As parents, we plan out our children's lives from an early age. When they get older, we realize there is another party whose input we will need to consider - theirs. So our job is to prepare them for their future life by introducing them to ideas and approaches that can serve them well. Our program is designed in just such a way. Some children will want to continue training, but for those who do not, they can still plant some important seeds to help them as they mature.
Target for the Program
- Physical self protection through lineage based martial arts training
- Complements academics/achievement with focus, learning the most efficient way to accomplish any task
- Complements sports by improving efficiency in movement and improving conditioning
- Learning to fall safely, a useful skill they can maintain throughout life
- To learn about emotional hygiene by seeing the impact of constructive vs destructive emotions
- To see the impact of peaceful conflict management on social interactions with other students
- To be happier and more peaceful by experiencing an environment where people are disciplined
- To plant seeds of experience where they may navigate back to disciplines producing these skills when older
- 3-5 classes per week
- 15 minutes agility/strength/conditioning
- 20-25 minutes learning techniques
- 5-10 minutes playing games based upon principles
Goku Homma on Teaching Children
"I have often asked myself, 'How can a person in my position - a fully "made-in-Japan" martial arts instructor who lives and teaches in the United States - provide the best possible method for teaching a traditional Japanese martial art to American children?' I have tried to look at the situation from both a traditional Japanese perspective and a contemporary American perspective..." (page 2 - 3)
"In many years of teaching Aikido for children, I have seen hundreds of children. Regardless of their ages and backgrounds, I have found that once they enter the dojo and participating in class, they all become - children. Children who run around the space, who jump all over, roll around, who get praised, who get scolded, who occasionally get into scuffles with other children, who make up, and again start running around. These children are at play. This play is a true learning place for them because they learn best when engaging in their natural behaviors
Using photos and illustrations it is possible to define what sorts of techniques and skills are used in Aikido. But the real value of Aikido training, I believe, is that it teaches students to deal with the kinds of situations they face in everyday lives..." (Page 7)
Children and the Martial ArtsAn Aikido Point of view by Gaku Homma