As you may know, September 21 is the United Nations International Day of Peace. Every year, hundreds of peace-oriented organizations worldwide celebrate that day with thousands of Peace Day events. We believe that Aikido practitioners around the world, inspired by the unique embodied peacemaking legacy of O’Sensei Morihei Ueshiba, will want to be part of the global celebration. This represents an opportunity to increase public awareness of Aikido as a joyful practice of reconciliation, compassion, and nonviolence. We also believe this celebration transcends the divisions of different schools, styles, and organizations, and that our collective action will make each of our efforts far more newsworthy than they would be in isolation.

Aiki Extensions (an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the application of Aiki principles in situations outside the dojo) is organizing International Aiki Peace Week and we would like you to join us. All you have to do is sign up, and commit to teaching peace-focused Aikido classes during the week of Sept 20-26. Dojos will be encouraged, but not required, to offer a class for the general public that teaches Aiki principles as a way of managing conflict and preventing violence.

The map of participating dojos here will help members of the public find dojos that are sharing Aikido’s peacemaking message. There will also be a downloadable press kit with ideas for generating coverage from local TV and newspapers, as well as Aiki-peacemaking lesson plans for those who’d like them.