16 February 2005: Sedition and Impersonating an Icon

Saturday morning I substitute-taught an aikido class at K Sensei's big and fairly traditional dojo in Richmond. Taught some of my trademark technique variations that no one else teaches. Enthusiastically received. K Sensei and I will be co-teaching a seminar there on Saturday, March 12th; 90 minutes of instruction by her followed by 90 minutes of instruction by me, attended by her students, my students, and any ronin aikido seminar junkies who happen to hear about it.

I'd assumed, when I founded an aikido style whose mission statement includes the line "We reject the authority of any and all schools, teachers, or organizations that seek to establish, maintain, or support any political hierarchy in the world of aikido," that I'd pretty much be persona non grata in all Aikikai-affiliated dojos for the rest of my life. But here I am co-teaching with an Aikikai 6th dan, at an event at her dojo that she's billing as a "Friendship Seminar." Perhaps this art has some potential after all.

After teaching the Saturday morning class, I had a fascinating brainstorming session with Sherpa over lunch, the upshot of which was that I'm going to be appearing in some visionary dream sequences in The Greater Circulation. See the February 12th entry of Sherpa's project journal for details, such as they are, and decide for yourself how much I resemble a certain 18th Dynasty statue of the Pharaoh Akhenaton found in the remains of a temple near Karnak, Egypt, and whether or not this should be admissible as evidence when the Time Police bust me in 1875 for Chronological Tampering.