24 de Maio de 2007 - movimento - an update
Daniel has arrived and indirectly we are seeing Brasil again with fresh eyes. Now we're not just the Australian couple, we're the Three Gringo Amigos :) I would like to say that he's having a fantastic time but the truth is he's in bed right now, sick as a dog. Ah that fresh Paulistano air....
Had a meeting with Bueno Sensei tonight about creating a website for Aikido Harmonia - emcompassing the dojo, the NGO social projects and the aikido corporate work. I'm excited about having something new to work on, a contribution that will last for longer than my stay in Brasil.
Loving my Wednesday morning class. I have a small but dedicated group coming along and we just finished learning the first Yuishinkai jo kata this week. Keeping the theme to weapons.
Things are moving along at Casa da Criança. Paul and I have been giving the kids a one hour English class each week. We try to incorporate games and songs, keep it interesting (keep them interested!!). Janiena, the "mother" of Casa da Criança says that it is difficult for them to learn english because they don't have a good base in Portuguese to work from. The public schools in Brasil are, apparently, terrible. Interestingly, the public universities are the best, and free. Of course the kids from public schools have buckleys chance of getting into them because they haven't had a decent education. So, learning english one a week for 5 months may not make any difference to these kids, but...Maybe one kid, one day, will get an opportunity that'll involve learning english and those 5 months might just make them feel a little more comfortable about it. More like exposure to a language than learning a language.
Gabby
Comments
Hey G and P and D... I love hearing about your work with these kids. Aikido is a gift of love and I think O-Sensei would have been so impressed by what Bueno Sensei is achieving there with your help.
It has inspired me to try and get our dojo to do a demo for "The Murri School", our local Indigenous community school in Brisbane. These kids come from some of the roughest parts of Brisbane (and Queensland) and are certainly underprivileged in every sense of the word. I think many of them would benefit enormously by studying Aikido not only as a means of self-defence, but also (especially) from an emphasis on self-discipline, cooperation and the power of positive thinking!
Looking forward to you guys (eventually) bringing back all the wisdom and experience you are gaining from this trip. Perhaps you will be able to help us bring Aikido to the underprivileged citizens of this "first third world" - Australia.
I would also love to see Bueno Sensei in Australia the next time he does one of his overseas seminar missions - he sounds like a far-out dude and a bit of a force of nature! Maybe you guys could convince him to visit his fellow southern hemispherites one day soon?
Keep up the good work and play...
B.
Hey B....if that's your REAL name... ;-),
Please, tell me more about the Murray school - what age are the kids? I got an email from a Sensei in Perth, David Matthews of Aikido Kokikai, who wants to do something similar, next year. I've been thinking about the possibilities too. To be honest I doubt that it would work trying to get those kids to integrate into the Griffith class, initially anyway, but if someone was willing to go to them...
Bueno Sensei has shown interest in coming to Australia, so maybe you'll meet him someday. Trouble is we're such an isolated country, and expensive to travel to (from Brazil anyway). But...if we get something going with aiki-extensions, with the aboriginal community, organise a aiki-extensions seminar or something...anything's possible.
Cheers,
Gabby
Dear Friends,
Gabby - the Murri school kids are mostly primary and lower secondary schoolers, but the senior high school section has also been gaining momentum for a while now (say 6 - 16yrs). My Dad taught Science and other stuff there and helped do a fair bit to set up the senior secondary level curriculum and get the kids to actually come and enjoy the concept of education so who knows? They may really dig Aikido. As Danny Sensei has said: after years of being "done to" by well meaning white fellas, the indigenous community would really have to be in the driver's seat on this one. I think the benefits would speak for themselves though...
As for Bueno Sensei - I am sure that if we can get him over here, he would certainly find that the hospitality he has shown you guys would be reciprocated in spades! There is always a warm welcome and a bed at our house for a VIP like him. Will definitely start looking into ways of helping him get over here to share his ideas and experience - especially the sacred sticks of ki!