance Giroux, March 2013

The Game and The Art

Last July 60 at-risk High School youth from East Stroudsburg University's (ESU) UPWARD BOUND program played the Samurai Game® accompanied by The Art of Practice & Organizational Dojo.

Since its creation the Game has existed to address core issues related to conflict, specifically in its ultimate form - war.  The Game's author, George Leonard, used it to beg this question: "We know that throughout history war has done nothing but destroy. So why do we, the most intelligent species on the planet keep practicing it?"

  

In an effort to provide youth with alternatives to conflict ESU's Upward Bound Director Uriel Trujillo requested the July program.  As a result he and those young people inspired this writing.  

   

(continuing from the August and September 2012 issues of The Ronin Post)

Today, in 2012, our national conflicts are front and center. We are engaged in a great debate. It's good that we debate; free speech is important. We are gearing up to an election. Also good - we can still freely elect. But is our debate being conducted or held as dialogue, a dignified communication of differing perspectives for the sake of learning and acting anew? Hardly. Rather, it offers little more than sound bite positioning. Little room exists for alternative perspectives regardless of what side the debater takes or to what political party he or she subscribes. How rigid we've become! This kind of rigidity, this unwillingness to look at a situation from alternative viewpoints, is symptomatic of war.

The kind of struggle we are engaged in as we run up to our election is not new. In Chapter I (The Coming Crisis) of his Civil War Memoirs, Ulysses S. Grant wrote: "The [Constitutional] framers were wise in their generation and wanted to do the very best possible to secure their own liberty and independence, and that also of their descendants to the latest days." And he continued: "It is preposterous to suppose that the people of one generation can lay down the best and only rules of government for all who are to come after them, and under unforeseen contingencies."

Grant was 62 when he wrote his memoirs. He was reflecting on the kind of rigidity that drove his country to war against itself. To this day that war remains our bloodiest. A year after completing his writing Grant died. Grant, the self-deprecating and reluctant West Point man who returned to soldiering only after the needs of his nation demanded that he do so. Grant, who felt himself ill equipped to command, yet he rose to lead armies and their generals into battle. Grant, who accepted Robert E. Lee with dignity and afforded him respect (not humiliation) at the Appomattox Court House. Grant, the former 18^th President of the United States who lived his last years in severe ill health, on borrowed money, and bankrupt by reason of "the rascality of a business partner" - his financial standing having been ruined due to "universal depression of all securities" (his own words). Grant, a man of the nineteenth century could well be described as a man living through own last decade.

Who said, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it", was it Burke? Perhaps Santayana? Maybe Churchill? Does who said it really matter? Probably not. But the WHY it was said it certainly does. And what truly matters is that these words remain relevant today.

What about learning, what does this word mean these days? Is learning simply a becoming aware of data, fact and information? OR, is learning an actualization accompanied by a transformation of practice? In other words, something NEW or DIFFERENT becomes so rooted and acted upon that past practices and realities (while never forgotten) dissolve to be replaced by new more effective actions and practices.

Of what value is it that we should continue to put forth the need to create peaceful practices rather than practices dedicated to increased conflict and war? Is it important that one be able to recognize what drives his or her personal desire or need to attack and/or fight (even against one's self) - when attacking and fighting have become unnecessary or counter productive, or both?

Five years ago I walked through Auschwitz. Its ground and barbed wire fences, barracks and ovens were silent reminders that surrendering to bigotry cannot work. But they also informed me that if mouths had spoken up (rather than remaining silent) and bodies had taken action (rather than remaining still) things in Europe and for the rest of the world would have been different from 1933 through today.

Where do our personal wars exist and what perpetuates them?   In 1957 a WWII veteran watching the film The Bridge Over the River Kwai had to step outside of the small theater. Why? Because the images on-screen returned him to a reality of vivid sights, feelings and odors twelve years past, memories so alive that his body shook uncontrollably. Only a silent lamppost on the street could console him. That man was my father. What were his wars about? Why did they start and why did they continue? How did they affect his family, his neighbors and his community?

In 2012, a young woman in Sonoma County, California, stands on a sidewalk outside her home and rages. Screaming insults and obscenities at her aunt, father and grandmother she's trying to get her way. She's my neighbor. What are her internal wars about? Why did they start? How long will they continue? Will she pass them along to a someday-to-be-fathered child? And if so, will she be aware enough to get it - that what goes around, comes around?

Reading Grant's memoirs I recall Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, the story of America's post-Civil War westward expansion, and how it silenced the voice of our continent's indigenous people. Ever read it? As a study in the aftermaths and effects of war it should perhaps be required reading in high school history classes and college psychology courses.

The June 23, 2012 issue of TIME magazine (p 22-23) carries a sullen image of a young widow. Beside her are these words: "More U.S. soldiers have killed themselves than have died in the Afghan War. WHY can't the Army win the war on suicide?" As a former Army officer myself, my immediate response is that this war on suicide is not just the Army's problem. It's a problem that belongs to us all.

I step onto US soil, inbound from Hong Kong or Poland or Mexico or Australia or China, and am greeted by bodies vastly larger than what we all know to be healthy. We are at war with our own bodies?   Why? Don't we know we're killing ourselves? Obesity in America is rampant. In 1960 our nation's obesity level stood at 9.7%. By 1994 it had reached 24%. Today we sit at 36% and by 2030 we are expected to hit 42%. If we were to view what we doing to ourselves in the context of a national security issue our national debate over health care might get more traction than seen only within the context of it being a health issue. National security? Sure, why not? Historically, what has always happened to nations whose citizens became collectively ill prepared and unfit to care themselves, nations who relied on the technologies of their day and sought to hire in professional militaries in order to maintain the appearance of power and strength rather than finding strength (physical, mental and emotional) from the vast pool of the average people who lived within their boundaries?

Back to July and East Stroudsburg University and Uriel Trujillo's UPWARD BOUND PROGRAM. His students are walking into a world we have created with the help of our ancestors. Perhaps Uriel is onto something by inviting me to join him in small step, to assist his at-risk youth; helping them to seek alternative ways to deal with the stresses and conflicts of life, to consider principles of dignified and peaceful living, to think about what they might be able to then carry forward into the world they will inherit from us.

Interesting what thoughts a Game - in this case The Samurai Game® - can inspire.

© Lance Giroux, 2012