by Beth Shibata — Aikido Today, October 1987, Vol. 1, No. 3

Aikido and the New Warrior, edited by Richard Strozzi Heckler, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley (1985).

The essays collected for this book all contain a common element — how people have taken the essence of Aikido, integrated it into their lives, and used it to overcome obstacles. As may be surmised, the new warrior of the title is the Aikidoist shouting love at the world, a goal promoted by the founder, Morihei Ueshiba. The pieces smack of honesty, of personal and spiritual growth, and the desire to share the marvel of self-discovery that is not a thing of mind or body but of both.

This is a nicely organized book. When read linearly, it flows from Heckler’s brief introduction, which sets out a reasonable foundation for the essays that follow, into historical background which includes one of the better chronologies of O’sensei (by John Stevens). From there follow excerpts of O-sensei’s writings and lectures, and an interview with the Doshu leading to Bob Aubry’s scholarly and thought-provoking piece, “Aikido and the New Warrior”. That essay sets the stage for the pieces that follow, many of them relating the profound truths and understanding that the authors have experienced as a result of learning how to flow and blend with their surroundings by losing the tight focus on themselves. However, one can open the book up to almost any selection and just begin.

The styles of these essays vary. They take on the forms of interviews, personal accounts, teachings, and more scholarly pieces. About half have been published previously and have been brought together into a cohesive collection.

John Stevens’ chronology of O-sensei’s life provides valuable insight into the life of a spiritual man of high ideals who willingly applied himself to those ideals, but who did not wish to be elevated onto a mystical plane. The most affecting pieces were the personal accounts of how Aikido provided a source from which to work with difficult personal situations. In “Blending with death”, Susan Stone describes how she learned to work with process of her father’s death rather than just stand by and feel helpless. “A Kind Word Turneth Away Wrath” by Terry Dobson deals brutally with the most difficult adversary — the opponent within. O. Fred Donaldson’s essay “On Aikido, Wolves and Other Wildlife”, gives a glimpse of the natural power that lies within us if we are willing to accept the challenge.

Several pieces — “Aikido and Children” by Richard Strozzi Heckler, “Inner Power: The Integration of Aikido and the Feldenkrais Method” by Cheryl S. Reinhardt, and “Aikido: A Model for Brief Strategic Therapy” by Donald T. Saposnek — describe how Aikido can be applied as a means for bringing balance and feeling into the lives of people who are missing these things as well as a means for training the therapist.

“An Aikido Class” by Robert Nadeau is a valiant attempt to convey what a class is like. Unfortunately, Aikido does not lend itself well to this format without a running description of what is happening. In this case, nuggets of insight are buried in a structure that makes for difficult reading.