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Kids Aikido Classes

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Join the longest consecutively running children's Aikido class in Westchester County.

Real Life Skills

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Avoid Injuries

Better awareness & reflexes to avoid injuries due to accidents & falls.

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Improve Health

Rigorous exercise while designed to improve motor skills.

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Improve Relationships

Planting the seeds for peaceful conflict resolution at an early age.

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Self Defense

Instills confidence, lowering chances of an attack and improving outcomes.

  • Why Aikido
    What are the benefits of Aikido
    Is Aikido Best for Certain Children?
    If my Child is Shy?
    What Should I Look for?
    What are the Unexpected Benefits of Aikido
  • Our Program
  • Governor Akita Prefecture: Value of Martial Arts for Kids
    All Japan Budo Demonstration 2019

    Five of our dojo members participated in the All Japan Budo Demonstration in Akita Prefecture in Japan under Mark Larson Sensei

    The Governor gave this letter of thanks.

    ...In Japan it is required to teach children a Morals class at elementary schools from two years ago...Child abuse has become a major problem in Japan recently. Their parents, who couldn't learn Morals at schools, abuse their children as a discipline. Children harm their parents, insurance scams, corporate scandals...we now need to consider how to live as a good human...

    ...Budo and Bushido teach how to live well. There is the Yamato-damashi spirit: Honor, Pride, Justice, Courage, Magnanimity, Sympathy and Pity...

    ...I believe this is a great education, even for adults. The quintessence of Budo is to express a form of gratitude, not to expand its culture. Keep the tradition, seek the real, train your heart...

  • Japanese Culture
    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 Arts
    An Aikido Point of view
    by

  • Nature of Martial Arts Training
    The Nature of Martial Arts Training

    Imagine a customer walks up to the counter in a drugstore and asks, "I would like to buy some peace of mind. What isle do you have that on?"

    Martial arts training, to be most effective, is about developing peace of mind in the most difficult of circumstances. As everyone knows, peace of mind cannot be found in a bottle. It can only be found in you. But finding it takes effort.

Drilling Down: How it Works

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Self Defense Goals
Health / Fitness Goals
Discipline

Self Defense Learn More

Self-defense for children differs for adults in that the attacker, normally a child, is not as dangerous and can be more easily discouraged. Also the child defending does not have the same self-control and discipline as an adult. Aikido is particularly good for this situation in that it starts teaching how to control the attacker rather than harm them. Through exercise and evasive movements, children learn how to center and use their body more effectively. Both evasion and an ability to push solidly is often all that is needed to discourage an attack from another child. Executing complex techniques is often not necessary. Also, the child learns how to fall safely, which is helpful in play and sports as well.

Fitness / Health Learn More

The modern school district is often resource constrained and focused on intellectual education. Physical education can be insufficient. Also, children play more through video games than sports or other exercise. Our program begins with 15 minutes of solid exercise – 5 minutes of running, bear crawls, frog jump, and ends with didactically designed games that are active. The exercise is playful. Also, before or after some of our classes, children have time to play with each other. A padded mat and foam balls often contribute to a physically active form of play. In this way, children learn to connect with and use their body more effectively, and socialize exercise as well.

Discipline Learn More

In Aikido, the word discipline actually means concentration or focus. Study takes place on 3 levels: first hearing instruction, then contemplating if/how it is correct and then realization through concentration and focus. However, in order for a child to genuinely understand a technique, they must be taught in the world in which they experiment – the world of play. When learning tennis, you need more than watching a video. You need to experiment with different variations of strokes to get experience and understand. Children do this in play.Traditional Japanese instruction in Aikido (see Japanese Culture tab above) is therefore different from other martial arts, because they have competition whereas Aikido doesn't. So for experimentation, we substitute with play.

45+

Years in Martial Arts

15+

Years in Westchester: Adults

15+

Years in Westchester: Kids

1100+

People Served

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