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ACV Kids on Aikido I'm the Sword by Blake Sullivan At recess, a couple of bullies were picking on a kid in my class. We are in the fourth-fifth grades, and I am a fifth grader. They wanted me to help them be mean to this kid. I refused, and tried to help the kid being strangled. By accident, I hit the bully with a piece of ice, which made him cry. His friend came running at me with his two fists closed to hit me. I just looked him in the eye and remained calm. This kid then walked away. The next day in the corridor, one of the bullies tried to punch me as I walked by him. I did a kotegaeshi technique and he went down to the floor. That is all I did and he left me alone. A couple of days later, I was playing soccer with my class. As we were playing, a bully tried to push me down. I moved in a tenkan way as I have been taught to and he fell down. That made him really, really, mad. When he jumped up, he charged me to push me really hard. I did a shihonage technique and took him down. I told him to leave me alone, which he did. I thought about Sensei's story of the Sword that Takes Life and the Sword that Gives Life. I feel the story means that my study of aikido makes me a Sword. When those bullies were on the ground, I could have tried to hurt them. I chose not to hurt them. I believe I made the right choice. The choice was to be the Sword that Gives Life.