Keith Larman

Ouch. I hadn't seen that. I had heard only good things over the years.

The article indicated that there was an acknowledgement of behavior by Mr. George to the police. But of course news sources can be misleading or incorrect so we should tread softly until there is some sort of conclusion to this.

That said, I'll say this in a general sense, both as an aikido instructor of teenage girls *and* as a dad of a little girl myself... There just is no excuse for when those things happen. Our role is to demonstrate the behavior we expect from them. Always. In the dojo they are our responsibility and that carries even more weight. Which makes things like this, when they happen, particularly bad.

Frankly any adult should simply know better. Especially when you add in the environment of authority and all the complex issues authority brings to the equation. Dojo "romances" among consenting adults is tough enough as it is. But this sort of thing with a minor is just wrong (again, speaking generally).

I've spent a lot of time dealing with the fallout of inappropriate sexual behavior with a minor. A person very close to me was a victim of that behavior over 25 years ago and it still affects her life. Daily. And as one of the few people she confided in I know how deeply it has harmed her over the long term.

And it has happened before in the Aikido community (as it does in schools, churches, etc.). But Chris is right -- it seems to be a topic that is rarely discussed or even acknowledged. And that IMHO is a major travesty. We need to be able to acknowledge when these things happen. And deal with the fallout properly, above board and with integrity. We must make sure it bloody well doesn't happen again...