Guardians of Peace 20050312 P.R.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Who do you know who…

Is strangely drawn to or energized by conflict, and seems able to engage friction creatively?

Has begun a path towards both compassionate action and humility and is determined to be of service to other human beings?

Wants to learn or is now facilitating conflictual interactions at a professional level?

and would like to learn more about Guardians of Peace?

Days after the attacks on the Twin Towers in the United States, several San Francisco Bay Area martial and performing artists gathered to insist on the need for a training fellowship of professional conflict facilitators who would make it their mission to:

1) train together and build community on purpose to create a container for shared understanding of profound conflict

2) nurture that relationship through diverse Councils, sustained internationally and across generations

3) make the fruits of this practice available to those in need of compassionate intervention, facilitation, and cultivated investment in shared dilemmas

4) work in the public sector toward playfully capturing a part of the contemporary imagination, such that the Process Arts™ (practices which cultivate complex relational understanding) become an expectation as universal as the use of technology.

The seeds were planted in a non-profit incubator called Association Building Community and are now flowering into a first training fellowship.

Nick Walker of Aikido Shusekai, and

Kayla Feder and Brandon WilliamsCraig of Aikido of Berkeley are inviting those interested to speak and be heard in the co-creation of this move nearer the active making of Peace.

Our first gathering will be March 12^th, at Aikido of Berkeley reflecting Feder Sensei’s desire to see the dojo become central in peacemaking. Please go to www.aikidoofberkeley.com for directions and reply to this email for additional information. If these options are not convenient, please call ABC’s toll free number (866.236.0346) and leave a voice mail with good times for a phone appointment.

The gathering will follow a Friendship Seminar. This Aikido seminar will run for 3 hours, from 10:30 am until 1:30 pm (Kayla Sensei will teach from 10:30 to 11:55; Nick Sensei will teach from 12:05 to 1:30). Please arrive by 10:00 am, so that everyone can get registered, changed, introduced, and warmed up before the first class starts. The cost for the Seminar is $20. If a sliding scale is needed, please respond to this email with that request. Anyone not inclined to practice Aikido is more than welcome to come and observe a powerful physical metaphor for blending with conflict in action!

Those interested in co-creating the Guardians of Peace fellowship will gather at a local restaurant from

2-3:30pm to meet and discuss the ideas involved, then at

4-5:30 return for our own training at Aikido of Berkeley.

At 5:30 we will begin a potluck nosh (please bring something to share) and deepen into sharing stories.

At 6:30 we will move into a space facilitated by Leon Regelson - from silent meditation into communication and investigate co-creative possibilities in which leadership is shared by every member of our group, ending with a final process time and a check-out.

Please consider coming even if you are uncertain of your response at this time. If you know someone who might want to find out more or join in, please let them know and invite them to come. If you do not wish to train but would like to participate in the discussion you are more than welcome to do so. Martial arts experience is not a pre-requisite – only the conviction that conflict can and must be done well and the desire to participate in discovery.