ZEN CLUB

“No bullies, no rowdiness: we want to grow together. Without any violence. In serenity”. This is the proposal of the sports association Zen club which, through its technical director, Maurizio Silvestri, has been carrying out a project for several years in which ancient disciplines of Japanese samurai have been transformed into a modern educational system to help people grow and feel better about themselves and others. Through the principles of Yamato yoshin ryu, an ancient martial art that today is also classified among holistic disciplines, the capabilities and limits of our body are studied.

To reach the deepest part of our being, to that deep Self where, according to Jung, impulses that the external world does not accept are often confined and which often scare us. And so to face the challenges of everyday life, whether they are the offensive actions of a bully or any type of obstacle, in the most serene way without ever resorting to extreme actions like physical confrontation or falling into frustration and subsequent depression. It is a work that the Zen club has been carrying out for a long time and has always produced excellent results, even with students with Adhad or even 104 certifications. Inclusivity is at the foundation of the work. A work carried out always with the consultation of our two psychologists who examine cases in which specific expertise is needed.

At the Venezia event, it will be the youngest members of our association to present the method, through practical examples of the work being done. And so with real mini-skits representing dangerous situations at various levels, and the best way to neutralize every problem without, indeed, resorting to extreme actions: responding to any type of violence with equal violence only serves to fuel hatred and prolong conflicts endlessly. The performances, always introduced by an appropriate explanation, will therefore be predominantly carried out by young people, even very young. Each performance (brought to life based on ideas of the protagonists according to their still young experiences) is realized in a very spectacular and entertaining way. The show is organized interactively, in order to involve the audience present (without any risk, of course).

The Zen club was founded in 1978 by Maurizio Silvestri, one of the world leaders in the martial arts field. Silvestri has always combined his work as a professional journalist (for the Espresso group he covered the main events of recent decades, from Chernobyl to the wars in the Balkans, in Israel…) with his work as a researcher and teacher (teaching at the University of Siena and Sant’Anna Institute in Pisa as well as at Enriques high school and “Formatica” Logistics school) in the field of martial arts and security. With him is a team of professionals (psychologists, teachers, martial arts masters) working on the “Encounters on the Future” project, a project aimed at reducing, through the integration of Eastern and Western disciplines, the gap between the development of intelligence and consciousness. Unfortunately, a gap that is constantly growing, as we can see from the daily news.

Therefore, studying together not to be better but to be equal and climb together on the podium of life.