Aikido Kokikai Pittsburgh

I feel very lucky to have become a student of Sensei Litt in Aikido Kokikai Pittsburgh. We live in challenging times. I am fortunate to have a teacher who is astute, continually training, and very supportive. I recommended this practice to several of my long time friends.
May 25th, 2023

Very nice and helpful akidoka! The class is strenuous but not too much so for us middle aged folk. :)
May 18th, 2023

I started practicing aikido with Barbara Sensei in summer 2019 and it has changed my life tremendously. I would encourage anyone to give this all-aged (18+) self-defense martial art class a try. You will gain not only practical skills but also a peaceful mindset. Unlike other martial art forms that focuses on attacking, aikido emphasizes self defense. When someone grabs your wrists/shoulder or put you in a chokehold, how to safely gain the upper hand such that it is of your opponents best interest to give up on the attack? Instead of using muscle and pure strength, the key focus of aikido is to be deft and make your opponent lose balance. Therefore, size plays less role here. As a girl, my throw can be as powerful as another 6-feet male player with proper training. Moreover, because theres less active kicking, I have had far less injuries than I had with taekwondo. I feel much safer practicing aikido and I believe it is a hobby Ill enjoy for life. Im a more confident person than I was when I first started aikido. In addition to increased confidence in tackling dangers through practice, I feel a gradual change in mindset. I used to panic often under pressure, but aikido has helped me to gain better control of my emotions in a stressful situation through practical stress-relieving techniques and, more importantly, through repeated practices when I am the nage, or the thrower, and I have to stay calm but keep my mind sharp so I can react fast and confidently to dodge an attack and overturn a situation where the uke, or the attacker, is a much larger figure. Aikido has helped me in many other aspects of my life as well. As someone with ADHD, I give up easily when the goal is too high and intangible. But from practicing aikido, I see the value of repeated practices and how small steps can accumulate to big progress. I am now a believer of the shu-ha-ri idea practiced in martial arts - you learn fundamentals, you detach with tradition and eventually all moves are natural. Practicing aikido has trained me to endure long hours of practice with a peaceful mindset before mastery in any field, which was extremely hard for someone with a neuro-atypical brain like me. I believe my experience is great not only because what aikido offers fits perfectly for a girl like me - less requirement on strengths, less injury-prone and more emphasis on the correct mindset, but also because Barbara Sensei is a very wise person who is good at teaching and explaining moves in a very intuitive way. From her, I not only have learned practical self defense skills, but more importantly, a calm and peaceful mindset that prepares me to better cope with difficult situations in life. I would strongly recommend anyone (especially girls!) interested in self defense or martial arts to train with Barbara Sensei. Youll see what minimum efforts, maximum effects really means. I look forward to seeing you on the mats!
Jun 26th, 2023