aikido for a girl

[Manny]

My eldest daughter has 13 years old, she's a skinny beauty,since a little girl she's been doing swiming, gymnastics (she loved) and dancing (some ballet and jazz). Right now I am a little worried, she's growing up and she's at high school and she's so innocent that I want her to take some MA just to learn how to defend herlself. She does not like TKD maybe because she's affraid of being hit but I think Aikido can be the best MA she can learn because of her physical constitution and character.

The problem is, she refuses to even take some classes and it's a fact Daddy won't be available everitime for her.

What can I do?

Manny

 

[Drac]

The problem is, she refuses to even take some classes and it's a fact Daddy won't be available everitime for her.What can I do?Manny

The worst thing you could do is force classes on her...Look around for an Aikido school and see if you can observe a class,maybe it might interest her.. Better still try to find anykind of MA school that has a female sensei. See a female instructor might do the trick..

 

[MA-Caver]

Another thing is to have her watch Aikido videos on You Tube... some are cheesy and others are fairly decent while a few are quite good. She can get a sense of the art and as far as I'm concerned is an art where she does not have to strike anyone just put them in a hold or manage to fend them off where they cannot "touch" her, i.e. someone reaches out to grab her or whatever she counters to a nice pressure point hold that can put them on their knees until she releases them. Hapikido does the same thing only they have strikes and kicks involved as well.

As far as her innocence goes... she's going to lose it sooner or later. She'll find out not everyone is a nice person and will try to hurt her or take advantage of her. The more she is aware of this and has the "tools" to help defend herself the longer she'll be able to keep her *ahem* other innocence.

But yeah Drac is right... don't force her to learn... her enthusiasm and willingness to learn the material will not be as high as it should/could be. Better that she understands why it's important (to you and for her) to learn. Besides she may be attracted to the spiritual aspects that the art(s) provides.

 

[teekin]

Being an Ex-gymnast myself perhaps she might like Judo. I found a certain gymnastic quality in both the art of learning to throw and be thrown. I had little fear of falling because I knew where I was in the air and could spot my landing. I found the ground work very sequenced and methodic as well. If you can find somewhere that just happens to teach freestyle Judo your daughter would be able to take very good care of herself. :samurai:

Lori

 

[Xue Sheng]

Being an Ex-gymnast myself perhaps she might like Judo.

agreed


I'm not an ex-gymnast and I do not train Aikido or Judo and my youngest is in TKD at the moment but I honestly believe in the long run, if she stays with MA, that an art like Aikido or Judo would better fit her personality, but if she does not go that route or stay with TKD I will have to deal with it because Drac is right on the money when he says "worst thing you could do is force classes on her"

I like what I see in both Judo and Aikido but in looking at both, it of course would depend on the child, but I think Judo would be more interesting and a bit more exciting for kids. That of course is just my opinion

 

[hussaf]

She's at an age where she's very socially-minded and very impressionable. Martial arts aren't really the "cool thing to be doing" these days...not even in Japan. Best bet is to find a dojo with girls her own age, or just a few years older, that seem cool, popular, attractive...someone your daughter will respect, maybe even admire, in regard to the value set of a 13 year old girl. In my dojo, when someone wants their daughter to train, I arrange for them to meet a girl at our dojo, Kathy. She's maybe 15, a black belt, very mature for her age, and has been in local and inter/national newspapers because she won a gold medal her first Pan-American Games tournament this year (sparring, karate). She can be really intense for a 14-15 year old girl, but she's also very girly once you get her off the mat, and very sociable at her school. She can serve as a defacto role model for young girls considering training. Doesn't always work that way (girls often seem to find reasons to hate each other), but its a solid foundation.

Biggest thing is to check her "street smarts." No amount of training is going to make any young girl invulnerable. Probably the best attribute of training in a traditional martial art would be to give her confidence and independence. Ensuring she knows her limitations, what's out there, that help positively effect her decision making will be more beneficial than learning a wrist lock or punch. If she's out drinking at a party (underage), this is already a bad situation...but hopefully when one of her schoolmates meets an older college guy and wants to go off somewhere with him in his car, something will click in her head that will say "this is really f-ing stupid, I'm not going."