Way Of Aikido, The: Life Lessons From An American Sensei: Life Lessons From An American Sensei

In The Way of Aikido: Life Lessons from an American Sensei, renowned spiritual and martial arts teacher George Leonard brings together his extraordinary knowledge and experience in a book that translates the principles of aikido directly into our everyday lives.

In its essence, aikido is more philosophy and meditation than a technique or a series of purely physical maneuvers. Leonard shares with readers 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-aikidoists, he demonstrates the fundamental understanding behind aikido and shows how it can be applied to our daily existence to help set us on the path to composure, self-sufficiency, and spiritual centeredness.

Combining illuminating personal anecdotes with practical advice, this award-winning author describes the ways in which aikido can help turn life's unanticipated blows into gifts and transform 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.

A fifth-degree black belt in the revolutionary martial art of aikido and co-owner of an aikido school in Mill Valley, California, George Leonard is, "the granddaddy of the consciousness movement" (Newsweek). Leonard is president of the Esalen Institute and founder of Leonard Energy Training (LET), a practice inspired by aikido that offers alternative ways of coping with everyday issues. In this book he applies ancient techniques, physical and spiritual, to the battles we wage every day in both our public and private lives. Along the way, Leonard shows us unique and effective ways to:
-- cope with sudden, often brutal, setbacks in our lives -- and turn them into gifts for growth
-- develop ki, or positive energy, to enhance vitality
-- use the aikido principle of "blending" to deal with verbal and psychological attacks

With an already large following, George Leonard now brings the valuable wisdom of aikido to a wider audience.