On Saturday October 29, L’Aïkido Club du Centre de l’île Maurice organised an exchange at Tamarin, in collaboration with L’aïkido club de St Pierre de l’île de la Réunion.
The guest of honour of this exchange was Yanis Hoarau, a 5th Dan Aïkidoka from Réunion Island. He is one of the most popular Senseis of Réunion Island who have a total of 300 students, where a third of these 300 students are his direct students at the Club de St Pierre.
Yanis is also President of the Reunionese league of FFAAA (Fédération Française d’Aïkido Aikibudo et Affinitaires) and is also famous to be one of the Aïkido veterans in the Indian Ocean, having several years of experience.
The exchange was split in two different sessions with the first session mostly focused on kids and the second solely focused on adults, totaling a combined 5 hours of non-stop Aïkido practice. The two sessions combined saw an attendance of around 70 aïkidokas, including two Mauritian Sanseis and the guest of honour.
With around 90% of attendance and two sessions well animated for 5 hours by Yanis Hoarau and Sensei Shailendra Latchmea, the exchange was a real success!
REFLECTIONS
YANIS HOARAU (5TH DAN REUNIONESE): “My mission here, in Mauritius is to:
First, to re-launch the Aïkido exchanges between Mauritius and Réunion, that were usually held twice a year, prior to the Covid 19 outbreak and closure of international borders. Secondly, to motivate Aïkidokas of all ages to experience the differences in terms of levels of what they can achieve in the future if they continue to strive in Aïkido. Thirdly, to bring to light the construction of techniques and to push the instructors and students to reflect on these. Lastly, to also maintain the good relationship between the two nearby countries, in which, there have been exchanges for many years.”
Shailendra Latchmea (3rd Dan Aikikai, Chief Instructor at L’Aïkido Club du Centre de l’île Maurice)
“I have been teaching aïkido for more than 20 years, which has helped children develop their potential and their personal development. The reason for which I have chosen Reunion Island to collaborate with is because of their impressive level of Aïkido. They regularly welcome worldwide Aïkido experts. I usually, during my overseas trips seize the opportunity to visit other dojos and practice with new people. The fact that in Aïkido there are no competitions, I have realized that the best thing for me to do is to venture out of my comfort zone and practice with other nations. Very few do that.”
Szoreny Latchmea (2nd Dan Aikikai)
“I have been practicing Aïkido for almost 20 years now. I was introduced to this martial art at the age of 5, by my own father, who is our local Aïkido instructor.
After years of practice, I decided to explore the art in depth and ended up making Aïkido my primary source of income by giving classes and my primary field of research.
Aïkido is currently in its transitional phase in Mauritius. That is why, I am on the mission to promote this art and to also form the maximum number of Mauritian Aïkidoka.
Visits from experts like Yanis in our regular exchanges also allow me to get back to the same ranks of the students as I get to practice with them and to learn new things or to pay more attention to the details that I thought were already acquired.”
