So Rowan and I (Lynette) have been running the childrens classes for just over a year now, and it has been fun, challenging and awesomely rewarding. At the time, it seemed like a good idea, and one year on… we are loving it.
It has been a joy to see the children learn, grow, and accept the challenges that a martial art teaches. They have learnt how to face challenges, achieve success, overcome problems. They are enjoying themselves and their favourite moments are when their parents and other adults are on the mat as well. I hope they are learning more than just techniques, I hope they are learning about being kind to each other, about empathy, and being resilient in the face of change and challenges, and I hope they are learning to have faith in themselves.
For us, it has helped us to remember and reinforce the basics, given some of our adult beginners options as well, and – of course – given us twice the mat time we would normally have. Seeing the kids improve has challenged me to train harder, learn more, and share with them how much I enjoy Aikido. My favourite part of the kids classes are the rolls, I love seeing the different types of kids all working together to help each other and encourage each other. Everyone is different, and being physically capable makes the techniques easy, but is no help with the other aspects of Aikido that we consider important. Having a good attitude, being willing to try, try and try again, these are my favourites, their faces light up when they succeed. It has been an absolute pleasure running the childrens classes, I am looking forward to watching our little Aikidoka (ka = student of ) as they develop and grow into young adults.
