Lia Suzuki Sensei, 6th dan, describes her why she became so involved in Akido with the statement, “When there’s a winner and a loser, there’s no winner.” Having learned and loved the peaceful conflict resolution principles of Aikido from her sensei (teacher), Takeda Shihan, she brought his style from Japan to the United States by founding Aikido Kenkyukai International, USA. Now with dojos in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, Lia travels the world teaching Aikido principles for peaceful conflict resolution for a variety of circumstances.
In this interview, Lia tells how she was looking for a workout experience that had been left vacant when her horseback riding trainer became unavailable. Her horseback training included principles of not forcing the horse, but accepting where it was at the time and working from there. She found similar principles of unity in Aikido: when confronting an opponent, one remains engaged and protects oneself, but does not attempt to force or dominate.
Aiki Principles Transfer to Therapy
In the late nineties, one of Lia’s students was a psychologist and addiction counselor. He tried to convince Lia to give the lessons to his clients at the rehab center, but she refused. Being a purist, she insisted that they must get on the mat and practice to understand the principles. Then the recession hit in 2008, people lost their jobs and left her dojo in Santa Barbara and her landlord raised the rent, which forced her to close. When that door closed, the rehab center offered their gymnasium for Aikido lessons, but she had to agree to take on the clients. Besides a couple who actually did get on the mat, she had to do a seminar teaching the principles to a group of 30 students. She was amazed at the results. It worked.
In fact it worked so well, that she branched out to include other groups in the community. Peaceful conflict resolution is needed everywhere, and now Lia gives the program to prison inmates, veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), drug and alcohol rehab, mental health and youth groups. Whether someone is searching for peace of mind or dealing with violent situations, Aiki principles can provide tools to help the healing process.
Using Aikido to Reach Out to Help
Lia said that while she started Aikido to help herself, it became her way to help others. Now as a 501c3, Aikido Kenkyukai International, USA helps many people with scholarships, classes, teen leadership programs and more. Check out Lia’s website aki-usa.org, for more information and go to gofundme.com/aikido to support the efforts to help underserved youth with scholarships and other initiatives. Listen to this interview for even more stories about how circumstances fell into place to help AKI-USA reach out to help others find peaceful ways to resolve conflicts in everyday life.