Didn't want to start a whole new thread for this so I figured this was the most suitable place for it. My 9 year old daughter came in from school yesterday with a big grin on her face, all excited and a band-aid on her right palm. "Daddy! I fell going down the hill to the bus stop this morning and did a front fall just like sensei showed us and I didn't even get hurt or nuttin'!" I grinned at her and said "Great job!" and asked about the band aid... "Oh, that. Well, when I fell my hand slid a little and I got a rock stuck in my hand so the teacher put a band aid on it when I told her about the front fall. Can I tell sensei about it when we get to class on wednesday night?" Of course I answered in the affirmative. She has not had to use the aikido training for self defense luckily so this was her first "real" experience using something she had learned in class to protect herself. She reacted instinctively and properly and it saved her a lot of injury... I don't know that I could have done so well... the hill she fell on is almost straight down. Just the ramblings of a proud papa.