Wild Lotus Arts: Aikido for kids

self portrait Gerard Menzel

A Personal view
From my experience as a teacher in schools who has done hundreds of workshops with students in Australia over a 25 year plus period as an artist educationalist I have discovered there are a number or valid reasons for you people to study Aikido or a similar non violent martial art. As a teacher in Primary/secondary/adult and Higher Ed institutions I believe Aikido is a unique way for people to find their inner self and know what it is like to be free of fear and to discover a fuller awareness.

After studying martial arts around the globe and with some of the best teachers possible for me I realise that Aikido and non violent martial arts / arts are of immense value for;

the formation of personal values,
the release of negative emotions and tensions,
the direction of positive energy in a harmonious way
the understanding of how to view conflict as a challenge or gift that can be transformed into useful energy directives.
the realization that love connects and flows through every aspect of the universe

Formation of early values
The early year of a persons life are important for the formation of life values and personal standards to which the individual will be structured and influenced by throughout his/her entire life. These virtues include truth, honesty,valor,fearlessness,charity toward others,compassion, to name a few. As we live in an era where real values seem to be less and less visible,or almost impossible to find in our leaders and media iconoclasts it is important for people to be given opportunities to form them. Boys need a realization of peace and the centering of their body first and then their mind and Aikido teaches Hara /earthing techniques and mental direction / understanding.

Boys
Boys need to be physical so that they find the balance between power and force for good and the overstepping of that force as it turns into a destructive self and other power. Boys love to play and to feel their energy as they connect with others and also feel the joy associated with the creative expression of power. They need to experience and not be afraid of their inner force but also to be able to harness it, manage it and kindle it like a fire that is under management of their heart and mental power.

Girls
Girls have a natural edge to their physicality in that they do not naturally use brute strength but they 'feel their way' internally in a bid to solve problems. This is in harmony with the principles of aikido where the circle of power avoids head to head power play and adversarial competition. Girls need to feel rooted to the earth and centred like boys also and aikido can help create an understanding of their centre of power and harmony. Girls need to respect nurture and love their personal Ki power also and to build on it and control it.

Structure
Young people need a framework to base their lives around and direct their energies in the best positive directions and Aikido shows the aikidoka a number of key points.
1. In conflict there are no winners and losers but both can learn.
2. The study of life includes the knowledge that Love or Ai is the basis for positive transformation of events, feelings, emotions, interactions, relationships.
3 Fear is an emotion which can be transformed into creative activity and thought.
4. Looking after our fellow aikidoka partners and ourselves is a paramount rule in training.

The Spirit -Power from inside
Aikido students learn from the outset that power lay in the internal secrets of the Aikido circle of give and take, forward and back, left and right, up and down, ...movements in harmony with the universe. Personal power is a Universal power that does not end with one's body or mind. Aikido is a journey that begins with the body and grows into a journey beyond the physical realms. A journey that has no limits to consciousness.The student becomes connected to the earth, accepts the limitations of gravity and the forces of nature and discovers the keys to harmony and limitless power. The key to Aikido is awarneness and the flow of the universe.

Energy and the cosmos
In Aikido the individual becomes less and less relevant as we grow and understand that the breath of the universe known as Ki force is shared by all humans and that 'the force called Ki' is available if we surrender our ego's. Then the destructive forces of; control, domination, jealousy, fear, anxiety, timidity inertia etc are no longer. Aikido teaches us that The Way of Harmony or 'AI' is the way to move, feel and think.

See the founder Mr Ueshiba as he practices Aikido.

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Kids classes

Time 16.30 to 17.15 Tue Thur

Cost
$12 kids 13 & under
$15 adults 14 & over
$48 kids @ 4 classes a month
Adults $60 @ 4 classes a month (Costs may be revised during the year)

Annual membership and insurance $75
Family discounts
Family of 2 $135 *Family of 3 $202 *Family of 4 $270

Uniform costs see below

Venue - to be notified
Start Late Febuary 2017

Class sizes limited to 10-15 students