OUR PROJECT

Education should be a means to empower children and adults alike to become active participants in the transformation of their societies

The Peach Pack initiative was born out of the strengths and skill sets we have, with our respective careers in education and public health. Our goal is to engage others, find inspiration and deepen our educational knowledge through the medium of martial arts.

Our project aims to describe and analyze the different ways martial arts can be used in various intervention practices to improve the positive development of social behavior and personality.

MARTIAL ARTS?

From an etymological point of view, the Chinese ideograms for “martial art” are broken down into two characters: "stop" and "lance".

This formula can be interpreted both as the art of stopping the spear of the opponent, as well as the art of stopping one’s own spear.

It’s the Great Art of outdoor pacificationand inner harmony.

This exceptional tool allows you to express yourself through your body being in motion.

Education and martial arts combined will allow us to give everyone the desire to develop their personality, their empathy, their self-confidence, the channeling of their emotions and respect for others.

Through this project, we will aim to show that the practice of martial arts taught in an educational manner is part of the public health alternatives for education.

DESCRIPTION?

Concretely, it will be a matter of conducting qualitative interviews of selected practitioners of martial arts. The resulting material will then be subjected to a structural analysis. These interviews will be filmed in the form of 10-minute shorts. This will allow us to reach a wide audience.

The videos will include: a quick tour of each country, cultural meetings, interviews with stakeholders selected for each country, and snippets of our family teeing up the theme for each video short.

OBJECTIVES

This project aims to raise awareness amongst social workers and health professionals on the educational, therapeutic and social restructuring virtues of martial arts; no matter the place, the social class or the culture.

Discover through our YouTube channel the martial culture and its benefits (mental balance, appreciation of physical effort, development of empathy, respect for others and self-confidence) to the general public.

PROJECT LEADS

A small Brussels family: Stephanie and Leslie, the parents, and Liam.

LESLIE

As we say in French " La pêche"

I love saying this little phrase as “la pêche” translates to be positive and see the good side of life, and that’s essential to me - after my family of course! That’s why our project is called The Peach Pack. On the professional side, I’m a specialist educator in socio-sports activities. I worked in a juvenile prison in Belgium and am now based at the Léonard de Vinci high school for the Parnasasse-ISEI Institut as a martial arts teacher. I also lead a non-profit association that welcomes around a hundred young people each year with socio-family difficulties and helps them rebuild relationship with their environment.

On the sports side, I’ve been passionate about martial arts from an early age, gaining a black belt in Yosekan Budo and a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I’ve also won various titles: vice-world champion in Kickboxing ICKKF and Kempo, Belgian champion in Yosekan Budo and bronze medalist in the Full-Contact World Championship.

I’m looking forward to this project and am eager to learn, discover and evolve in my new experiences.

STEPHANIE

I’m a: mother, wife, optimist, dietician-nutritionist and an adventurer.

I’m involved in this project as I have a great interest in the world around me. For my son and for everyone who follows us, I strive to convey values that are key to me: cultural exchange, open-mindedness and respect for others.

I graduated with a Master’s degree in Public Health at the Catholic University of Louvain. I chose to carry out these studies as I felt understandingthe issue and operating mechanics of health programs was fundamental in my ability to develop strategic and quality actions on a targeted population.

In getting Bachelor’s degree in Dietetics and Nutrition at the Paul Lambin Institute, I led a 3-month project to improve the nutrition of young children in Burkina Faso.

I strongly believe that nothing is more important than education to shape humanity.

LIAM

Designed with too much love in Australia, this little adventurer then already crossed part of the world to be born in Belgium on December 14th, 2016. Like many little boys of his age, he’s lively, curious and eager to learn. For him, his home is where his parents are.

THE COUNTRIES

We have selected each of the countries listed below based on the following criteria: local martial arts, social relevance of selected sports clubs and martial diversity.

Belgium, Thailand, Philippine, Indonesia, Australia, Japan, China, United States,Cuba, Brazil, South Africa, Israel