A Day for Personal and Professional Development

Next week, I'm going to attend a conference on "Managing Conflict." As a corporate professional, working at what I affectionately call "my crappy day job," I deal with conflict in the workplace all the time: there are conflicts with employees, other departments, vendors, and projects that need to be dealt with every day. But as a martial artist, developing "effective methods for managing interpersonal conflict" is the very medium and essence of my art. (We regularly practice and refine effective methods for knocking people on their butts…)

But here's where worlds collide. The course I am taking is called "An Aiki Approach to Conflict," and it will be led by Judy Ringer, sixth dan in aikido. Judy's workshop is designed to help individuals, teams, and organizations find new ways to manage conflict, hold difficult conversations well, and operate with power and presence.

The goal of the particular workshop I am scheduled to attend is to provide perspective, tools, and training in self-management and conflict transformation. Perfect! As a manager in a corporate office, this training should serve me well. As a martial artist embarking on a journey of peace education, going to this workshop is a great milestone: Engaging in personal peace education is a cornerstone of both the UBBT (Ultimate Black Belt Test) and the Black Belt requirements and curriculum at my dojo.

Worlds are colliding, and I'm starting to have a little trouble distinguishing between training at the dojo and training for my job and my life.

My life is becoming my dojo! Less butt kicking, more authentic power. Love it.