Scenes from our Kids Aikido Class

Our Kids Aikido class takes place on Wednesdays from 7 to 8pm, and Fridays from 6pm to 7pm. Students begin by learning first how to fall, and how to roll. We practice several falls - front falls, back falls, side falls, rolls, etc. Here, three students are demonstrating how to slap the mat at the right time - it helps break the fall and prevents major owieness. Notice the position of the arm - the third child is slightly ahead of the other two, and hence the forearm is about to contact with the mat.

Class starts right on the dot, and Sensei Kuter will run the kids in pairs through specific falls and rolls. Below, you can see the beginnings of the front shoulder roll by three girls. Notice how each of them has their right hand tucked under their heads, and their left hand out below and/or back. This helps them execute the roll with great skill.

As you can imagine, rolls aren't the only things that are included in the warmup - the joyful slapping of mats in various positions is also a key component. Here, two girls have demonstrated the front fall. Notice how their entire forearms make contact with the mat and they're up on their toes - this spreads their weight and lessens any pain that might occur from a fall.

Our Kids Aikido sensei, Sensei Kuter, takes lots of time to explain all the hows and whys of each technique the students learn. Students get paired up, sometimes big and small, sometimes strong and weak, sometimes tall and short, etc.... you see, Aikido isn't about strength, it includes leveraging the other person's energy to your own advantage. That's why a smaller person who is well-trained can easily take down a larger individual. Here Sensei Kuter is explaining how to grab the wrist.

Once techniques are explained, the students will try them on one another. As a mom, one thing I really love about this class is the utter respect the students have for one another - big or small, they always modify their own strength/abilities to give the other student a good workout for the techniques. Here, the student in the black gi has thrown a roundhouse punch, while the student in the red gi has stepped out of the way and blocked it.

Remember what you read previously about height and size? The boy below is about 6 inches taller than the girl, and heavier by far...but by utilizing the techniques taught, she was able to throw him down.

Sensei Kuter modifies the intensity according to what the students want. In the following picture, our boy is deflecting a knife thrust and will be setting up Sensei Kuter for a dandy of a fall.

While there's a lot of instruction and seriousness in the Kids Aikido, there's also a lot of fun too! Here, another of our intrepid students is attempting the dreaded "I shall laugh you into oblivion!" technique for utterly decimating imposing senseis. As you can see, it's not exactly working. :-)

One of the biggest challenges young Aikido students have is learning how NOT to leave themselves open when defending from a strike. Below, Sensei Kuter is making his point with his foot as to where the unguarded areas are.

As time goes by and students become more proficient, Sensei Kuter will ramp up his expectations. Below, the girl has no idea what kind of attack he will throw, which forces her to turn on a dime with her defenses.

But what about students who really get into Aikido? One really great thing about Kids Aikido is the students are encouraged to perform to the very best of their abilities. If they could, Sensei Kuter would let them fling him all about the dojo. As it is, he ends up in the air quite often. Here, one of our students has just dropped him via a pivot takedown.

Again! Like Yoda intones, Size Matters Not. The student below also was able to drop him with little effort as well.

And finally, some students like flinging around people more than others. In this last photo, it was the girl's birthday, and as a treat, Sensei Kuter taught her how to get him airborne and throw him over her back. I was watching at the time, it really happened. Aikido is truly an amazing art.

As you can see, Kids Aikido is a great experience for children. Remember, it's included in our tuition! You can learn more about what we offer at our Schedule page.

Please continue to enjoy your visit!

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