My little daughter was only 3 years old when she first told me that she wanted to practice Aikido. At first, I didn't pay much attention – our daily life was busy, and I didn't consider her desire to be something serious. But the weeks passed, and her enthusiasm not only did not wane, but even became stronger.
One evening, after I picked her from the daycare, she found out from a friend that it was then that she had a training session at Tendokan dojo with Yanitsa Sensei. Without hesitation, my daughter said she was going, and before I could react, she ran and went inside the dojo. I followed her – unprepared for training, dressed in jeans. Yanitsa Sensei kindly reminded me that we should be appropriately dressed for classes, but I didn't have time to explain how we got there. Sensei Yanitsa let us train. We liked it. And so began our adventure.
Two years later, we are still part of this exciting journey, and together we managed to climb and reach the level of “Wolf” after acquiring the superpowers of the “Horse” and now training to grow to and fly as the “Eagle”. Aikido for us is no longer just an activity – it has become a way of life, part of our culture and, most of all, it has strengthened the connection between myself and my daughter. It became "our" place, which brought us even closer. We’ve had a lot of challenges and difficulties along the way, but every obstacle we overcome made us stronger and more resilient. We learned important lessons, built self-discipline and became better – not only in the Dojo, but also in life. Many thanks to Yanitsa Sensei for her big heart and patience!