In communication training, learning outcomes are often framed in terms of techniques: better questions, clearer arguments, more effective structures. In our mixed-methods study on aikido-based communication training, however, participants consistently described something different. They spoke of eye-openers, surprising insights, and experiences that continued to resonate long after the training ended.
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| Physical interaction: Powerful understanding |
Rather than listing newly acquired techniques, many participants characterised what they learned as edifying: physically learning from the aikido as a theoretical model for interaction and communication.
The following excerpt is taken word for word from our article:
When screening the open-text answers, most participants in the aikido-embodied groups reported that they found the interaction skills they learned to be edifying: ‘gave a few eye-openers in conducting conversations’ (Nina, Aikido-Embodied Group D), ‘a very interesting experience with a lasting impact’ (Louis, Aikido-Embodied Group A), and ‘surprising insights’ (Emile, Aikido-Embodied Group D). Some participants who stated that the training did not fully align with their expectations were positive about what they had received. For instance, when Jack referred to linking interaction skills with aikido principles and movements, he noticed that ‘there weren’t that many communication techniques that were offered, e.g., asking why, asking open questions, maybe this was just my perception. I don’t think this is positive or negative, it struck me at the end of the day’ (Jack, Aikido-Embodied Group D). Jade, who admitted that she had no prior knowledge of communication theory, wrote: ‘The aikido experience was fantastic, in the sense that it is almost a translation of communication strategy, so brilliant as an illustration but I missed theoretical structure beforehand’ (Jade, Aikido-Embodied Group D).
— (De Baets et al., 2025, p. 16)
Fewer tools, more strategy
What is striking in these reflections is that participants explicitly note that familiar tools, such as open questions, were not foregrounded, they do not frame this as a deficit. Instead, they describe a moment of recognition when they realised how aikido informs interaction strategies.
The aikido-embodied training days in our experiment did not begin with naming communicative moves. They started by making interaction physically tangible: through distance, timing, posture, direction, and responsiveness. Beyond this experiment, interaction training would combine explanations of communication strategies with physical illustrations. The translation communication strategy into embodied experience leads to learning gains and satisfaction.
Why this matters
What these findings suggest is that effective communication training does not necessarily require more techniques. In many cases, it requires better conditions for noticing what is already happening in interaction.
Aikido offers such conditions by slowing down reaction, making movement and response visible, and allowing participants to experience interaction as something they co-create in real time. The result is often described as edifying because it opens up new ways of seeing.
That may explain why participants report lasting impact even when the training does not resemble conventional communication courses. What stays with them is not a checklist, but a changed relationship to interaction itself.
Reference
De Baets, G. A., Plevoets, K., Decock, S., & Van Praet, E. (2025). The potential of aikido in intercultural business communication training: A mixed-methods analysis of embodied pedagogy. Journal of Experiential Education, 1–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/10538259251397872
Greet Angèle DE BAETS
Communication Doctor
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