Soft Power: A Magnetic Approach to Practice

"The desire to be in control is a normal survival response, but what I love about the art of aikido is that we can move beyond survival to a vast and universal perspective in which all life is connected and interwoven. Such an orientation is not self-conscious. Since it relates to the connecting aspect -- that of the space and energy -- rather than individuals, there is no thing that needs to be observed. All awareness can be involved with the movement of energy through space, organized and contained by the form. The result is soft fluid power enjoying the beauty and purity of the form. This kind of feeling is not only beautiful and fluid, it is difficult to resist or counter which makes it effective from a martial perspective." Founder of Leadership Embodiment, and sixth-degree black belt Aikido practitioner Wendy Palmer shares more.

http://www.integrationtraining.co.uk/blog/2008/04/wendy-palmer-article-soft-power/