In this AikiCast interview series, Blaine talks with martial arts and meditation thought leader, Miles Kessler, founder and Dojo Cho of the Integral Dojo in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Miles has created a 10 day telesummit called 'Aikido at the Leading Edge' with over 40 martial artists, thought leaders, meditation teachers, authors, and skilled trainers from a variety of disciplines.

You can participate in the Aikido at the Leading Edge but YOU MUST REGISTER so that you can get a link to all of the activities. The great thing about the telesummit is that its completely free for the 10 days of the summit and for about 1 week afterwards. Use the link below to register for the summit:

Aikido at the Leading Edge Telesummit Link

Don't miss this one!!

Here's the link to Miles Kessler's blog post about spiritual protection that we discussed in this episode:

http://theintegraldojo.com/spiritual-protection/

In this episode, Blaine talks about some of the problems of running a martial arts business, explains what market myopia is, he discusses some of the opportunities that have been created by the CrossFit craze and expounds on creating so much value for the students that a 'hidden' market of potential new students opens up.

The 'welcome back' episode of 2016 wherein I explain where the podcast disappeared to but, more importantly, where its going from here forward. Cant wait to have you back on board!

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Blaine tackles the topic of McDojos in this episode of AikiCast. If you dont know what a McDojo is then you owe it to yourself to listen to this one! There are lots of lessons to be learned from McDojos and Blaine helps put it into proper perspective. There's also a little history lesson about the real Chef Boyardee (think Spaghetti-Os and Ravioli) and how his vision helped him develop his own 'McDojo' type of business that eventually made him and his family fabulously wealthy.

In this episode Blaine discusses the rise of MMA (mixed martial arts) as a distinct and well known sporting style of martial arts training and competititon. He also tackles the tough question of whether or not MMA can be considered a separate and distinct martial art by itself or is it merely just a sport? Listen in as Blaine answers some of the questions he gets quite often from the AikiCast Nation regarding MMA and its current place in the martial arts world.

This is the final segment of the AikiCast special 3 part series addressing the difficult and highly charged topic of police brutality, police killing of unarmed citizens, and the standards by which police investigate themselves in use of force incidents. Blaine covers a vast number of topics in this 3 part series which includes busting 3 of the biggest myths surrounding the profession of policing, taking a critical look at several of the most recent killings of unarmed citizens by police officers, discussing the rules under which police officers conduct themselves and discussing how martial arts should be taught and used by law enforcement individuals as a force for good and for saving people, not for doing damage to more people.

Topics covered in the 3 part series includes: the police murders of Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Dillon Taylor, Oscar Grant, Jonathan Crawford III, Tamir Rice, the tactics utilized by police officers around the country, the myth of the good cop, the myth of police protection, the myth of the danger of policing, Graham V Connor, Warren V District of Columbia, Joseph Lozito and Maksim Gelman, Officers Jesse Kidder, Bron Cruz, Timothy Loehman, Johanes Mehserle, Terrance Howell, and Daniel Pantaleo, the difference between a guardian and a warrior and the myth of the sheepdog protecting the sheep from the wolf.

Show Notes and links:

Law Enforcement Sites
http://www.policeone.com/
http://www.officer.com/
http://www.policemag.com/
http://www.lawofficer.com/index.html
http://www.lawofficer.com/articles/2015/06/applying-and-understanding-graham-as-a-patrol-officer.html
Interesting article regarding Graham Vs Connor that talks about ‘reasonableness’ and how the officer needs to write their reports so as to be sure to explain how ‘reasonable’ they were in their actions.

“Each key is no more or less important than the other, but provide for a foundation of how one can justify “reasonable” force. Your police reports should reflect the reasonableness that you used to determine when force was applied. Your definition of reasonable is all that matters, and SCOTUS has determined that time and time again.” 

http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf
Report on Ferguson, Mo. police department by the department of justice. One can gain a sense of the report by reading the chapter titles.

http://www.copblock.org/128554/full-body-cam-video-released-utah-police-killing-dillon-taylor/
Dillon Taylor shooting video

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2014/dec/04/i-cant-breathe-eric-garner-chokehold-death-video
Eric Garner choking video

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2014/nov/26/cleveland-video-tamir-rice-shooting-police
Tamir Rice shooting video

http://digg.com/video/wal-mart-surveillance-video-of-john-crawford-iii-shooting
John Crawford shooting video

http://www.mediaite.com/online/video-shows-police-cruelly-lying-to-john-crawfords-girlfriend-after-killing-him-at-walmart/
Video of police interrogating John Crawford’s  girlfriend after his death

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3089495/New-video-shows-cops-taking-limp-Freddie-Gray-police-van-putting-leg-shackles-loading-head-bystanders-pleaded-officers-help-him.html
Freddie Gray videos

http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2015/04/ohio-police-officer-jesse-kidder-takes-down-murder-suspect-without-firing-a-shot/
Officer Jesse Kidder video

Police Accountability sites:
http://photographyisnotacrime.com/
http://policestatedaily.com/
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bad_Cop_No_Donut/
Reddit forum devoted to police abuse

http://www.copblock.org/129940/those-who-cant-fight-kill/
“The martial arts don’t work on the streets.” I’ve heard this statement by many nationally-recognized defensive tactics trainers throughout my career. I have always found two things quite ironic each time the statement has been made. First, many trainers making such a statement had never worked the streets, and second, every empty-hand technique they taught could be found somewhere in the martial arts.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/12/how-police-unions-keep-abusive-cops-on-the-street/383258/
Article on police unions

http://blog.simplejustice.us/2015/06/01/the-other-white-meat-police-unions/
Article on police unions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rao33ZYlrq4
Cops gone wild documentary

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_v._Connor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia

This is part 2 of an AikiCast special 3 part segment addressing the difficult and highly charged topic of police brutality, police killing of unarmed citizens, and the standards by which police investigate themselves in use of force incidents. Blaine covers a vast number of topics in this 3 part series which includes busting 3 of the biggest myths surrounding the profession of policing, taking a critical look at several of the most recent killings of unarmed citizens by police officers, discussing the rules under which police officers conduct themselves and discussing how martial arts should be taught and used by law enforcement individuals as a force for good and for saving people, not for doing damage to more people.

Topics covered in the 3 part series includes: the police murders of Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Dillon Taylor, Oscar Grant, Jonathan Crawford III, Tamir Rice, the tactics utilized by police officers around the country, the myth of the good cop, the myth of police protection, the myth of the danger of policing, Graham V Connor, Warren V District of Columbia, Joseph Lozito and Maksim Gelman, Officers Jesse Kidder, Bron Cruz, Timothy Loehman, Johanes Mehserle, Terrance Howell, and Daniel Pantaleo, the difference between a guardian and a warrior and the myth of the sheepdog protecting the sheep from the wolf.

Show Notes and links:

Law Enforcement Sites
http://www.policeone.com/

http://www.officer.com/

http://www.policemag.com/

http://www.lawofficer.com/index.html

http://www.lawofficer.com/articles/2015/06/applying-and-understanding-graham-as-a-patrol-officer.html
Interesting article regarding Graham Vs Connor that talks about ‘reasonableness’ and how the officer needs to write their reports so as to be sure to explain how ‘reasonable’ they were in their actions.
“Each key is no more or less important than the other, but provide for a foundation of how one can justify “reasonable” force. Your police reports should reflect the reasonableness that you used to determine when force was applied. Your definition of reasonable is all that matters, and SCOTUS has determined that time and time again.” 

http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf
Report on Ferguson, Mo. police department by the department of justice. One can gain a sense of the report by reading the chapter titles.

http://www.copblock.org/128554/full-body-cam-video-released-utah-police-killing-dillon-taylor/
Dillon Taylor shooting video

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2014/dec/04/i-cant-breathe-eric-garner-chokehold-death-video
Eric Garner choking video

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2014/nov/26/cleveland-video-tamir-rice-shooting-police
Tamir Rice shooting video

http://digg.com/video/wal-mart-surveillance-video-of-john-crawford-iii-shooting
John Crawford shooting video

http://www.mediaite.com/online/video-shows-police-cruelly-lying-to-john-crawfords-girlfriend-after-killing-him-at-walmart/
Video of police interrogating John Crawford’s  girlfriend after his death

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3089495/New-video-shows-cops-taking-limp-Freddie-Gray-police-van-putting-leg-shackles-loading-head-bystanders-pleaded-officers-help-him.html
Freddie Gray videos

http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2015/04/ohio-police-officer-jesse-kidder-takes-down-murder-suspect-without-firing-a-shot/
Officer Jesse Kidder video

Police Accountability sites:
http://photographyisnotacrime.com/

http://policestatedaily.com/

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bad_Cop_No_Donut/
Reddit forum devoted to police abuse

http://www.copblock.org/129940/those-who-cant-fight-kill/
“The martial arts don’t work on the streets.” I’ve heard this statement by many nationally-recognized defensive tactics trainers throughout my career. I have always found two things quite ironic each time the statement has been made. First, many trainers making such a statement had never worked the streets, and second, every empty-hand technique they taught could be found somewhere in the martial arts.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/12/how-police-unions-keep-abusive-cops-on-the-street/383258/
Article on police unions

http://blog.simplejustice.us/2015/06/01/the-other-white-meat-police-unions/
Article on police unions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rao33ZYlrq4
Cops gone wild documentary

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_v._Connor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia

This is an AikiCast special 3 part segment addressing the difficult and highly charged topic of police brutality, police killing of unarmed citizens, and the standards by which police investigate themselves in use of force incidents. Blaine covers a vast number of topics in this 3 part series which includes busting 3 of the biggest myths surrounding the profession of policing, taking a critical look at several of the most recent killings of unarmed citizens by police officers, discussing the rules under which police officers conduct themselves and discussing how martial arts should be taught and used by law enforcement individuals as a force for good and for saving people, not for doing damage to more people.

Topics covered in the 3 part series includes: the police murders of Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Dillon Taylor, Oscar Grant, Jonathan Crawford III, Tamir Rice, the tactics utilized by police officers around the country, the myth of the good cop, the myth of police protection, the myth of the danger of policing, Graham V Connor, Warren V District of Columbia, Joseph Lozito and Maksim Gelman, Officers Jesse Kidder, Bron Cruz, Timothy Loehman, Johanes Mehserle, Terrance Howell, and Daniel Pantaleo, the difference between a guardian and a warrior and the myth of the sheepdog protecting the sheep from the wolf.

Show Notes and links:

Law Enforcement Sites
http://www.policeone.com/

http://www.officer.com/

http://www.policemag.com/

http://www.lawofficer.com/index.html

http://www.lawofficer.com/articles/2015/06/applying-and-understanding-graham-as-a-patrol-officer.html
Interesting article regarding Graham Vs Connor that talks about ‘reasonableness’ and how the officer needs to write their reports so as to be sure to explain how ‘reasonable’ they were in their actions.
“Each key is no more or less important than the other, but provide for a foundation of how one can justify “reasonable” force. Your police reports should reflect the reasonableness that you used to determine when force was applied. Your definition of reasonable is all that matters, and SCOTUS has determined that time and time again.” 

http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf
Report on Ferguson, Mo. police department by the department of justice. One can gain a sense of the report by reading the chapter titles.

http://www.copblock.org/128554/full-body-cam-video-released-utah-police-killing-dillon-taylor/
Dillon Taylor shooting video

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2014/dec/04/i-cant-breathe-eric-garner-chokehold-death-video
Eric Garner choking video

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2014/nov/26/cleveland-video-tamir-rice-shooting-police
Tamir Rice shooting video

http://digg.com/video/wal-mart-surveillance-video-of-john-crawford-iii-shooting
John Crawford shooting video

http://www.mediaite.com/online/video-shows-police-cruelly-lying-to-john-crawfords-girlfriend-after-killing-him-at-walmart/
Video of police interrogating John Crawford’s  girlfriend after his death

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3089495/New-video-shows-cops-taking-limp-Freddie-Gray-police-van-putting-leg-shackles-loading-head-bystanders-pleaded-officers-help-him.html
Freddie Gray videos

http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2015/04/ohio-police-officer-jesse-kidder-takes-down-murder-suspect-without-firing-a-shot/
Officer Jesse Kidder video

Police Accountability sites:
http://photographyisnotacrime.com/

http://policestatedaily.com/

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bad_Cop_No_Donut/
Reddit forum devoted to police abuse

http://www.copblock.org/129940/those-who-cant-fight-kill/
“The martial arts don’t work on the streets.” I’ve heard this statement by many nationally-recognized defensive tactics trainers throughout my career. I have always found two things quite ironic each time the statement has been made. First, many trainers making such a statement had never worked the streets, and second, every empty-hand technique they taught could be found somewhere in the martial arts.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/12/how-police-unions-keep-abusive-cops-on-the-street/383258/
Article on police unions

http://blog.simplejustice.us/2015/06/01/the-other-white-meat-police-unions/
Article on police unions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rao33ZYlrq4
Cops gone wild documentary

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_v._Connor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia

In this episode Blaine discusses his understanding of the meaning of the word 'Shugyo' which is typically translated as 'auster training' or 'intense training'. Blaine explains how he came to first understand the concept and how he has used the concept to enhance his life. Shugyo can be a descriptive concept and idea but also an active idea to be used as a way to find the things one knows they should be doing but are, for whatever reason, procrastinating on. 

This Diamond Mining Friday Interview is with a good friend of mine, Joe Anshel Sensei. Joe is a 4th Degree Black Belt in Aikido and spent 4 years as an uchideshi (live-in student) under the renowned Fumio Toyoda Shihan.

Joe is also a student of Zen meditation and brings a wealth of insights to this almost 3 hour long interview about Aikido, Zen, ukemi, Toyoda Sensei, being an uchideshi, and life in general.

Enjoy!