Aiki4Kids: What Can We Really Win in Aikido?

140 Children on One Tatami and a Very Unusual Demonstration

“Martin, you won,” Adam, one of our 12-year-old students, proudly declared after that unusual demonstration. “You handled seven of us!” I was so tired that I just winked at him, not telling him there was nothing to win in Aikido. Handling seven wild children attacking me for 90 seconds wasn’t the hard part—the real challenge was bringing them down onto the tatami safely at that speed.

We organized this international seminar for children and youth in November 2024 in Prague. The event brought together 140 children and teenagers, 40 adults, 20 dojos, and participants from 7 countries. We set up 700 square meters of tatami for 7 training sessions—some divided into 3 age groups, and others open to everyone, including parents. And one Aikido demo.

No words can truly reflect the special vibe of the event; the power of the whole group, teenagers dedicated to dynamic Aikido practice, small children gently touching or enthusiastically wrestling. There are so many aspects of what happened that Saturday.

The smallest aikidoka in a circle

I’ll try to describe just one thing in this article—the story of the demonstration we did together. And I believe this one example will help you understand what it was all about…

Should we have a demonstration?

This year we did the Aiki4kids seminar for the fourth time. In the first run in 2018, there was a demonstration of teachers… and it was boring. In 2019 children did a demonstration - they prepared some performances with their teachers and it was really fun to watch. But in 2023, when we tried to do the same, no children wanted to perform and the demonstration was canceled.

So, we had this dilemma in 2024. Should we hold a demo? And if so, how could we make it interesting and valuable for everyone?

The biggest age group this year were teenagers

We prepare it together, we do it together

This was the topic of an email discussion we teachers had before the seminar. We also talked about it in person during our briefing on Saturday morning. There were different ideas and opinions but we still needed a clear idea of how to do it. We only knew that we also wanted to engage children in it, to help them overcome their shyness and let them shine. It took one more brainstorming, just fifteen minutes before the scheduled time of the demo, when we finally found the way.

What a challenge!

So here is how we did it. Children sat at one side of the tatami, the same way as at the beginning of training. Teachers, dojo leaders, and assistants-around 20 adults took place on the other side of them.

And then I told the children: “Ok, this is what’s going to happen! There will be the sound of a gong and you can go to any of the adults to practice with him or her. You will practice what you want with your chosen teacher, switching roles of uke and tori. After 90 seconds there will be another gong, the end of that exchange. After that, go and sit down to watch others practicing or find another adult to practice with. This will go on for 20 minutes.”

That was our proposal for children; they had a choice - to perform and enjoy throwing their teachers and seniors, or to watch the spectacle.

When designing this process, we didn’t know if the children would go for it. We were risking that it would end up in an awkward silence, children sitting and adults waiting for them.

The Avalanche

We had no way of predicting what would happen next. As the first gong sounded, countless children leaped to their feet and ran towards us—it was an avalanche. And when I write “children”, I mean young aikidokas between 8 and 18 years. So sometimes our partners were small children we had to take care of, and sometimes they were young athletes trying to prove themselves. And don´t forget we were also taking ukemi for them. For 20 minutes straight, without breaks. After a few turns we adults started to be pretty worn out.

And then five of my 12-year-old students came to me.

“Martin, we have this test. We go to a teacher and two of us attack him or her. If the teacher handles, three of us attack, then four, then five. We want to know who handles more of us. Are you ready?”

“Sure”, I said. “What is the attack?”

“Any attack.”

Fair enough. You already know the result—but I still have no idea how their group grew to seven during the randori.

Children practicing with their teachers and seniors

What did we “win”?

After the demo, still breathing heavily, I asked the children if they liked the format of the demo. All thumbs up and a strong roar were the answer. Risking being awkward in front of our young students was worth it, we tried something new and it worked.

Sure, handling seven children at once isn’t winning—it’s just practice. Organizing a seminar for 140 children isn’t winning either—it’s just work. But in hindsight, I have a feeling that we all won many things that day:

• We adults cooperated in preparation for the demo and designed it together - one person couldn’t create the new arrangement by himself.

• We respected young people's natural shyness and yet managed to engage them in a show where they were in the spotlight.

• We served in the uke role to the following generation of aikidokas, hopefully giving them a taste of what Aikido can be when they grow up.

Together with our young students, we practiced, sweated, and created something extraordinary: an experience that surprised us all and a moment we’ll always remember. Miracles like this were happening throughout the entire day.

So, there is something to win in Aikido after all. But it’s not about winning over someone—it’s about winning together.

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PS: Aiki4kids in 2025

The next international seminar for children and youth in Prague will be on Saturday 8 November 2025 - see the invitation for details.

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Thanks and credits and more photos!

Thanks to the Czech Federation of Aikido, Sokol Vinohrady, and Colop company for the support of this event in 2024.

Thanks to the students from Aikido Prague Vinohrady for the great organization.

Special thanks to Aikido Akadémia Košice from Slovakia and Aikido Aikikai Academy from Ukraine for their continued cooperation on this seminar.

Thanks to all the participating dojos for coming and creating the event with us!

And last but not least, thanks to the following teachers who spread joy and inspiration on tatami:

• Anne Slui (5 dan, Netherlands) - Aikido Ando Eindhoven

• Jacqueline Aikimama von Arb (4 dan, Norway) - JūShinKan Aikido Stavanger

• Martin Frankovič (5 dan, Slovakia) - Aikido Akadémia Košice

• Misha Rogach (4 dan, Ukraine/Slovakia) - Aikido Aikikai Academy

• Milada Bouzidi (2 dan), Jan Macháček (2 dan), Anna Prokešová, Vanda Švihlová (4 dan) and Martin Švihla (5 dan) from Aikido Prague Vinohrady