Many years ago, one of our teenage students, a young woman, was standing in line at school one day when somebody behind her gave her a shove. She turned, thinking that there was some mistake, to find another student who wanted to attack her. She tried to reason with her assailant, but it didn't help. Instead, this person suddenly swung at her. Using her Aikido training, she avoided the blow and used the force of her attacker to drop her on the ground. The attacker was so surprised and confused that she immediately gave up her attack. "How did you do that?", she asked in amazement. "Could you show me how?"

Aikido teaches poise, self-control, balance, finesse, and methods of conflict resolution that are non-violent, while providing skills to avoid and/or deal with a violent confrontation.
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We began our teen classes for young students who were too old for the youth classes, but uncomfortable with the idea of attending class with adults. As the students gain skill, they are given the opportunity to integrate themselves into the regular adult aikido classes.