Little Devil
1 November 2008
This year’s Halloween costume.
2 CommentsThe Art of Living
29 October 2008
3 Comments“It is creative apperception more than anything else that makes the individual feel that life is worth living. Contrasted with this is a relationship to external reality which is one of compliance, the world and its details being recognized but only as something to be fitted in with or demanding adaptation.
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In some way or other our theory includes a belief that living creatively is a healthy state, and that compliance is a sick basis for life.”- child psychology pioneer D.W. Winnicott
Aikidoka for Obama
23 October 2008
Here’s the official “Aikidoka for Obama” seminar video that a couple of enterprising Aikido of Berkeley students distilled from the hours of footage that were shot.
It’s just two minutes and twenty seconds long - it’s not designed to document all the excellent aikido that was demonstrated and practiced; it’s designed as a charming and novel political endorsement to be submitted to pro-Obama news blogs and such. It’s possible that sometime in the future I’ll work with Ryu or some other tech-savvy aikidoka to create a longer video from the seminar footage, more focused on the teaching and training. But for now, enjoy this very fun little taste! It does include part of the kokyu dosa demonstration I did with River in my lap, definitely one of the seminar’s highlights by all accounts.
That’s the fabulous and highly videogenic Wizard Azzia being interviewed in the purple/pinkish tank top. Other people in the video who’ve shown up in this blog before include Brandon (being thrown by Kayla right after Kayla’s interview segment) and Foxfire (my partner in the kokyu dosa demo). Oh, and that’s also me practicing ikkyo with a partner in the foreground in the 9-second segment of partner practice that starts at 0:16 (right after the first Azzia segment).
And yes, at the very beginning of the final interview segment with me and River, River does say “Obama!” She’s a huge Obama fan, and shrieks “Obama, Obama!” every time she sees his picture, sees him on television, or hears his name mentioned. If toddlers could vote, Obama would win by a landslide: his name is fun to say, he speaks and conducts himself with the same benevolent clarity as the adult human regulars on Sesame Street, and he just generally comes across as the kind of adult who’s nice to children (McCain, on the other hand, comes across as the kind of adult who eats children).
2 CommentsBy the Pool, in Purple Coat & Pigtails
17 October 2008
River, age twenty-two-and-a-half months. At Kayla & Sierra’s wedding reception, some really nice place somewhere north of here, 11 October 2008. Photo by Dragon Lady.
3 CommentsTwo Masters and a Youngling
15 October 2008
Kayla Sensei, me, and River, preparing to lead the closing bows at the end of the “Aikidoka for Obama” seminar last week.
3 CommentsBeing of Some Use
8 October 2008
This evening Kayla Sensei and I will be co-teaching an “Aikidoka for Obama” seminar at her dojo. The idea is simple: two well-known local aikido senseis each teach one hour of a two-hour class, sharing whatever interesting stuff we’re working on these days. Hopefully, lots of students show up - her students, my students, aikidoka from other dojos who’ve been notified of the event. The students pay however much they want to pay; all proceeds get donated to the Obama campaign.
Dragon Lady came up with the idea and organized it; all Kayla and I have to do is show up and do what we do. Our students benefit, and America benefits.
And it will be videotaped, so once the video gets edited and whatnot, maybe you’ll be able to watch some highlights of the seminar online.
If you’re part of a dojo or a yoga studio or a dance or theatre collective or some such thing, try putting something like this together!
6 Comments“In aikido we do not train to become powerful or to throw down some opponent. Rather we train in hopes of being of some use, however small our role may be, in the task of bringing peace to mankind around the world.”
- Morihei Ueshiba, Founder of Aikido