Bullying
Bullying - A non-violent approach to combating this problem in young children.Bullying is a great concern for parents these days. Kids are suffering from bullying even in year 1, primary school!Can Aikido help kids with this serious problem? The short answer to this is “Yes”. But how and why?Aikido is a traditional Martial Art with self-defence throws and an emphasis on learning how to fall safely. It is great fun for kids, as well as a great challenge. But it is not really appropriate to teach young children fighting techniques. Below 9 or 10 years old, it is very difficult to get kids to do proper techniques and if they did, you really don’t want them to use them on other kids in the playground. Hopefully, older children have the maturity to know what is appropriate, especially since we emphasise the importance of respecting each other and using appropriate force in our lessons. So, even though the 9+ age group do practice “proper” Aikido technique without joint locks; for the under 9 age group, we concentrate more on co-ordination, balance, spatial awareness, teamwork, and mutual respect. I have found that this is, the most effective way to combat bullying in this age group.Why would just working on coordination, attitude and awareness prevent kids from being bullied?In New York, a researcher discovered that violent criminals and experienced policemen could recognise “potential victims” of violent crime just by watching them walk. Policemen on the beat revealed that they would look out for muggers by identifying potential victims and following them. However, neither the beat cops, nor the violent criminals could explain what it was that singled out these potential targets. Video clips of people walking were ranked in order of “muggability”. Then the clips were assessed by specialists in movement.A pattern emerged. The higher the subject was ranked as muggable, the more “abnormal” their gait and posture was. The movement specialists identified problems including low muscle tone, collapsed arches, tip-toeing, slumped posture, unco-ordinated or no movement of the arms while walking etc.These findings are directly applicable to the playground. When a kid feels the need to pick on one of his peers, he will instinctively single out a “soft target”. Someone who is a loner, not fitting in or displaying signs of “weakness”. I have found that kids who come to me because of bullying, often have some postural or movement issues and as their body control improves, they report that “inexplicably”, they stop getting bullied and start to develop a better self-image, self-confidence, and socialising skills.Through games and exercises designed to stimulate the children’s balance, co-ordination, muscle tone, as well as their awareness of the external world and their own bodies, they cease to need to learn to fight, because they are no longer targets. I believe that this is in fact the highest goal of a martial artist. The master never needs to fight because conflict doesn’t arise in the first place. In learning to be comfortable in your own skin, you naturally give out a body language that doesn’t invite aggression.I have tried to combine my experience of over 30 years of Aikido with my knowledge as a doctor with a special interest in neurodevelopmental movement therapies and musculo-skeletal medicine, as well as over 20 years of parenthood, to develop a system which brings the best out of these young kids. As a bonus, by the time they are ready to move into the older age group, they can do forward and backward rolls, basic techniques and have developed the core skills to move into a more structured, formal, martial arts class.
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