Petaluman brings 'the art of peace' to the Middle East

April 27, 2005

By JANE LOTT
FOR THE ARGUS-COURIER

When Richard Strozzi-Heckler left his Petaluma ranch for Cyprus three weeks ago, he wasn't expecting to bring peace to the Middle East. But he was hoping to help plant the seed -- in an unconventional way.

The Strozzi Ranch, which covers 200 acres on the west side of Petaluma, is not your typical Sonoma County spread. Sure, they raise horses and sheep and the requisite grapes. But the ranch is also home to the Strozzi Institute, a leadership training program, and Two Rock Aikido, both run by Strozzi-Heckler, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology in addition to a sixth degree black belt ranking in aikido.

A Japanese martial art, aikido was founded in the early part of the 20th century by a warrior named Morihei Ueshiba, later called O'Sensei, which means "Great Teacher." Although it is similar to other martial arts, such as jujitsu and karate, in that it consists of a system of various techniques, aikido is different because it also has a spiritual aspect. Instead of kill-or-be-killed, aikido teaches students to blend with the energy of an attack and re-direct that force. It's a difficult but vital distinction.

The word aikido means "the way of harmony" or "the way of uniting the spirit." People who are unfamiliar with aikido often misunderstand what is meant by this. Aikido is not a religion, nor is it a kind of New Age philosophy. But Ueshiba, who was a master martial artist, realized that power was more than just being stronger or tougher than your opponent. He learned how to connect his ki, or energy, to the energy of the universe for the power of good.

O'Sensei once called aikido "a way to reconcile the world" and said: "I want to build bridges everywhere and connect all peoples through harmony and love. This I believe to be the task of aikido." Following that mandate, in 1998, Strozzi-Heckler joined with Donald Levine, a professor at the University of Chicago and a third degree black belt, to establish Aiki Extensions (AE), in part to apply aikido principles in everyday settings and to deepen the practice of aikido as an art of peace.

To put this mission into practice, the two men asked themselves, "Where are the different domains aikido can be used?"

The answers they came up with included such diverse areas as police and military training and trauma recovery. They also implemented youth outreach projects in Chicago, the Bronx and Brazil.

AE then looked to the Middle East, where people of warring regions were nevertheless practicing aikido. As part of the Mideast Aikido Project (MAP), AE organized the first Salaam-Shalom training to bring Israeli and Palestinian aikido students together to train.

From that, the idea of Training Across Borders was born.

"We thought 'Why limit it to just these two?'" said Strozzi-Heckler.

The intention was simple -- to bring together aikido students from Bosnia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Turkey and offer training by five high-ranking teachers. Making it happen, however, was much more complicated. Governments built walls of red tape; some refused visas; some threatened teachers or participants. Two of the invited teachers backed out.

"To make something happen, you can't be driven by fear," Strozzi-Heckler said. "You have to be driven by possibilities."

The vision of this possibility persisted and soon the pieces of the project started falling into place.

Renowned teachers agreed to teach: Hans Goto of San Rafael; Jamie Zimron of San Francisco; Paul Linden of Columbus, Ohio; Winfried Wagner of Schweinfurt, Germany. They all donated their time, teaching without compensation.

Even so, the seminar cost several months pay for some of the participants, Strozzi-Heckler explained. Martial arts schools throughout the U.S., attempting to alleviate the problem, donated money to help defray expenses for these students. Strozzi-Heckler's students sponsored a Palestinian participant, while the Strozzi Institute paid for an Israeli to attend.

Donations to the Training Across Borders seminar not only helped finance scholarships, but also assisted in covering the high cost of security protection for the event. Not only are the participants from warring countries, but Cyprus itself is not at peace.

Strategically located just south of Turkey, between Europe and Asia Minor, the island gained independence from Greece in 1960 and became the Republic of Cyprus. But Greece did not let go easily and Turkey intervened. The resulting conflict led the United Nations to designate a demilitarized buffer zone -- like a belt -- across the island. To the north lies the Turkish section of Cyprus, to the south, the Greek. In the middle is Nicosia, site of the Training Across Borders event, and the only militarily-divided city in Europe.

Training under the watchful eye of United Nations peace-keeping forces may have been a relief to some of the participants. Many of them risked their lives to attend the seminar. Some traveled hundreds of miles over landmine-planted roads and some were forced to come via other countries in order to gain valid visas.

"The Iraqi delegation traveled between 24 to 48 hours driving to one border and were not allowed to exit there," Goto reported. "They then crossed the country and left through a third country, crossed to the original country of destination and then were able to catch their 40 minutes flight to Cyprus!"

Despite the serious barriers, students were eager to attend this historic event. Because space was limited, participants were chosen by the head teachers from the dozen schools in the countries taking part. Although it was a delicate balancing process, everyone cooperated, Strozzi-Heckler said, and nearly 100 students attended.

The intention of the Training Across Borders seminar was to expand and deepen the level of aikido training in the area, Strozzi-Heckler said. But, he added, "If people just train together, some things will begin to shift."

"We're not going in there to say 'Let's save the region,'" Strozzi-Heckler said. "We're just planting seeds."