Exploring Peace through Movement:

Lessons for Conflict Resolution from the Martial Arts

with Master H.F. Ito

Saturday, December 5, 2009, 1:00–4:00pm
American University, McDowell Formal Lounge (map) (printable map)
Washington DC

Join Shintaido Master H.F. Ito for this experiential workshop integrating personal peace practices and Shintaido techniques to explore the role of somatic (body-based) movement in deepening our understanding of peace and conflict transformation. The workshop includes:

• A mind-body warm-up as the basis for centering and personal peace
• Practice of Shintaido conflict response techniques
• Small and large group dialogue
• Taimyo—moving mediation practice

Cost: $25 (free for AU students, faculty and staff)
For information and to register: Contact Elli Nagai-Rothe, elli.nagairothe@american.edu, 202‑885‑1632

HARUYOSHI FUGAKU ITO—H.F. Ito was three years old in 1945 when he survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan because his family had taken shelter in the nearby countryside. His experience of the injustices of Post-War Hiroshima and the U.S. Occupation motivated him to work to help others. In the mid-1960s he joined Hiroyuki Aoki (a disciple of Master Shigeru Egami of Shotokai-karate) and an idealistic group of martial artists who set out to re-discover the heart of the Japanese martial arts and create a positive change in society. What emerged was Shintaido, a spiritual movement form that blends martial arts, artistic expression and connection to community and nature.

As a master instructor of Shintaido, H.F. Ito has taught in North America, Europe and Asia for more than 40 years. In recent years he has added a study of Wu Style Tai Chi to his practice. As part of his own healing from two strokes, H.F. Ito developed Life Exercise, a healing movement form that makes the core of Shintaido and Tai Chi easily accessible to everyone. In response to September 11, he founded the Taimyo International Peace Network—people committed to practicing peace, by meditating together in different parts of the world. His life came full circle in 2007 when he joined a group of Japanese expatriates in Nanjing, China to make a personal apology for the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers in World War II. H.F. Ito was able to see World War II from the perspectives of both a victim and a citizen of an aggressor nation. He believes that peace and reconciliation are prerequisites for true health and hope for the future. H.F. Ito has made healing and peace-making his life mission.

SHINTAIDO—Meaning “new body way” in Japanese, Shintaido is a body movement art that emerged from research on martial arts and contemporary visual and performing arts, led by Master Hiroyuki Aoki in the 1960s. Master Aoki sought to create a new form of movement that would embody the modern desire for peace, cooperation, and mutual understanding among people of all cultures, rather than to cultivate a competitive fighting art. Shintaido has been called a moving meditation. Shintaido’s forms provide a new way of experiencing our relationship with ourselves, others, nature and the spiritual world. Shintaido is also a healing art, and a form of artistic expression. Shintaido attracts people who are interested in change, self-development, and re-connecting with their bodies, their community and their spiritual nature.

Shintaido of America: www.shintaido.org