Kids' Aikido

Kids' Aikido is taught on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:00 for ages 7 to 12, by Ruth Kantor Lopez and David Hawley.

"I see Aikido as a martial tool for self development. Self defense is a part of aikido, but self development is a much larger realm. Ukemi is big with me because I suspect that we develop more through ukemi than through technique. Ukemi is the art of falling and of giving a good attack so that your partner can learn the technique. Learning to take a fall without fear and with little or no impact on the body is a skill kids will use throughout their whole lives since their chances of tripping or falling off a bike are far greater than being attacked. I generally structure my classes to spend about half the class on ukemi and half on technique. I usually reserve the last few minutes of class for games that either incorporate aikido movements or build group cohesion."

— Ruth Kantor Lopez