For those of us who practice Aikido on the regular, we already intimately feel the profound and magical impact it has on everyday life, specifically when it comes to enhancing our ability to harmoniously communicate both verbally and physically with others (occasional social media discourse notwithstanding).
But what happens when you take that intuitive conviction and subject it to the rigorous scrutiny of peer-reviewed academic research?
The result is the groundbreaking work of Dr. Greet Angèle De Baets, a Sensei from Ban Sen Juku Aikido in Belgium, whose doctoral research has provided us with compelling, scientific proof that the principles we exercise on the mat are, indeed, powerful tools for improving real-world communication.
I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. De Baets (albeit from about 3,600 miles away) to discuss her fascinating personal journey and the findings of her PhD thesis, Embodied Learning With and From Aikido: A Mixed-Methods Investigation Into Teaching Intercultural Communication Skills for the Workplace.
(The PDF is available for all; just reach out to me and I’ll get you in touch!)
It was an absolute delight to talk with a professor of linguistics whose intellectual curiosity and acumen is matched only by her visceral commitment to embodying the principles of Aikido.
Greet Sensei’s introduction to Aikido, was, like many of ours, through seemingly sheer coincidence. Following a life-changing horseback riding accident, she was left with spinal difficulties and chronic migraines. In her search for relief, she was introduced to Tai Chi by one of her students. That same Tai Chi teacher also taught Aikido…
There’s much more depth to this origin story than I can convey here in this little blurb, so, please, listen to the episode.
A synchronistic start led her to the Ban Sen Juku lineage in Belgium with a local Sensei who happened to be a direct student of Seiji Tomita Sensei.
While his name was new to me, discovered while researching for the interview, the impressive depth and breadth of Tomita Shihan’s background is immediately apparent.
Having trained under Tanaka Bansen Sensei, Tohei Sensei, and Saito Sensei, (and, of course, most importantly, directly with O-Sensei himself) Tomita Shihan’s approach is marked by a clear focus on the “one line” and a sincere adherence to ki musubi—connection and unification with your partner.
Dr. De Baets speaks with glowing reverence for individual instruction she’s received from Tomita Sensei, and it’s clear how his teachings form a foundational stone for her communication work.
At the heart of her methodology is the belief that communication is not purely cognitive.
Professional communication training is predominantly passive: slide-based, power-point presentations, focused solely on intellectual understanding.
Dr. De Baets challenges this head-on. She literally removes the chairs and tables from the room, using simple, “white belt” level tai sabaki as the theory itself—a powerful somatic metaphor—to teach interaction.
She emphasizes that communication “lives in breathing, voice, attitude, timing, presence,” and you cannot learn that by sitting down. What you are learning must be embodied.
Dr. De Baets’ research provides compelling, quantitative (we already have plenty of the qualitative) proof that the “Aikido Interaction Model” and the embodied learning experience have a powerfully positive effect on interpersonal (and beyond) interactions.
Her findings demonstrate that incorporating Aikido activities into communication training significantly supports participant satisfaction, memory retention, and—most importantly for a population riddled with conflict and societal atomization—intercultural competence.
Ultimately, Dr. De Baets’ work offers an elegant and sophisticated answer to a question many of us have sensed instinctively for years: that our practice is more than a martial art.
By aligning her findings with progressive linguistic theories, she reveals another profound conclusion—that Aikido can be understood as a language—a language of social interaction, body movement, sensory experience, and contextual meaning-making.
If you’ve ever needed “evidence-based” validation for your dedication to practice, this is the episode for you.
Tune in to discover how tranquility and anthropocosmic nobility can transform how we interact and influence the world around us.
Here are the relevant links:
Once again, please reach out to me (or Dr. De Baets) directly for a PDF of her thesis.
Also, (Until/unless I can find some sponsors ;) Ki to the City remains a reader-supported publication. If you have benefited from this project, please consider signing up to be a paid subscriber to help keep the podcast on “the airwaves.”
If you would prefer to make a one-time contribution, you can email me directly at jondiluca@yahoo.com.
As a token of my gratitude, and Don Dickie Sensei’s generosity, you will receive a complimentary copy of his deeply reflective volume of poetry, Silent Winds of Aikido.
Thank you!!!
