I was recently featured in a video report by Réunion La 1ère TV channel during my visit to La Réunion Island, where I was invited by the École d’Aïkido du Sud to teach and share my experience of Aikido with the local community. This visit was particularly meaningful for me, as it marked my second time teaching on the island, following a first visit in 2019.
The video was filmed on the beach of Grand Anse, a place whose natural beauty strongly reflects the calm, openness, and energy that lie at the heart of Aikido. The filming brought together practice and discussion with Gérard Tayllamin, President of the École d’Aïkido du Sud, and Yanis Hoareau, Regional Federal Delegate of the Ligue Réunion Aïkido. Rather than documenting the seminar itself, the video offers an introduction to Aikido through movement and dialogue, set in an outdoor environment that emphasizes connection, balance, and intention.
Beyond the filming, the visit also included a seminar that brought together Aikido practitioners from across the island. This gathering took place in a delicate context, as the Aikido community in La Réunion had recently experienced significant political tensions, which led to divisions and the splitting of certain groups. Despite this, practitioners from all factions chose to attend, training together on the same mat in a friendly, respectful, and open spirit.
For me, this was one of the most meaningful aspects of the visit. Aikido is a non-competitive martial art, rooted in cooperation rather than opposition. In a world where competition is omnipresent—in education, sports, and professional life—Aikido offers a rare space for mutual elevation and shared progress. Seeing practitioners set aside differences to practice together was a powerful illustration of these values in action.
I am deeply grateful to the organizers, instructors, and practitioners who made this second visit to La Réunion possible, as well as to Réunion La 1ère for capturing and sharing this moment. I hope this experience will contribute to renewed dialogue, technical growth, and a stronger sense of unity within the island’s Aikido community, and that it will lead to future opportunities to meet and practice together again.
