Lecturer: Thomas Christaller
Fields: Cognitive Psychology, Philosophy
Content
Obviously, in competitive sports, fighting systems, and martial arts you encounter stressful situations in which you don’t know if and how you can resolve them. Independently of the mastery of the techniques relevant for the specific body movement system the training always includes exercises which helps to overcome the stress in such situations and being able to act in an appropriate and meaningful way. They help to overcome fear as well as aggression. The basic insight is that specific techniques with regard to breathing, relaxation, and posture you can foster your resilience when things don’t happen as expected. This will be the core of the course. To understand why these techniques really work practically we will explore the neural, emotional basis for them. Our brain is mainly used as a forecasting system for the very next second as well as for hours, days, and weeks by rehearsing. But in stressful situations the brain doesn’t have the resources to explore the alternatives making a plausible prediction. Another topic is to stay calm to reduce stress and avoid a narrowed view of the world. The main basis of this is breathing. Usually this is done unconsciously and changes according to your bodily effort and the expectation of the effort in the very next moment. Especially in the martial arts breathing is a core element to be able to deal with the unforeseeable. The usual reflex if one experiences an unexpected situation is to become bodily tense. But then you may not be able to act fast enough. Relaxation is the secret which is different from being weak. All these different systems are connected in our body posture. But resilience plays also a role after you experienced a trauma or some other negative event. Here, too, these insights can help to recover or re-bounce and stand-up again. The main insight is, what you learn bodily for a possible physical fight or threat can be transmitted into non-physical conflicts like discussions, verbal assaults, or mobbing. Finally it may become your individual personality.
Literature
- Amdur, E. (2018 ) Hidden in Plain Sight. Esoteric Power Training within Japanese Martial Traditions. Freelance Academy Press, Wheaton (IL).
- Holiday, R, Hanselman, S. (2020) Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius. Penguin Publications.
- Kruszewski A. (2023) From Ancient Patterns of Hand-to-Hand Combat to a Unique Therapy of the Future. Int J Environ Res Public Health. Feb 17;20(4):3553.
- Krings, L. (2017) Leibliches Üben als Teil einer philosophischen Lebenskunst: Die Verkörperung von Kata in den japanischen Wegkünsten. European Journal of Japanese Philosophy (EJJP). pp 179-197.
- Moore B, Woodcock S, Dudley D. (2021) Well-being Warriors: A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining the Effects of Martial Arts Training on Secondary Students’ Resilience. Br J Educ Psychol. Dec;91(4): pp 1369-1394.
- Stockdale, J. (1993 ) Courage Under Fire: Testing Epictetus’s Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior. Hoover Institution Press.
- Strozzi-Heckler, R. (2007 ) The Leadership Dojo. Build Your Foundation as an Exemplary Leader. Frog Ltd., Berkeley.
- Yagyu, M. (2003 ) The Life-Giving Sword. Secret Teachings from the House of the Shogun. Kodansha Int., Tokyo.
Lecturer
Thomas Christaller studied Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science, working in the field of Artificial Intelligence since 1976. First on natural language understanding, then knowledge-based systems, and finally cognitive robotics. He was institute director first at the GMD then Fraunhofer Society heading the institute for Autonomous intelligent Systems then Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems located at Schloss Birlinghoven in Sankt Augustin, Germany. He co-founded the German journal \”KI\”, was a member of the Wissenschaftsrat, and co-founded the Interdisciplinary College. Since 1972 he is practicing the Japanese martial art of Aikido, holding the 6. Dan (black belt), teaching at his dojo in Bonn and giving Aikido seminars worldwide. * My column in akido journal (German) https://www.aikidojournal.de/Kolumnen/Professor_Thomas_Christaller/ * My biography in wikipedia (German) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Christaller * Videos about Aikido & Much More https://vimeo.com/lebenskunst
Affiliation: Aikido Teacher
Homepage: www.lebenskunst-bonn.de