I may have a little Aikidoka on my hands

This is a cool and inspiring thread.

6 years later she is almost a black belt. I bet you are glad you stopped at that aikido dojo you drove by every day now huh?
 
I am very proud of my not so little Aikidoka.

After 7 years my little Aikidoka got her 6th kyu (brown belt) and will now be going, exclusively to the adult class. of course this means that she will not be wearing her hard earned brown belt and going back to wearing a white belt. The adult class wears only 2 colored belts; white and black.

The Sensei (owner/head instructor of the dojo) was there for the test and said that if that was a 5th kyu test she would have passed that. The Sensei, her Sempai and the other adults there helping with the test were all very impressed with her performance.

Per her Sempai; the kids 6th kyu test is harder than the adult 5th kyu test. I believe he is following Aikikai standards, but I am not 100% sure there
 
I am very proud of my not so little Aikidoka.

After 7 years my little Aikidoka got her 6th kyu (brown belt) and will now be going, exclusively to the adult class. of course this means that she will not be wearing her hard earned brown belt and going back to wearing a white belt. The adult class wears only 2 colored belts; white and black.

The Sensei (owner/head instructor of the dojo) was there for the test and said that if that was a 5th kyu test she would have passed that. The Sensei, her Sempai and the other adults there helping with the test were all very impressed with her performance.

Per her Sempai; the kids 6th kyu test is harder than the adult 5th kyu test. I believe he is following Aikikai standards, but I am not 100% sure there


Awesome Xue!
 
I am very proud of my not so little Aikidoka.

After 7 years my little Aikidoka got her 6th kyu (brown belt) and will now be going, exclusively to the adult class. of course this means that she will not be wearing her hard earned brown belt and going back to wearing a white belt. The adult class wears only 2 colored belts; white and black.

The Sensei (owner/head instructor of the dojo) was there for the test and said that if that was a 5th kyu test she would have passed that. The Sensei, her Sempai and the other adults there helping with the test were all very impressed with her performance.

Per her Sempai; the kids 6th kyu test is harder than the adult 5th kyu test. I believe he is following Aikikai standards, but I am not 100% sure there
So, so cool to hear Xue. A massive well done to her :)
 
My daughter has been through Taekwondo and after a year it was fun but she learned little of use, the school not the art. But I have never felt that any striking or kicking art would be for my daughter. She does not want to hit anyone. I was thinking for a while that she would probably do better at Judo but even then I was not so sure. I drive past an Aikido school almost every day on my way to work and I know the Sensei is quite good but I never thought about it for my youngest. Then one day I thought I should check to see if they teach children, and, I found out they do so I took her to a couple of classes and she loves it. She was smiling most of the class and even giggled once or twice (at the appropriate times).

They are teaching basics to her which really impresses me and it is not play time like Taekwondo was and she loves it and wants to go back, she even wants to learn how to do some of the takedowns the sensei showed the class to explain what the basics were working towards, heck she even liked sitting in Seiza and doing the breathing. And better yet (from my perspective) unlike the TKD School, they do not schedule belts nor do they give them away. You need to work for it, understand what you are doing and demonstrate it and I am very ok with that (but then I am an old school MA dinosaur)


So it looks like this longtime CMA guy has a little Aikidoka on his hands... and to tell you the truth I really hope she continues to love it and stick with it.

Besides.... this long time CMA guy started with Japanese Jujutsu so it is all good.

I am like you, I learn striking MA. The year I studied Aikido was very enjoyable. If I had started in Aikido first, I may never have learn striking arts. The 6 blacks belts who taught us were in their 40's and had train together since childhood. I am sure they could handle most anyone in a fight. Having only one year of training, I would not have used Aikido in a fight. I maybe wrong, but I think it takes a very long time to get good enough to use Aikido against a boxer or other striking arts.
Your daughter has already put in seven years, by the time she goes to college she will definitely be able to defend herself or even help other. You have much to be proud of.
 
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Had her first full on adult class full of black belts and Sensei
Days before class: nervous and not sure she wanted to go
On the way to class: Not sure she can handle it
Walked into the dojo and she was visibly nervous and staying at the edge
Class started she joined in
2/3 of the way through class she needed a short break and was saying maybe she can go every other week
the end of class she was talking about going next week.

She enjoyed the intensity and the community and really wants to go back.
Sensei and everyone there was great

She is now officially in the adult class
 
Had her first full on adult class full of black belts and Sensei
Days before class: nervous and not sure she wanted to go
On the way to class: Not sure she can handle it
Walked into the dojo and she was visibly nervous and staying at the edge
Class started she joined in
2/3 of the way through class she needed a short break and was saying maybe she can go every other week
the end of class she was talking about going next week.

She enjoyed the intensity and the community and really wants to go back.
Sensei and everyone there was great

She is now officially in the adult class
... love it. Absolutely awesome :)
 
I am so happy with the adult class my little (not so little) Aikidoka is now in. The blackbelts are extremely helpful and go at speeds the newer, younger students need to go at to learn, but once they think they got it, the speed increases. It is a very positive atmosphere and a very supportive, yet serious about Aikido, group.

My Aikidoka is a bit trepidations about going but I talk her into it, and today was no different, But after class she did thank me for getting her to go, she had a great time.
 
She is still loving the adult classes and she has commented several times on how much she enjoys the community

There is a "Feel" to a martial arts school that is very important to me, that I rarely feel in most dojos, guans, schools. But I feel it in her Aikido Dojo and I am very impressed with how these very serious Akidoka take the time to help her and show here the proper way of doing things. How they ease into a new throw with her, but go to speed as soon as she appears comfortable.

At the end of last class she was stopped by one of the black belts, who worked with her, one on one for 15 minutes, on a rather complicated move they had been going over as a class. And then she walked over to me and asked if it was ok to go back and talk with people who were still on the mat, simply talking. I said ok and sat there and read my book for a few minutes until she was done.

My little aikido (who is not so little anymore) is happy with the dojo, the teachers, the Sensei and the community. and I am incredibly happy, and rather impressed with this dojo.
 
I am very proud of my not so little Aikidoka.

After 7 years my little Aikidoka got her 6th kyu (brown belt) and will now be going, exclusively to the adult class. of course this means that she will not be wearing her hard earned brown belt and going back to wearing a white belt. The adult class wears only 2 colored belts; white and black.

The Sensei (owner/head instructor of the dojo) was there for the test and said that if that was a 5th kyu test she would have passed that. The Sensei, her Sempai and the other adults there helping with the test were all very impressed with her performance.

Per her Sempai; the kids 6th kyu test is harder than the adult 5th kyu test. I believe he is following Aikikai standards, but I am not 100% sure there

Not big on quoting myself, but this post is relevant to what I am about to post

I am, admittedly, a little slow on the uptake here, but I noticed something today on the certificate that the sensei of the school gave my little Aikidoka after her last test.

She tested for 6th kyu brown belt in the kids class, as mentioned above, the sensei of the school was there and said she could have passed the 5th kyu adult test.

I just noticed today that the sensei did actually give her the 5th kyu, it is on the certificate, that I, apparently, did not look at closely when she handed it to me. But then, I don't feel so bad, she was not exactly sure either. She is just enjoying going to Aikido.

So my little (not so little) Aikidoka is a 5th kyu and looking forward to her 4th kyu test when it comes around.
 
My little Aikidoka (who is not so little anymore) is rather happy. Here new school has a gym requirement and they are going to recognize her Aikido class as her gym class. She was upset that with school starting she would be back to 1 day a week for aikido. Now that they will let her substitute it for gym, she can go to 2 classes a week. She is mighty happy about this.
 
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