There is an apparent contradiction in Aikido. Here is a martial art, i.e. a skill set that is about inflicting harm, and yet it claims to be a path to harmony.
For me, those things are not in opposition, they are two sides of the same coin.
The Mission
The purpose of Harm and Harmony is to address both these aspects of Aikido.
That means creating resources for self-defence training grounded in reality, to address actual problems that happen to actual people, not tacticool BS or martial arts fantasy. That’s harm.
It also means looking at mental & physical conditioning and self-development in a way that is reasonable and useful. That’s harmony.
About Me
My name is Dan and I’m a recovering accountant.
I started training in Aikido in 2005 and pretty much instantly fell in love with martial arts, training in whatever I could over the years.
While I deeply respect traditional martial arts and think they have a lot to offer, at the same time I think training should be contextualised and updated to meet the needs of practitioners today.
So for the last 10 years in addition to Aikido I’ve been training in & teaching reality based self-defence.
In 2017 I made the decision to go back to University for a Masters degree in Counselling Studies, in order to better be able to address the psychological side of self-defence.
During the pandemic I’ve been learning a new style (Bagua), hanging out with fascinating groups of martial artists online and teaching self-defence soft skills via zoom.
Relevant education
- Certified Conflict Communication Instructor
- Instructor development courses with CRGI & Chiron Training
- Associate Self-Defence Instructor (WCA)
- 3rd Dan Aikido
- PN Level 1 coach
- MSc Counselling Studies
Harm & Harmony 