hello from Australia
Hello , greetings from Australia,
I was was playing on line and found this site and thought I would join to keep in touch. I may know some of you ? or you may remember me possibly , from various Aikido dojos, especially if you trained in Tamalpais Mill valley dojo from all the way back to the 80's. I have lost track of some folks i think of often , so if your reading this and know me , please , write , i would love to hear from you.
I am a women, i Live in beautiful place , near Byron bay on the east coast. these days I surf a lot , this became my practice as much as Aikido , and Aikido certainly helped me stick to the difficult learning phase and also helped me go with the flow of the wave. I am currently also doing my PhD and making films.
I practiced formal AIKIDO for many years and taught and founded some of the now successful dojos here , like in Noosa , palmwoods , thirroul that still run today with excellent instructors and then briefly dojo in the mountains of new Mexico at a community called lama foundation ( this one no longer exists). anyway, Aikido has given me so much, i reckon it saved my life in many ways and will always be a part of me .
I stopped formal training a few years back , I fell 12 ft from a balcony onto concrete and broke both my arms , elbows , wrist and clavicle... in fact this is one time aikido saved my life , as I automatically raised my arm and tucked my head and went into a aiki roll , thus breaking external bones instead of my neck and back , it was a miracle and no-one could believe i was OK.
I now use AIKI ( and other things) in the work I do with people. I teach dealing with conflict with ABORIGINAL people and they love it , Aikido has so many possibilities , so many ways we can use the teachings for ourselves and others.
I still miss formal practice and being around other aikidoists , but my heart is still connected and who knows how my practice will change and grow. I feel it is a life long path and has many faces.
ANYWAY, not sure what else to say to introduce myself , I guess one thing is also to say , I am hoping to return to USA mid 2006 for research on my PhD , the topic is about resilience , renewal , reclaiming of culture , community and individual wellness through the use of creative processes and narrative.. I am hoping to make half of my thesis in the form of a documentary. I am primarily looking at this in terms of trauma recovery, and from an indigenous perspective ... but also feel this has something to offer everyone... I will be interviewing people who have experiences to share on work they do that helps people in these ways , i see aikido as a creative process a movement narrative, so I am also interested to interview people on this. so we will see.
If anyone is interested int his topic let me know.
I will be traveling and spending time in some communities like pine ridge reservation and others i have been invited to share and learn with that work with people in various ways towards healing/ wellness recovery...
so , thats it for me i guess , sunny day here , surf is calling...
be well , any visitors to AUSTRALIA , please feel welcome to contact me and visit or if you need info about trainings here let me know and I will try help you.
all the best to you all. enjoy the practice. enjoy life.
samia
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