miércoles, 7 de abril de 2004

Discipline...

Children class is a source of wonderful experiencies. In our interaction with children the biggest lessons are presented in such practical ways in order for them to understand and grasp. Yesterday was one of those days... We had to stop the class in order to apply.....correction. We have this custom in our dojo where we use a wooden figure that looks like a bird or serpent. We named it a " talking stick". And like old tribes the one person holding the stick is the one who speaks and the rest hear him. Every one have a turn to express his ideas or opinion in an orderly way. The theme was that we are all important in the dojo. In spite of being a teacher I could not do my job without them. In the same way they could not do their job as aikido students without a teacher. "What could make my job to teach more difficult?", I asked them. " And what could make it hard for you to learn in the dojo?", I also asked. One by one, and holding the "talking stick", they started expressing themselves. Two ideas were repeated: attention and respect. It is important to pay attention to what its shown and said in order to learn. And we must respect each other. Its not only the teacher or sensei who deserves our respect. But I as a teacher must respect them. I must give by example what I ask from them. And also between them the respect as fellows aikidoka must be present. That day I was to make a hard decision concerning one of the students. At the end of our group conversation, this one student asked for another opportunity in front of all her peers. Yes, we were all hearing and paying attention. There was still more time left to train. We ended the conversation there and standing up continued training.

Sensei Myriam