FY2025
Aikido Showa Dojo
Children's Class Annual Report

1. Overview of the Year

Rather than significantly expanding the program, our priority in FY2025 was to sustain regular practice and improve, one by one, the conditions that allow children to participate with confidence. Fourteen students were enrolled at year-end, ranging from the early elementary grades through junior high school. The latter half of the year included more girls than boys. We did not attempt to engineer an equal gender balance; instead, we operated transparently and accurately described the actual enrollment.

For prospective students, we used observation and trial classes to see, without rushing, how each child observed the environment and entered play and practice. At the final stage of one trial period, we asked not only the parent but also the child whether the child wanted to continue. Enrollment was decided only after confirming the child's own wishes.

For junior high school students, attendance was treated flexibly in light of entrance examinations, school activities, and other responsibilities. Attending once a week or temporarily leaving the children's class was not treated negatively. The student's life and development came first. Some students also tried the adult class or expressed interest in it, showing an emerging connection between the children's class and the next training environment.

Rank examinations were not presented as contests or selection events. They were conducted as milestones within ordinary practice, giving students an opportunity to understand their current progress. Younger students with limited attendance were offered review time before examinations to reduce anxiety.

Length and Continuity of Enrollment

As of March 31, 2026, three students had been enrolled for less than one year, one for less than two years, three for less than three years, and seven for three years or more. Half of the 14 students at year-end had trained for at least three years, demonstrating meaningful long-term participation rather than only short-term trials.

By the end of July 2026, three students who had participated during FY2025 had moved to the next stage of their lives: one joined a junior high school club, and two transferred to Showa Dojo's adult class.

Within the limits of the available records, no student left because of interpersonal conflict, distrust of instruction, dissatisfaction, or loss of interest in Aikido. Departures reflected life-stage changes or transitions to another training environment. We consider it important to examine these reasons—not simply changes in enrollment numbers—when evaluating the health of the program.

2. Safety, Hygiene, and Facilities

Children can move freely only when adults provide a safe and sanitary training environment. During FY2025, we maintained the AED, first-aid supplies, drinking water, air conditioning, and cleaning supplies in a condition suitable for everyday use.

We did not assign facility cleaning to children as a form of spiritual discipline. Adults retained final responsibility for the training environment. Children were responsible for putting away their own equipment, while instructors managed floors and restrooms, first-aid and hydration supplies, water breaks, and climate control.

Our safety preparation combines an AED permanently installed at the dojo with instructors who regularly renew lifesaving training.

• Cleaning floors and facilities and checking for hazards before and after practice.
• Inspecting and replenishing first-aid kits, cold packs, bandages, and related supplies.
• Preparing the training environment, including climate control, before class.
• Deciding on rest and hydration while observing changes in health, expression, and movement.
• Providing first aid, sanitizing the floor, and contacting parents when an injury occurs.

One minor incident involved a small amount of bleeding from a toenail. Instructors divided responsibility for first aid and floor cleaning, confirmed the student's condition, and allowed the student to return to ordinary practice.

A fracture also occurred during FY2025. After the injury, we remained in contact with the family and monitored recovery. When the student returned, we adjusted the content and intensity of practice to allow gradual participation. When necessary, we reviewed the private archived video to explain the circumstances to the family and evaluate subsequent procedures. This experience reinforced the need to review not only the initial injury response, but also communication during recovery, return-to-practice checks, and measures to prevent recurrence.

No other serious accident was identified in the available records. We do not treat a low number of accidents as proof that safety measures are complete. Minor incidents and the course of each student's return are retained as material for future review.

3. Practice and Peer Learning

A recurring observation in FY2025 was that learning did not flow only from instructor to child. Children also created meaningful learning among themselves. Older students watched over younger students and beginners, explained only what was necessary, and adjusted their strength to match their partners. These behaviors spread among several students rather than remaining the responsibility of one child.

When forming pairs, instructors did not assign every combination. We continued a short child-led discussion process. Depending on attendance, students developed methods such as rock-paper-scissors, matching numbers, and other approaches incorporating chance. When younger students were unsure how to join, older elementary and junior high school students provided only the support needed to include them without taking over the process.

The practice of working with many partners, rather than only close friends, also became established. Among older elementary students and above, boys and girls often formed separate pairs as their developmental stages and natural comfort levels changed. We prioritized each student's ability to practice comfortably rather than mixing genders merely for form's sake.

New students were not expected to enter the center of the group immediately. We observed a gradual process: watching play from a short distance, joining when the group was small, responding when invited by another child, and eventually entering on their own. Time spent at the edge of the group was respected as time for observation and preparation, not treated as nonparticipation.

When learning new techniques, several students asked questions and repeatedly tested movements on their own initiative. Instructors emphasized offering one necessary point, observing the next attempt, and giving brief feedback instead of continuing with lengthy explanations. Reviewing video also became a regular way for instructors to check whether they had missed students' attention, reactions, or requests for help.

4. Accountability to Parents and the Community

Private livestreaming of practice began in August 2025. Streams and archives were accessible only to parents and remained in use through July 2026. By the end of the reporting period, a private playlist of 64 FY2025 recordings was available to families.

The purpose was not to display children publicly. It was to allow parents, when needed, to observe aspects of development that may be difficult to see at home: how a child speaks to peers, works with younger students, recovers after a mistake, and finds a place within the group. Because instructors' words and interventions were also visible, the system reduced the risk of closed-door instruction and supported accountable practice.

Routine parent communications were kept concise and limited to necessary matters such as completion of dojo preparation, the start of a livestream, or a schedule change. We prioritized keeping important information visible rather than increasing the volume of messages.

Before rank examinations, arrangements were made for interested parents to observe, allowing them to see how examination material connects with regular practice.

Every six months, each family received an individual mind-technique-body report describing observed changes. We did not use scores, rankings, or comparisons with other children. Reports focused on observed facts such as posture, safe falling, understanding of techniques, consideration for partners, ways of asking questions, and changes in participation. These individual reports are provided only to the student and family and are not published.

5. New Initiatives

6. Challenges and Priorities for the Next Year

Our next challenge is to determine whether the practices established in FY2025 can continue as enrollment and group composition change. If new students increase, we will observe whether responsibility for helping others circulates among several children rather than becoming fixed on a small number of older students.

Enrollment decisions will remain gradual. Increasing student numbers is not itself a goal; enrollment must remain within the range in which instructors can monitor safety and individual development.

Junior high school students will continue to have several possible paths in response to examinations, school clubs, and interest in the adult class. Remaining in the children's class is not the only correct outcome. We intend to preserve relationships that allow students to try the adult class or step away when needed.

Individual mind-technique-body reports require careful observation and substantial staff time. To continue them without reducing the quality of observation, we will review the balance among daily notes, video review, and report preparation.

To avoid depending only on the experience or judgment of individual instructors, we will organize existing practices and put basic governance expectations in writing. This includes initial response to injury or illness, parent communication, medical consultation when necessary, graduated return to practice, and the use of incidents and near misses to improve procedures.

We will also clarify how photographs, video, individual development records, and information about injuries or difficulties may be shared. Children's activities, successes, and failures will not be used for publicity at the expense of the dignity of the child or family.

Parents need a clear route for questions and concerns about program operation, safety, or instruction, including matters that may be difficult to raise directly with the regular instructor. We will continue to use the dojo head as an additional point of contact. The goal is not a large institutional system, but clear responsibility and transparent decision-making appropriate to a small community dojo.

Initiatives Being Implemented or Evaluated in FY2026

• Earlier precooling during extreme heat, room-temperature checks, stored hydration supplies, and additional fans.
• Extending the pre-class arrival period to 30 minutes, giving families greater flexibility and providing time for free interaction, changing clothes, health checks, and safety preparation.
• A two-level information practice: detailed internal records and an external annual report that does not identify individuals.

Starting a new initiative is not treated as success by itself. We will record participation, safety effects, family impact, and workload, then decide whether to continue, revise, or end each initiative.

7. Privacy Protection

This report does not identify children, parents, or instructors by name. References to gender or grade level are limited to what is necessary to explain overall patterns, and potentially identifying events are combined with multiple observations.

• Livestreams and archives are restricted to parents and are not released publicly.
• Individual mind-technique-body reports are private documents for each student and family.
• Photos and videos of children are not published to advertise enrollment or stage accomplishments.
• Internal records are used for safety review, operational improvement, and reflection on development—not to rank children.

Internal records include not only successful outcomes, but also instructor uncertainty, oversights, and revised decisions. Publishing those records without context could distort events. Detailed internal records and the public annual report are therefore managed as separate documents with different purposes.