A word from Patrick
Welcome to the Evolutionary Aikido Community!
We would like to announce our formation as open collective of dojo communities committed to the profound vision of the art of Aikido. The Vision that emerges from the understanding that who we are exists within an interconnected interdependent system. We are literally one living system. With that perspective, Aikido moves to brings understanding, wisdom and a movement of transformation to those parts of the system that have fallen into conflict.
Aikido resolves conflict in a way that recognizes the greater truth that we are not separate from the other in conflict, and that destroying, damaging, injuring the other, destroys, damages, injures the relationship and thereby impacts who we are in that same destructive way. The only path to true victory is a victory that includes the other… When this is realized the intention of our art is not to win over the other but to bring wisdom and understanding into the conflict, actively, powerfully in a way that we as practitioners become a catalyst for the relationship to evolve, for ourselves to evolve as individuals as we respond to conflict and to carry that possibility into the larger communities that we belong to. To evolve means becoming something new, expressing an emerging understanding that brings the situation into a new territory that recognizes the integral nature of Life. Evolution embraces the unknown. From this perspective, conflict is not a problem, it is an opportunity to deepen the understanding of the other and the system we share. Conflict is a doorway that demands we evolve as we resolve the challenges we face collectively. As we strive to embody this principle of evolving through conflict and bringing greater awakening and wisdom into the conflictual situation, we recognize the very real and threatening possibility of meeting physical violence in our lives. Our Vision values the importance of training to meet that possibility of physical violence as being essential to embody the higher principles of connection, inclusion and harmony. We, the Evolutionary Aikido Community are deeply grounded in the traditional approach to Aikido and are committed to the deeper exploration of the principles that lead to spontaneity, creativity and freedom in the art. We, as practitioners are also engaged in investigating the spiritual perspectives that gave birth to the Art of Aikido. The goal in the end, is to meet conflict as an opportunity to stimulate evolution for oneself, the other, the relationship as the conflict is resolved in a way that honors the fundamental truth that we are one. As a community, we are addressing the need for the culture of Aikido to change. We are exploring new ways to bring greater transparency, autonomy and communication into the culture of the dojo and the teacher/student relationship. The theme for our community is collaboration. Working together to awaken, develop and evolve.
The EAC is a community supervised by Patrick Cassidy, 6 th dan Aikikai. The EAC is an organization recognized by the Aikikai, Japan. All ranks are certified by the Aikikai under the supervision of Patrick and the senior instructors of the EAC.