Eight forces sustain creation:Movement and stillness,Solidification and fluidity,Extension and contraction,Unification and division. Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace What opposes unites, and the finest attunement stems from things bearing in opposite directions, and all things come about by strife. Heraclitus, fragment 8 (Barnes) Aikido and rhetoric are both arts specifically designed to harmonize opposition, whichContinue reading “Aikido and Rhetoric: Yin and Yang”
Category Archives: redtailhawk
Aikido and Rhetoric: As above, below
The Art of Peace functions everywhere on earth, in realms ranging from the vastness of space down to the tiniest plants and animals. The life force is all-pervasive and its strength, boundless. The Art of Peace allows us to tap into that tremendous reserve of universal energy. Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace What weContinue reading “Aikido and Rhetoric: As above, below”
Laziness and Efficiency
A friend and I were talking the other day about the word “lazy” and all the baggage it had in our families of origin. We were both from families that equated *doing* something all the time with virtue. We talked about the difference between resting and feeling unmotivated or exhausted. We talked about the differenceContinue reading “Laziness and Efficiency”
Letter of Recommendation: David Byrne’s Reasons to Be Cheerful
You’d be forgiven for thinking the world was going to hell in a handbasket–even if you just stick to mainstream news. That’s why David Byrne’s (yes, that David Byrne) Reasons to Be Cheerful newsletter really hit the spot for me. It’s all stories about really amazing things that people are doing around the world toContinue reading “Letter of Recommendation: David Byrne’s Reasons to Be Cheerful”
Other People’s Lives
I came across something the other day that reminded me of a time about 12 years ago or so that I briefly cyber-stalked this couple who ran adventure biking tours in the Himalayas. Well, cyber-stalked is an exaggeration, but I did end up spending literally hours Googling to find out what had happened to them,Continue reading “Other People’s Lives”
Aikido and Rhetoric: Emptiness
If you have notLinked yourselfTo true emptiness,You will never understandThe Art of Peace. Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace This one of you, O human beings, is wisest, who, like Socrates, recognizes that he is in truth of no account in respect to wisdom. Plato, Apology As martial arts aimed at resolving conflict, both aikidoContinue reading “Aikido and Rhetoric: Emptiness”
Drama Queen: Word of Honor
So, after Rise of Phoenixes, I got sucked into another Chinese wuxia epic on Netflix, Word of Honor. There are several similar shows right now on Netflix themed around an epic bromance and/or love triangle (see also Untamed, Handsome Siblings, My Country), and I’d tried watching a couple of them and gotten all of 10Continue reading “Drama Queen: Word of Honor”
Aikido and Rhetoric: Where to from here?
One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace (aikido). Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train. Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace Most are at odds with that with which they most constantly associate — the account which governs the universeContinue reading “Aikido and Rhetoric: Where to from here?”
Aikido and Rhetoric: Centering
I’m starting a series on aikido and rhetoric because I’m a rhetorician by training, and for the last two years, I’ve been training in the Japanese martial art of aikido as well. I started noticing a lot of similarities between the two disciplines: similar ethics, similar practices, even similar concepts and terms. And after diggingContinue reading “Aikido and Rhetoric: Centering”
Year’s End
Happy to be where I am and grateful for all of you. ❤️
The Rookery 