The author, holding a bokken (wooden sword).

The Weapon as Mere Object

  This is an edited version of an article that I wrote for the Aikido World Alliance newsletter in the Fall of 2013. As far as I know, Malala Yousafzai has never studied Aikido. Ms. Yousafzai is the Pakistani teenager who, while advocating for the education of girls in the Swat valley, was shot in an attempted assassination. After being shot in the head and recovering, she has gone on to become a global advocate for the rights of women and girls. In doing so, she is directly challenging the …