Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Aikido, translated as “the way of spiritual harmony”, is a Japanese martial art. While it is a powerful system of self defense, the greatest benefit of Aikido training is that it provides a means to better yourself and become a happier, more balanced person. There is a piece of calligraphy authored by Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, that reads “True victory is victory over oneself”. This concept and Aikido itself is suitable for people of all ages.

For the last year or so, I have had the privilege of being an assistant instructor for the “Kid's Self Mastery” classes at my dojo; helping to teach children ranging in age from 5 to 10 years old. The classes themselves consist mostly of games and exercises allowing the students to learn Aikido, teamwork, respect, kindness, and other skills in a way that's fun to them. They also have “Mat Chats” in which they discuss various topics such as bullying and dealing with anger. At the beginning of each class, they read “The Martial Arts Way”:

The Martial Arts Way

• I will tell the truth.
• I will treat everyone with respect.
• I will obey my parents and teachers.
• I will do what is right when no one is watching.
• I will work hard without complaining.
• I will do well in school.
• I will help others.
• I will follow the Martial Art Way. Will you?

As an exercise in helping others, I gave each child some smile cards. I asked them to do something nice for someone, give them a card, and then write me a few sentences describing what they did. They all did an excellent job with this and I was very impressed. Below are the sentences they wrote (the only thing I changed were the names in the sentences).

• I gave my smile card to my friend for helping him on a math paper.

• When I went over my aunts house I gave her the smile card. I help her with my cousin.

• I took my smile card to John. I took my smile card to John because I helped him with building a fort.

• I made my Mom and Dad's bed.

• I made a card for my Mom.

• I helped my Mom clean the house and I gave her the smile card.

• I helped my Grandmother watch my baby cousin Melanie so I gave her the smile card.

• Mrs. Harris: I gave it to her because she was nice for taking care of Meagan so she won't annoy me.

• Uncle Jim: I gave it to him because he plays with me and is nice.

• I gave a smile card to my sister. My sister wanted to borrow my DVD and even though I did not want to let her borrow my DVD I was nice and let her borrow it anyway.

• The other smile card I sent in a “thank you” card to the nice lady who took my picture on Halloween.

• I helped Mom shovel snow.

• I let Andy borrow my video game.

• I got into a fight with Craig and I want him to know I am still his friend.

• The first thing I did was I picked up someone's eraser and gave it to them.

• The second thing I did when a bully came up to one of my best friends they hit her. I talked to her about the problem and made her feel better.

• I helped my Dad clean the house and gave him the smile card.

• I helped my friend do a math problem and gave her the smile card.

To any of my kohai (junior students) who are reading this, I just want to say GREAT JOB!!