Hello. My name is Tala. Today I am going to talk about my favorite thing.

It’s one of martial

arts, “Aikido”. Do you know that? Martial arts have Japanese “Budo”. You know that martial
arts have many kinds, for example, Judo, Kendo, Kyudo, Sumo, Karate and more. I’ve been
learning Aikido for eight years.
When I was a first grader in elementary school, my mother started Aikido. I asked her why she
started Aikido. She said to me, “we have several kinds of traditional cultures in Japan, we call
them Dou. Dou means the core of our lives and Japanese mind.” She hoped I would learn one
of Dou, so she looked for something that we could practice together. When my mother was a
child My grandmother did Kyudo. Kyudo is an individual sport which doesn’t need opponents,
so it’s practiced by one player. But my mother wanted me to practice martial arts with her.
Then she found Aikido. She started to learn it and has practiced it for nine years. I sometimes
saw my mother practicing Aikido. Her figure was so cool. I was interested in Aikido and
admired my mother. I wanted to practice with her, so I started to practice Aikido.
When we practice Aikido, we wear keikogi. That’s a training costume like Judogi and we also
wear a belt. Each dojo has different colored belts. In my dojo, it has seven colors of belts.
They are white, yellow, orange, blue, purple, brown and black. They have meanings of level.
The strongest level is a black belt.
Women and girls over twelve years old and have practiced Aikido for more than two years can
wear hakama. But, men and boys can’t wear it until they get a black belt. Of course, at first I
wear keikogi and a white belt. Now, I wear a brown belt and hakama.
Nowadays, other martial arts are very famous in the world, but Aikido isn’t famous in Japan! I
think Aikido is the most amazing martial art! Aikido has some differences from the other martial
arts. For example, the other ones have fights and become winners and losers, but Aikido
doesn’t. Aikido has a sitting technique, but others don’t have this technique. Also, we don’t
attack in Aikido. We use an opponent’s power, then protect. I think these differences are the
attractiveness of Aikido.
Every Tuesday and Saturday I go to the dojo and practice Aikido. At that time, I join the practice
with many others in a wide range of age groups. I feel refreshed in every practice. I always
have a good time there. My instructor is Mr. Saotome. He teaches me a lot of techniques. He
is always kind and friendly to every person. That’s why many foreigners and sumo wrestlers
visit him and practice Aikido in his dojo. He is loved by many people. I respect him.
When we practice Aikido, we think about our opponents and concentrate. Aikido makes my
mind stronger. It’s a good experience to me.
Now, I’ve been practicing Aikido with one of my friends, Yuka, for a competition in October. I
want to keep continuing the practice harder. I want to take a black belt. Because if I take it, I
can practice Aikido in the world. I’ll get a chance to go to a foreign country. I would like to
practice Aikido with foreigners. Then I want to tell the Aikido’s attractiveness to people who
don’t know Aikido. I hope more and more people will be interested in Aikido in the future.
Thank you.