Advance RSVP is available to Primary Entry badge types only. Walk-ups may be accepted on a first come, first served basis.

In today’s interconnected world, reasons to experience fear are easily found with just a click of one’s remote, phone, or computer. Our perceptions of fear and threat from the mundane (“What! Who finished my ice cream!?”), to the life-threatening, are hard-wired defense responses, and are often involuntary, unconscious reactions.

In this fun and interactive aikido workshop, “Aiki Lab,” you will explore exercises that reveal your natural defenses, as well as offer embodiment skills for confidence-building, improved communication, and transcendence of fear.

Experience how utilizing "beneficent intention" can help overcome natural fear responses and create a peaceful outcome even in the face of unexpected fear/violence. Real real-life examples such as an individual who stopped a school shooting before it occurred will be discussed. Utilizing 30+ years of study and Aikido principals as taught by Morihei Ueshiba, Sensei Quakenbush discusses how peaceful communication practices and conflict resolution technologies like Aiki-Lab are imperative (both in daily life and globally) for human societies to survive, thrive, and evolve.

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.