Cyprus, 2005: Aikido in the buffer zone

In April 2005, Aiki Extensions, a sister organisation of ours, organised a seminar called Training Across Borders in Nicosia, Cyprus, in the UN buffer zone that divides the island. Donald Levine led the project, with Richard Strozzi-Heckler among those who developed it.

About a hundred people trained together for several days: Palestinians, Israelis, Bosnians, Serbs, Greeks, Turks, Jordanians, Americans and others. The organisers chose not to put the word "peace" in front. People came to practise Aikido with partners from the other side of a conflict.

It is one of the clearest examples of Aikido used as a meeting place rather than as a subject of discussion.

Do you know of similar projects today?