The Aikidiot

Remember in "The Matrix", when Neo says "We'll need guns" and woooosh! racks of guns just slide into the screen? Well, imagine we just said "We'll need examples (But with us looking much less cool)".

Sleep tight dear listeners / The Zax / The Zax discussing the healthcare system / Conflicts that start primitive but small and turn into sophisticated but big problems / The advantages of a stalemate / A Liberal and a Conservative with a 10$ budget / why there are no Aikidoing politicians / Why small? / Why We? / Why...

Arab proverbs can be tricky / Of sheep and wolves / Yin rises out of Yang and vice verse / A microphone glitch / No cookies allowed / Of cats and dogs / Accommodating a minority and stepping into the ugly field of politics.

(Yes, we know this is a horrible way to start the chapter notes. Nobody likes a smart-ass...) What we mean is also what we don't mean / Give the people more placebo / Toddlers can and will behave like toddlers / Buying a house in a crazy market / Special text box: "Ignoring the opposing view does not make it go away / Some absorbing examples / Monica seals it with a summary, not a kiss.

The book of Leviticus is not a fun read / Monica will not be mocked / The Aikidiot's "Extra" side/ Meanie and Slobby / Do instaed of fight / Absorbing as the part of the conflict we don't have to fight over / Meanie has a go at it / Slobby has a go at it / Make it, don't fake it / About the Butt / Monica has a go at it.

Confused? So are we. Visit www.theaikidiot.com for more examples and illustrations. Losing is not always optional / Still fighting with the driver / Uncle Harvey doesn't have all the answers / Method 1: Situating by describing / Situating cuts the scene short / Method 2: Situating by navigating from opinions to facts / Monica's friend is building weapons of mass destruction as a side gig/ What do...

An army of Aikidokas / 3 is the magic number of components in an Eastern thought system / Inductive vs. Deductive/ Simple not Easy (again) / Situating, absorbing, redirecting. That's all / Situating is describing / The principles of Situating / Meet your opponent where they are, not where they are not / The smell of NAPLAM in the morning / Monica cleans up. Questions? Gripes? Fat donations? Visit...

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. For more infor...

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.