What are Aikido's benefits?
Aikido has the benefits of martial arts training: good physical conditioning and the generation of relaxed confidence, politeness, consideration, energy, tenacity and an open mind -- all qualities of character to be carried into one's daily life. Moreover many of the performing arts and regular sports are greatly benefited by martial arts training in general and Aikido in particular.
Aikido engenders an
attitude of cooperation beyond the usual camaraderie of training with others,
given its high ethical basis in protecting from harm both the attacker as well
as the attacked. As a result children and adults
learn to respond to situations (and not only those of self-defense!) with
compassion, decisiveness and appropriate force.
Self Defense aspects: In Aikido confidence comes from knowing one can completely neutralize an attack without excessive force, while maintaining a peaceful and therefore effective mind. One can be much smaller, slower or weaker than a dangerous adversary. Practitioners find that it is safer to escape from holds and to execute throws, strikes, sweeps and pins by working in balance with the attacker's intention and energy rather than by attempting to fight against them. Aikido adults also learn a significant amount of hand-held weapons training that, by intensifying the experience of the principles of Aikido, can be valuable for staying cool and skilful in a self-defense or other stressful situation.
In addition to what has been written above, Aikido helps children improve their physical, mental and interpersonal skills. Basic movement, posture, stretching and nonviolent self-defense are taught in a supportive and non-competitive atmosphere. Safety and etiquette are primary concerns, so students learn how to interact respectfully with each other and with adults by staying attentive and considerate. And because the arts and movements of Aikido involve a constant awareness of distance, timing and physical relationship, children develop a sophisticated interactive awareness. This is an excellent class for 6 years and above (for younger children please inquire).
Self Defense aspects for kids:
While teaching children punching and kicking can be a valuable discipline in itself, the small size and power of children generally makes it ineffective for self-defense at their age. Also, teaching children self-defense as a competitive sport and giving them a false sense of effectiveness by handing them "black belts" at a tender age is, we feel, dangerous to their social well being. Should they ever find themselves in a threatening situation, it will certainly not be like a match on the mat. No one will be impressed by the fact that they have a black belt. And, depending only on kicking and punching could lead to serious consequences for them because their assailants may be much larger. Equally important, children should be able to learn self-defense skills (most importantly: awareness and avoidance!) as a by-product of a disciplined yet fun learning environment: there should not be any talk of "street" situations or violence: we feel that this kind of talk is only suitable in our adult classes.
Aikido concentrates on aspects of self-defense in keeping with the child's size and mental and emotional capacity and is therefore more likely to help them survive than the standard fare. Self-defense for children should emphasize awareness of surroundings and one's own feelings and it should teach how to escape from holds and strikes. This is a major component of children's Aikido training. One aspect of Aikido training we do not cover until children are teenagers is the application of joint locks they are not yet ready for, as their joints are still growing. But aside from that, children have access to most of our techniques.
For a summary of our Aikido classes, please see our Class Description and Children's Aikido