What If Your Kids Really Loved Doing Chores?

When children begin their Aikido practice, they are excited to earn their first belt. We always tell them the same thing, “To earn your white belt, go home this week and do something extra to help out around the house. Something you do not already do.”

Most of the belts they will earn in Aikido are awarded for skill mastery. They will need to practice for weeks, months, and sometimes years (for advanced levels) to learn achieve these milestones. However, their technical proficiency is only half of the value of Aikido. The other half is the development of character.

Kids Do Chores as Part of Aikido Training

Kids keep the dojo clean as part of their aikido training. Doing chores teaches us gratitude, discipline, and respect of our surroundings. It’s fun when everyone helps!

As they mature, young aikido students take on additional responsibilities, including teaching new students how to do dojo chores and organizing tasks for larger events, such as the daily setup and cleanup jobs of Aikido Summer Camps.

Character Development is Part of the Curriculum

Since skill and character development are both important, kids at any skill level are encouraged to continue their character development off the mat by earning belt stripes. Our belt stripe program is based on The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. Children as young as 4 have the opportunity to earn stripes for demonstrating important qualities like Dependability, Focus, Compassion, Confidence, and Stillness.

If you’re interested in Aikido for Kids, contact Laura Sensei at (941) 404-5801.