Children's Aikido

Renseikan offers children's Aikido classes three times a week. Each class runs 50 minutes and begins with a short period of zazen (quiet time). As in the Adult class, our children's Aikido classes begin with a short but thorough warm up, followed by ukemi practice (breakfalls). Students then practice kihon dosa, or basic solo exercises. These basic movements are important, as they help students to develop the strong, coordinated movements necessary for proper Aikido techniques.

Solo movements are then put into practice with partners. Students work together in either pairs or in small groups, and take turns practicing basic and advanced aikido techniques.

We use Japanese terminology throughout and the children have fun learning the terms for the physical movements they are doing. Our students wear a white dogi (uniform) that is thicker than the one worn in Karate - this thicker uniform provides more padding which is necessary as Aikido involves breakfalls.

Students'level of personal advancement is indicated by the colour belt they wear during class. The actual requirements for each rank (belt level) is provided in the Renseikan Student Manual along with the Japanese terminology used in the classes. However, our focus is on students' self-development rather than ranking, and children are encouraged to advance at their own pace.

Aikido does not involve competition or tournaments as a method of training. The emphasis in Aikido is on each child's individual improvement, rather than being based on how well your child performs in comparison to another child.