The profound spiritual teacher and martial arts master Morihei Ueshiba O Sensei said it: “Aikido is medicine for a sick world.”  I am struck by how he began calling his martial system “The Way of Harmony and Love” in 1942 amid one of the darkest times in our history: World War II. O Sensei radically re-envisioned the fighting art of Daito-ryu, transforming it into a movement prayer for peace. Our practice of Aikido is therefore a perfect antidote for this nadir moment in national politics. The essence of our training urges us to take responsibility for meeting our world with a luminous center, a grounded stance, and a deep sense of self-trust to love near and far. …

Greetings to you all.  On the summer solstice, as I walked through Seattle’s Discovery Park with both the black-blue Puget Sound and Mt. Rainer gleaming in the background, I was taken with the soft amber glow that sparkled through the trees. It was a ki festival of light flickering between the big leaf maples and the venerable western cedars.  Feeling the sun’s warmth on the back of my neck and noting the long evening light, I thought of O’Sensei’s words inviting us “to bath ourselves with wisdom and love, place ourselves in the heart of mother nature.”  This is the longest day of the year, when it is light until after 10:00PM. I stopped in my tracks and felt gratitude for the natural world as a glorious teacher. I felt my inner opera voice radiate across the planet. ….

Dear Two Cranes Aikido friends and family,

Happy New Year! May 2023 bring light and peace to our world! I wish to express my deepest gratitude to all of you. Despite the challenges we have faced this year, both locally and worldwide, we have continued to live and thrive, recover, and strengthen. It is a blessing to be able to gather together on a regular basis to support each other in heart and spirit; celebrate the power of being in relationship, and foster Aikido’s principle of connectivity and loving kindness. We can recognize joyful moments in our bodies, as they’re happening. Aikido invites us to ground ourselves in the jubilant parts of our lives. We do this with moments of trauma and crisis all the time. Maybe we can update that pattern.

New Year 2022!!

I wish you all a joyous and vigorous New Year!!! Traditionally, New Year’s Day practice at the dojo is a big deal. Our community has gathered for 27 years, welcoming in a new possibility, a new cycle of life, sharing a ritual to set intention, up-level our lives with conviction and refresh our hope for the future. We want to feel that first magical blend of the year.

Dear Two Cranes Community,

As we take a breath for the holidays, we can take pride in our 2021 training and accomplishments as a community. Just continuing our training and remembering who we are and why we train in this Art of Peace is a significant accomplishment in itself. ….

You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting…

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself up to your imagination.

-Mary Oliver

Greetings to member and friends,

I hope this note finds you well and healthy. As we shift into the fall, we are blessed with cobalt blue skies and perfect 70-degree temperatures. It evened rained. My garden rejoiced. I feel both grateful for our smoke free air and sorrowful for the suffering of our friends who surround us north and south battling smoke and fire. It’s part of our practice to keep our hearts wide open and send loving energy to those with whom we share this precious planet….

March 24, 2021

Greetings to friends and family of Two Cranes,

I imagine that you all are embracing the signs of spring surrounding us. Even with the rains and dramatic gray skies, we smell the cherry blossoms and note the daffodils everywhere. And wow, we did it! We worked, wrestled, wondered, and wandered through this year of a pandemic that none of us could have imagined. We found a way to offer classes on zoom 7 days a week, and we taught classes in the park in the sunshine and the pouring rain for our children, teens, and adults. We hosted instructors from the US and Europe and we diligently prepared our space to make it ready for the moment we can be together again in person. All of you have been so gracious in offering whatever you could: your emotional, physical, energetic support. Thank you. Because of you, we are still here!