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Old 04-13-2005, 04:57 PM   #7
Melissa Fischer
Dojo: Tenzan Aikido/Seattle Holistic Center
Location: Seattle, Wa USA
Join Date: Nov 2001
Posts: 53
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Re: My first attempt at teaching

IMHO,definately don't dumb down Aikido for the 12-15 year old age group. Do a warm up first, games last and techniques in between. Teach Ukemi, let them throw you, get them really tired, teach them to sit seiza and "learn by watching" sometimes. Keep high standards in execution and respectfulness towards themselves and others, they will rise to them. Watch yourself that you are calm and having a good time. This age group loves to make up games, I've found.

We have a large children's program with Bruce Bookman Sensei at our dojo. We teach all throws and pins (they are told to tap out before it hurts, unlike the grown ups who are encouraged to build character through nikkyo!) and the kids have lots of belt colors so they can see their advancement. When I did a public school class last year for younger kids, they all went up to yellow belt in 7 weeks. We had 2 teachers for the 22 kids, so we were well staffed. This, just to give you an idea what's possible. Also, we did a little mini-demo at the end so parents could see what their kids had learned. I think we started with one as well to drum up enthusiasm.

Here's a site with games and advice; www.aikidokids.com
Here's Bruce Bookman's teaching Aikido to kids link; www.tenzanaikido.com
Good luck!

Melissa
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