State of the union
by Sylvo Frank

The marriage of Kotegaeshi and Shihonage
took place on Saturday, June 21^st;
in the year of our Lord 1997.
Of course, they'd been married many times before
—and separated—
but I had never witnessed the event.
Eighty aikidoka—more or less—were present,
and suitably attired;
some had even journeyed from afar
to partake in the nuptual proceedings.
One had green hair.

Waite Sensei presided over the ceremony.
Naturally, it began with the familiar ritual of bowing,
then bowing,
followed by more bowing.
That was the easy part.
Then—having lulled us into a false sense of security
with a simple tenkan-
Sensei lead us deeper into the mysteries of
Uke and Nage.
Ki was extended,
and energy expended
as the gathered throng flung each other round about,
with gusto,
but not with abandon.
There was not enough room for abandon.
Then we had lunch.

The mystic union happened later, closer to tea-time.
Sensei demonstrated, and the flock followed as best it could:
Kotegaeshi was bound to Shihonage by a do-si-do
or what looked like a do-si-do.
I expect that this manoeuvre has a Japanese name
which I do not know, but will.
I expect that I will be tested on it, both omote and ura,
and on my knees.
I expect that other aikidoka will also witness it, perform it,
and celebrate the union
with a beer.


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