At an introductory seminar to Aikido, I learned about how to structure a class for complete beginners, and of different paths to understanding.

Aikido is a martial art, and as such, it’s meant to be experienced. I wish we had spent more time doing Aikido basics, instead of talking about principles and how they worked, but there were certain eureka moments.

A Eureka Moment

A first-timer and I took turns with this technique, but using a wooden knife.

After a few rounds I did a variation. As he thrust the knife forward with his left hand, instead of evading to the side, I evaded diagonally back and to my right. I grasped the knife-wielding hand with my right hand. I explained, “And then, supposing your partner pushes, you can use it to throw like this.” I twisted his hand as I stepped back, and forced him to the ground.

He smiled in a glow of understanding.

“There are a lot of possible variations.”

“And you can adapt what you do depending on the situation.” he said.

“Right.”

—

If I were to structure this class, I would have had the students practice a lot more basic moves in isolation, then built them up, culminating in the combination of moves above.

We did do footwork, but skipped some steps, so I fear that it was not immediately apparent to the students how everything connected together.

Had we gone step-by-step, sensei would not have had to verbally explain as much.

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