The Aikidiot

As promised, a recap / The importance of being able to fit one's ego in something smaller than a football field / Wyatt Capulet vs. Hunter Montague / Billy Montague vs. Tammy Capulet / A gunfight at the Saloon / The artificial cannot be discarded / Thanks, and check out the additional materials in theaikidiot.com

The comic aspect of the Dao / Apologies to the listeners / From single cell to "Mom! I have consciousness!" / A better description of "Natural" and "artificial" / Drifting toward the artificial / Meeting a man in a dark alley

Monica plans a prison break with Dr. Simon / When in doubt do Aikido / Stanislav Petrov saves the world (Really, he does. Twice) / Natural vs. Artificial balance (Not Tom Cruise!) / Life is complicated /

Monica stages a coup.When we encounter ideas we dislike, we tend to stretch them ad-absurdum.Can Aikidoing deal with real bad people doing real bad things?Buying a gun in a very bad neighborhood.Why drug lords and and murderers find it difficult to switch occupation.The cycle of escalation in our bad neighborhood.The "rabid dog" - senseless, contextless violence.Moderate, not soft.

Let's talk about "the other guy", the opponent.Tori and Uke in Aikido.The high prices of disrupting the common space (even in self defense).Learn the attack, control your defense.Why screaming at a call-center representative (something the Aikidiot never, ever did) is not a good idea.Wiley E. Coyote has no choice about chasing the Roadrunner.Violence is predictable.

Let's call everything we talk about here "Aikidoing".Is life a flowing river?Aikidoing is very simple - just not easy.Why People don't like hearing about Aikidoing.The inward drive vs. the outward drive.The suggestion of moderate reaction as an existential threat.

A little bit about the Aikidiot's unprofessional background.Why make a podcast about Aikido and conflict resolution.

Monica refuses to be bullied / When somebody becomes abusive and calls us names / Running away is usually an excellent idea / The three spaces when dealing with a verbal attack / The three spaces in Aikido, dealing with a strike to the head (Shomen Uchi) / WHAT?! We're actually supposed to do nothing?! / Minimum occupation of the common space - in Aikido and in other things.

The Jackson 5 and their methods of conflict resolution / The tragic tale of a middle-aged, overweight man, taking up Aikido / O-Sensei and the invention of Aikido / The three spaces of thoughts and ideas / Why pretending to know things make people nervous / Why not being arrogant jerks is actually good for us.