Workshops & Experiences
Finding Your Own Power
Aikido principles for staying grounded under pressure. No mat experience, no martial arts training required.
You already know the feeling: someone pushes back, a conversation gets heated, the pressure spikes — and suddenly you’re reacting instead of choosing. Find Your Power is a group program built around a simple idea borrowed from Aikido: you don’t have to meet force with force. You can learn to feel what’s coming, stay centered, and respond on purpose instead of on autopilot.
This isn’t a martial arts class. You won’t learn to fight. You’ll learn the principles Aikido is built on — blending instead of resisting, redirecting instead of escalating, staying grounded instead of getting swept up — through real exercises, real experience, and real conversation with your group.
How People Learn It
We don’t just talk about these ideas — we build the session around actually feeling them.
Do. A short, guided exercise puts a principle in your body first — what it actually feels like to meet incoming force versus resist it, for example.
Experience. You notice, in real time, what changes when you stop bracing and start blending — in your breath, your stance, your reaction.
Discuss. The group unpacks it together: where does this show up in your week? In a hard conversation, a tense meeting, a moment you wish you’d handled differently?
That loop — do, experience, discuss — is what makes the ideas stick. You’re not memorizing a concept, you’re recognizing something you’ve already felt.
What You’ll Walk Away With
- A felt sense of the difference between resisting pressure and moving with it — and why the second one is almost always more effective
- Practical tools for staying grounded in the moment conflict actually happens, not just in hindsight
- A working understanding of staying at choice — the idea that there’s always a gap between what happens to you and how you respond, and that gap is where your power actually lives
- Language and a shared reference point your group can keep using together long after the session ends
- A different relationship to pressure itself — not something to avoid, but something you know how to move with
Who It’s For
Any adult group that wants a shared experience with a real takeaway — coworkers, friends, a club, a team, a community group, or a full conference room. No fitness level, athletic background, or prior exposure to Aikido or any martial art required.
Two Ways to Bring This to Your Group
At Your Location — up to 200 people
Maru comes to you and leads the session on-site, so this works well for company offsites, conferences, all-hands events, or any gathering already happening somewhere else. Larger groups mean a more presentation-forward format, with the do/experience/discuss loop adapted so it still lands at scale.
At Our Dojo — up to 40 people
Bring your group to our space at 6425 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, for a more intimate, hands-on version of the session — smaller groups mean more room for individual moments and deeper discussion.
Every session is customized to the group. When you reach out, tell us a bit about who’s coming and what you’re hoping to get out of it — a work team navigating tension, friends looking for something meaningful together, a room full of strangers at a conference — and the content gets shaped around that before the day itself.
Ready to Bring This Workshop to Your Group?
Power isn’t about overpowering anything. It’s about staying grounded enough to choose your next move, even when things get loud. Reach out and tell us about your group — we’ll take it from there.
FAQ
Is this a martial arts or self-defense class?
No, you won’t learn techniques or how to fight. We use a few simple physical exercises drawn from Aikido to help you feel the principles, but the goal is entirely about how you handle pressure, conflict, and reaction in everyday life.
Do you come to us, or do we come to you?
Both are options. Maru can lead the session at your location for groups up to 200, or your group can come to the dojo for a smaller, more hands-on version for up to 40 people.
Do we need to be in good shape or coordinated?
Not at all. The physical piece is simple and low-intensity by design — it’s a tool for the conversation, not a workout.
What does “stay at choice” mean?
It’s the idea that between what happens to you and how you respond, there’s a gap; and it’s in that gap where you actually get to decide. Most of us skip right past it and react. This program is about learning to notice that gap and use it.
How do we book this, and can it be customized for our group?
Send an inquiry and tell us about your group and what you’re hoping to get out of it. The content gets shaped around your audience before the session happens.