AïkiCom' is combining the qualities of Aikido with those of communication techniques like NVC and NLP.
Aikikido teaches us physically how to synchronize ourselves to the energy of an attack and how to transform it into an cooperation energy respecting both partners. This synchronization is also to be found in NVC ( non-violent communication) created by Marshall Rosenberg.
NVC invites us to identify what we observe (the facts), the needs that are satisfied or violated and the emotions caused by the violation/satisfaction of these needs.
The NVC practitionner learns how to formulate a request starting from himself: "When I see (observable fact), this is satisfying/violating (need) and I feel (emotion), and I ask you ...(clear demand)".
Similarly, the NVC practitionner will explore the needs, the emotions of the person and help him formulate a request/demand: "When you see or hear (observable fact), do you feel (emotion), because this (need) is violated/satisfied and what would you like to ask...".
Doing this he is connecting with the other who will confirm/infirm the hypthesis proposed by the NVC practtionner.
This communication style very roughly sketched here (note 1) creates a communication atmosphere that will defuse agressivity and violence.
The parallels are striking between the practice of aikido and NVC.
When he puts his attention on the needs of the person he's talking to, the practitionner is practicing a kind of verbal aikido. He takes into consideration his the center and the center of the person.
The way he is speaking is transforming the potential agressivity in the conversation. Similarly the aikidoist will make a move starting from his center and will guide the movement of the partner to transform the energy of the attack in energy of transformation. The two aproaches enrich eachothers: the aikidoist discovers how his movement find a new expression through the words and the NVC practitionner discovers that his NVC verbal technique can be materialized into body sensations and movements.
And what about NLP ?
NLP (note 2) meets aikido when it talks about "pace and lead". In NLP to pace means to synchronize with the partner in terms of gesture, tempo, tonality, vocabulary, etc.
By doing this the practitionner is executing, verbally and not verbally, a technique similar to what the aikidoist is doing when he executes a taï sabaki to join the center of the partner. Then comes the leading phase when the NLP practionner as the aikidoist creates a dynamics which takes along the partner and transforms the interaction. Please note here that as well NLP as Aikido could be used to take control of the partner as detractors like to say about NLP. It is (or can be) technically possible but this is not the message we must have in mind nor the spirit of these approaches, nor for NLP (even if the message is more unclear in NLP because of the disinteresd of the co-creators of NLP in this matters). The message is that we are responsible for our attitude and our role in the interaction. Even in the case of an aggression, we have the choice of aggressiveness or defusing the aggressiveness to create the conditions of a contructive dialogue. Just as for the CNV, aikido creates a very interesting synergy which involves us in this process of transformation from fight/aggressive situation to a dialogue space
note 1: to discover more about NVC I invite to read the book of Marshall Rosenberg
note 2: to discover more about NLP, I invite you to discover the website (french): l'Atelier PNL, l'espace de pratique neuro-linguistique)