The Way of Aikido: Life Lessons From An American Sensei

Description

“This book is a warmhearted handshake, a graceful and practical invitation to go into and blend with the ahhh of the world. It is as natural and wise an introduction to the spirit of the martial arts as you’ll find on paper.”—Jack Kornfield, bestselling writer of A Path with Heart
 
In his bestselling Mastery, renowned spiritual and martial arts teacher George Leonard taught hundreds of thousands of people how to use Zen philosophy to succeed in mastery in any field. Now, he brings together his unusual knowledge and experience into a book that translates the principles of aikido directly into our on a regular basis lives.
 
Aikido is more philosophy and meditation than a technique or a series of purely physical maneuvers. Leonard shares the secrets of this remarkable Eastern philosophy, which is the basis for the most radical and demanding of all martial arts. Through mind-body exercises inspired by aikido yet designed for non-practitioners, he demonstrates the fundamental understanding at the back of aikido and shows how it may be applied to help set us on the path to composure, self-sufficiency, and spiritual centeredness.
 
Combining illuminating personal anecdotes with practical advice, this award-winning writer describes the ways in which aikido can help turn life’s unanticipated blows into gifts and change into discord into harmony, anxiety and pain into vital energy. Exhilarating, enlightening, and filled with unique wisdom, The Way of Aikido is an inspiring lesson in balance, confidence, and power.
 
“The Way of Aikido does no less than open the door to the universe and invite you through to turn out to be one with it, to turn out to be balanced, powerful, energetic, alert, and present.”—Susan Trott, writer of The Holy Man and Crane Spreads Wings