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Voice of the Fox
The Newsletter of the Martial Arts Training Service

Kids' Aikido Seminar
by Susan Lazar
Winter 1999

As our kids' aikido program has strengthened and grown over the last few years, Maureen Browne Sensei has worked to provide varied, interesting experiences for the group. So when Shindo Sensei from Japan sent us pictures of her dojo's gasshuku, an interested gleam appeared in our sensei's eyes. Within a few weeks, we were planning our dojo's first gasshuku.

A gasshuku (pronounced "gosh-a-coo") is any training camp that includes overnight boarding. The purpose is to provide an intensive training experience.

On Friday evening, October 1, the aikido kids trooped in carrying sleeping bags, pillows, stuffed animals and bags of clothing. The 20 participants' ages ranged from 7 to 14 years. We welcomed back several junior high program students who had previously "graduated" from the kids class into adult classes

Serious training, not a party

Class started at 7:00 PM with a welcome speech from Sensei. For several weeks we'd been telling the children that a gasshuku is for "serious training, not a party," and that anyone misbehaving would be sent home. The kids really wanted to be there. So they sat seiza in an orderly line, wiggling less than usual, quietly waiting for class to start. The rainbow formed by their various colored belts reminded me of their many tests and of the hard work that each had done to achieve his or her rank.

First class started with a longer than usual warm-up, just like adult seminars, with breathing exercises and the rowing exercise added to the usual stretches. Then the kids lined up for ukemi. A few of them were rowdy and talkative. It was interesting to hear other kids tell them to "be quiet" and "behave."

After a rest, the second practice hour began. With the exception of our junior high program kids, this was the first time any of the kids had practiced more than one hour a day. They were tired but seemed to gain endurance as class continued

Sushi is no substitute for pizza

Then it was time for dinner. Domino's pizza had lost our order, so one of the uchi deshi went out to pick up the pizza. When the kids sat down to watch O'Sensei videos, we offered them sushi maki rolls. Some of the kids actually liked them, going back for third and fourth helpings. Others blurted, "Ugh, seaweed!" and made faces. But we got most of them to at least try it. The kids also ate Japanese cracker snacks from Yaohan, cut up apples and bananas. Finally, nine large pizzas arrived. The kids descended, devouring all but a few slices.

After pizza, we taped a long scroll of white paper to the mat and passed around a large box of crayons. The kids drew or wrote messages to Shindo Sensei's dojo, congratulating them on the 15th anniversary of their dojo. Kids drew pictures of animals, the Fox Valley Aikikai patch, bugs, and people. Others wrote "congratulations" and "anniversary" concentratedly as they learned how to spell the words

"Sleepover" is not the right word

When the children finished the art project, we sent them into the locker rooms to change into night clothes, brush teeth, and get ready for sleep, we hoped, or at least ready for the night. For many of them, certainly sleep was not in their plans!

We told the kids to place their sleeping bags on the mat, girls on one side of the dojo, boys on the other. The adults placed shoji in front of the dojo windows. When the kids were done picking out their sleeping areas, there were several distinct groups. The younger girls lined up in one area, and the older girls circled around another area. The boys arranged themselves similarly in age-related groups on the other side of the mat. And the talking and giggling started

Ok, so what do two uchi deshi, one Sensei, one former deshi, and one parent do with 20 giggling kids? We turned off the lights in a hopeful attempt to encourage sleep. The adults retreated to the back room to talk and breathe. The kids were staying in their individual places, so at first we let the talking and giggling go on. It was "only" 11:00 PM. The kids had really behaved well so far and had been looking forward to the sleep-over part.

At midnight, the adults began their own "intensive training" as each tried, individually, to get the kids to hush and sleep. My own attempt, at 12:30 a.m., was to announce to the entire groups of kids, "Ok, everyone has to be quiet and go to sleep, or the last kid talking has to clean the toilet in the morning!". Instant silence! I never did see who talked last. The silence lasted for five whole minutes.

Other adults attempted reasoning with the kids. "You'll be tired when we wake you up in the morning for two hours of practice and dojo cleaning!" The awake kids giggled. Some wanted to know who was going to clean the toilet and what we were going to practice in morning class. The adults retreated again to work out new strategy.

I finally decided to just give a good example. I tossed my bedroll onto the mat, lay down, pulled the blankets up, and closed my eyes, determined to ignore the talkers and demonstrate sleep time. With the age group of our kids, many of them are actually young enough to mimic an adult role model. I don't remember much after that; I actually fell asleep. So much for night deshi duty! I understand from the other adults that the kids ignored my "role modeling" for about an hour until they finally slowed down and fell asleep. A few kids were awake at various times during the night, but there was always at least one adult awake all night

But everything looks better in the mornin

Waking up in the dojo made me smile, seeing several tousled, small blond- and brown-haired girls all facing towards me, starting to wake up. The smaller girls had fallen asleep with their feet facing me. Sometime during the night, they had turned around to face toward me. It was sweet, opening my eyes and seeing their bright little faces first thing in the morning.

The kids breakfasted on bagels, peanut butter, cream cheese, and orange juice. We told them to put their sleeping bags away and pack their bags. They did this, quickly but definitely not noiselessly!

Then the dojo clean-up began. The seven and eight year olds helped me with mat sweeping, maybe not a great idea as the brooms were about two feet taller than the kids. But it was that or window cleaning, and somehow the thought of small children leaning against windows trying to clean them didn't fit our idea of a safe environment.

I told the kids to sweep "across the mat to its end." In our dojo that means sweeping sideways away from the tokonoma toward the other end of the dojo. One seven year old starting sweeping in circles. Another walked to the end of the mat and started sweeping there, forward instead of sideways. But finally everyone figured it out, sweeping occasionally in sequence but at least in the same direction. They swept up the food crumbs and had flashes of understanding the concept of working together.

Taller, older kids cleaned the windows, vacuumed the carpets, and dusted the bookcases. Everyone helped collect and throw trash and recycling into large bags

Only two hours to go!

Two one-hour aikido classes followed. In the first class, Sensei introduced ki exercises. Pairs of kids balanced balloons between themselves. The next exercise had them hook their arms around each other while sitting back to back, then balancing themselves to stand up. Finally they did the "sticky hands" exercise. They practiced breakfalls. Then three groups, organized according to skill level, practiced techniques and movements according to their abilities.

Most parents arrived to watch the last half hour of the gasshuku. At 10:30 AM the children lined up one last time. Sensei congratulated them on having finished their first gasshaku and requested suggestions for the next one. When she asked if they had enjoyed themselves, the kids let out a loud "Yes!" with the younger kids rocking back and forth smiling, the older kids sitting up straighter and smiling, and the adults . . . well, we yawned but admitted to having enjoyed it too. Our aikido kids almost always make us smile and make us proud. This weekend was no exception.

Then the child-and-belongings retrieval by parents began. Amazingly, the children had packed their bags as instructed and were more or less ready. Soon, the kids were gone and the dojo was quiet. And like any multi-part construction kit, we have only a few parts left over (clothing, not kids).

The adults finished picking up the trash. We sat around to discuss how things went, what to do better/the same/or different "next time," and how quickly it would take to get home to get some sleep. When we left, the adult basics class was just beginning.

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