"A year ago, together with my 6-year-old daughter, we started practicing family aikido with Yanitsa Sensei at the Tendokan Dojo. My daughter was a timid child and did not want to try new and unknown things. But with time and with the help of Yanitsa Sensei, things began to change. My daughter gained self-confidence, discipline and a great desire to communicate with her father (to his delight). She became more confident and determined, which filled me with pride. And I became more patient and aware parent and person.
A few months ago, a new child started in her group, who from the first day behaved quite aggressively with everyone else. In June, the children were in a reduced composition. Until then, the child in question had not teased my daughter, but one day he kicked her in the stomach, for no reason. He stood next to her and grinned as she writhed in pain. In the evening, she told me what had happened and we discussed. I explained to her that if I let herself be hit every time, she would always suffer.
I am one of the parents who believe that their children should defend themselves in case of aggression against them. For this one year of Aikido training, we learned a lot of defense techniques, as well as ways to avoid attacks. Naturally, the next day the child decided to hit my daughter again, but this time she was expecting him and immediately applied the 'nikkyo' key technique to him and knocked him to the ground. All the children around her were amazed and delighted. They were expecting that there would be a 'battle', not that everything would be over in a few seconds. From that day on, the boy no longer dared to tease my daughter.
For me, as a father, the most important thing is that she acted despite her fear of attack and pain. A few days later, I saw the boy in question, and I was even more proud and amazed of my daughter. In addition to being larger, he is also almost a head taller than my daughter. I hope that after a few more years of training at the Tendokan Dojo, I will be able to overcome myself and, if necessary, defend myself against a much bigger and stronger opponent, as my daughter did."