Upkido = Aikido + Upward Spiral (or Uplift)
Aikido is a defensive martial art known for graceful blending with incoming forces to neutralize attacks. It's intended to be a peacekeeping technique. Here's some footage of its inventor, O Sensei:
Upkido blends the graceful, responsive principles of Aikido with the intentional creation of upward spirals - environments that continuously improve through small, strategic actions.
Like Aikido, Upkido is about working *with* the forces you encounter rather than against them. But instead of neutralizing attacks, you're redirecting everyday interactions toward positive change. Every conversation, every project, every moment of contact becomes an opportunity to leave things a little better than you found them.
In a world that often equates strength with domination, Upkido offers a different model of power - the strength to improve rather than control, to build rather than break. This is the warrior-gardener path: fierce in your commitment to positive change, gentle in your methods. It's strength that creates safety for others rather than demanding it for yourself.
Upward Spiral is the intentional shaping of an environment, sometimes through very small actions, so that it continually improves.
Arthur Brock introduced me to this idea through this video of Paul Krafel, who improved hillsides and valleys in Northern California by taking strategic action with a hand trowel:
This isn't just philosophy - it's proven practice. Paul Krafel transformed California hillsides with nothing but a hand trowel and deep observation, creating upward spirals that turned erosion into restoration. On a massive scale, the Loess Plateau project in China turned a Belgium-sized wasteland back into green, thriving land using similar principles.
The magic lies not in grand gestures, but in understanding leverage points and working with natural systems toward regeneration.
A few months later, I happened across a documentary about the Loess Plateau, a Belgium-sized part of inland China that had become a dusty wasteland. Over a decade, using principles very similar to Paul Krafel's on California's hillsides, but at much larger scale, they re-greened their habitat.
That sparked my enthusiasm about the "upward spiral" humans can create. Imagining it as a practice, I blended it with Aikido, which is my preferred form of mindful exercise.
Upkido is a tongue-in-cheek experiment. It isn't really a martial art, but we'd like to consider it as such, and figure out what practices it should incorporate.
The metaphor of a dojo, the place where you learn the way, is helpful. The idea that there are senior participants, whose job it is to help the junior participants understand the practice, is also helpful.
Upkido is a personal practice, but it is social. Like Aikido, it should be practiced with others, with the goal that everyone's actions improve.
Ping me to join in evolving Upkido.
Upkido treats the world as a dojo - a place to practice "the way." Like any martial art, it requires:
Presence: Deep awareness of what's actually happening
Technique: Specific skills for different situations and scales
Community: Learning with others who share the practice
Progression: Growing from micro-improvements to systems transformation
Ready to begin? Every touch is an opportunity to practice. Real strength serves life.
Upkido is connected to Design from Trust.