Bully Defense Using Aikido
Aikido Kids of Gainesville
Aikido Kids is about teaching kids and teens 6-16 effective non-aggresive Self Defense
4424 SW 35th Terr, Gainesville, FL. 32608 | 352-494-7816
If your child is being bullied, please let me
know. I will ask the him or her how the attacks are happening and
we will show and practice specific response techniques until the child
can do this as if it is simple. The first responses taught are
simple and effective. The students who have come in the past have
consistently reported that the bullying stopped within a month or two,
often sooner. With practice and proficiency the student
gains confidence and the threat of humiliation for the attacker becomes
too much, so the attackers choose different targets. I use the
word humiliation because the attacker usually ends up on the ground not
really knowing what happened. It will not look like a regular
fight and your child is trained to walk away or leave the area so it is
rare that anyone gets in trouble.
Aikido Kids is a part of Aikido of Gainesville.
We are open 6 days a week for Kids and
Teens classes.
Saturday morning classes
are free for Kids 9am-10:30am and Teens from 10:30am-Noon.
It is OK to stay all morning if there is a desire.
Address: 4424 SW 35th Terr Gainesville,
FL. 32608
Phone: 352-494-7816
Email: sensei@aikidoofgainesville.com
or tangoch30@hotmail.com
Business Hours: 2:30pm-5:30pm while
schools are open during the year.
Hours change to mornings when schools close for summer.
Back to School
discounts will be in effect until September 30th.
20
Class Card for $160 a 60% discount or $240 off.
15 Class Card for $135 a 55% discount or $165 off.
10
Class Card for $110 a 45% discount or $90 off.
5
Class Card for $70 a 30% discount or $30 off.
For Transportation
issues one option is to contact Kids On Wheels 352-665-2115
Uniforms are not required. My
philosophy is that what is on the body is not as important as the
knowledge in the head. If you desire a uniform wonderful!
It looks great! Still, what is in the head is most important.
Kids grow so fast that parents are constantly buying more
clothes. The dojo's that require uniforms charge you for
uniforms, belts,
tests, certificates, etc. I
charge you for the knowledge I teach. I call the other
places "take your dough jo's". If you have the money and want to
spend it there, wonderful. Perhaps I'm a terrible business
man. I prefer to consider I'm staying true to the
"way". I would rather teach more students how to defend
themselves and accept more donations because you are happy with what I
teach.
What Does the Dojo Look Like?
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A Description of How Classes Are Run
Classes may start with a game for the first 15 minutes depending on the end of the previous class. This allows any late arrivals without missing the main part of the class. Bow in may be with the bow out of the previous class. Often we will play another game and students departing are welcome to stay and play if they desire. We do about a 10 minute warmup of stretches and wrist warmups most of the time. The amount of time depends on the memory and attention of the students and if they are already warmed up or not. If a decision is made not to do stretches we will still do wrist warmups. (The names of the wrist warmups are a portion of the first test as these are also names of techniques.) After the warmups we cover the two main principles of Aikido; "Get-out-of-the-way-of-the-attack and learn to coordinate your whole body with your power zone to execute techniques."
After these daily basics, students learn anti-bully techniques and
how to roll so the students can fall without getting hurt. The
students receive a belt and stripes of colored tape are added as they
learn various techniques that correspond to what is required to pass
the test for the next rank. When the student can adequately
remember and execute the various techniques we arrange a skill test to
show what they know. Upon successful pass of the test the belt
is traded for the next belt. This requires the student to use
their mind and remember what has been taught. Advancement is not
automatic.
We will take water breaks generally around the half hours, about 30
minutes. There may be extra games depending on the general
level of the students attending. Beginners get more
skill developing games with an emphasis on rolling.
There may be Japanese history and culture (including looking at the map), language, simple science, psychology, math, geometry, anatomy, the universe, or simple physics taught at various times to help the students develop more depth of understanding. Therefore the class may sometimes seem like it doesn't have anything to do with a martial art. Often, when students are hot and sweaty I will read the historical fiction story of Musashi, a famous swordsman of the early 17th century (the characters were real, many of the main events happened, but actual interactions are guessed). This story incorporates the historical characteristics of the ancient Samurai culture which still influences Japan to these modern times. Musashi wrote a famous book of fighting strategy titled, "The Five Rings", which is still studied and used today. I have a business book entitled "The Five Rings used in Japanese Business".
It may also appear that we play a lot. The
Japanese will ask, "How long have you played Aikido?" The
Americans ask, "How long have you practiced Aikido?" I prefer
the former. So we strive to "Play Aikido". That does
not mean it is not serious. It is. Especially in the Adult
classes. We have fun, but it is still as serious as a
heart attack.
One of the primary differences of Aikido classes are the sounds. Karate, Tai Kwon Do, Judo and some other martial arts have loud Kiai's (shouts) etc. Good, fun Aikido classes are filled with laughter.
I am not a strict disciplinarian. The stress in
these classes is for self control. If it is not
immediately forthcoming, I usually don't worry too much about
it. Soon the student will recognize there are small
recognitions of accomplishment which lead to advancement (colored tape
stripes on the belt). If the student cannot control him or
herself enough then these stripes will not be put on.
Almost all of the students clearly desire this recognition. It's
something to show Mom and Dad. "Look what I got!" I
will let the student who is not behaving know this is exactly why he
or she did not get the stripe. I also expect that the parent
will tell the student what is and isn't acceptable. When the
student figures it out that paying attention and doing what is asked
and being able to show the knowledge, the stripes as rewards show
up.
As students advance the techniques become more
traditional Aikido techniques which increase in complexity with each
test. Senior students are expected to help junior students learn
and advance. These older students may advance faster than the
young students because of maturity, attention focus, higher
comprehension and the abilities of the advanced students to help the
junior students. Each student can advance at their rates
of comprehension. Some are faster, others are slower.
Starting with the sixth test, students learn Aiki Weapons handling
skills. This develops deeper understanding of the empty hand
skills and students learn to understand how the techniques developed
through history of Japan. By this time the students should
understand that techniques can be dangerous and they must be careful
not to hurt others.
Class may end with another game or just a bow out depending on time constraints and the general proficiency level of the class. The higher the rank, the more techniques known, the more the practice begins to feel like play. The bows and claps at the beginning and end are to call the spirits of the old past "Masters" to come watch over our practice and to release their spirits back to the universe once class is over.