My Experience during the 2023 6th International Youth Martial Arts Camp

by Asbin Pariyar & Lauren Peralta

Photo of Asbin making his group presentation with his team members

Good day, I am Asbin Pariyar, 16 years old, from Kathmandu-Nepal. There were 6 participants from Nepal who were selected for the 2023 6^th International Youth Martial Arts Camp organized by ICM for a total of 4 days and 5 nights whose fare was all covered by ICM. The participants were selected based on how they filled the required application form. We Nepalese successfully landed after flight of 11 hours including transit.

On the first day we arrived, we moved to Chung-ju, had dinner and went to our respective dorm and were given souvenirs. Next day we went to the institute of ICM then had welcoming speech, breakfast and all the participants from different countries were divided into 5 groups, then we started to learn various things.

The things that we got to learn throughout the recent ICM program are really vast. For example, the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) which were ultimately introduced to spread awareness around the globe to help with development. Wouldn't it be amazing to see every country developed with everything being righteous? Because programs which make opportunities like this are mostly beneficial for international development, don't you think?

Progress had been made in poverty reduction, maternal and child health, access to electricity, and gender equality, but not enough to achieve the SDG Goals by 2030. In other vital areas, including reducing inequality, lowering carbon emissions and tackling hunger, progress had either stalled or reversed. According to the UN (United Nations) website, the SDGs were developed at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2012. The purpose was to create a set of global goals, related with the environmental, political and economic challenges that we face as humanity.

Our groups were given individual assignments and team presentation assignments about SDG goals which contained topics like sustainable consumption, linear economy, global waste trade. We were assigned to discuss within the respective groups, then present what we know according to the problems in each of our society, wrote in a sheet of paper then submitted it.

We also got to learn about the importance of us youth for development of the country. Youths are important because they are the building blocks of the future, the development of any sector depends on us i.e. because at the age of being independent, we are the ones that will have the potential to create new ideas to develop our respective country by using the resources and knowledge that we have, and with each piece of block (youth), the process of development can fasten.

We were also taught about Gender equality which also plays an important role for development as it can help to increase the outcome of different merit including all other (17) SDGs that we were taught about. Not only things like studying, we also learnt Taekkyon, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Ssireum, learnt to make Korean dishes like small rice cake and Tteokbokki, too.

We also took part in sort of local tours of Chung-ju where we were taught about the history and tragedy of the place. During the farewell party that was held in Chung-ju, we were distributed certificates. On our way to the Seoul local tour, we went to a mall where we played multiple sports games, ate at a restaurant Nepali and Indian mix restaurant, whose food was awesome i.e. because I am Nepali, and then we participated in team missions, escaping rooms. Next morning everyone said Goodbyes then moved to the airport to return home.

All of the programs played a role to make the stay there entertaining and comfortable. It was like an adventure to gain experiences and knowledge, helped to make new friends and connect with new people, share various ideas which helped to learn their surroundings, allowing us to relate to social problems and together, to create a solution. But after all, we learnt that if we don't implement or share the ideas, then it is going to take a long time to even think about development. The things we learnt are important resources that might help escape crisis in rural undeveloped countries. So it should be shared with everyone to spread awareness for what is wrong and right. Every citizen plays an important role for development of their surroundings.

I am really grateful I was able to attend, gain new knowledge and experience throughout the program. I would recommend everyone to apply and join these types of program if you get the chance, to make full use of it and share what you have learnt, around the globe.

Thank you!     

Reference

United Nations website [https://sdgs.un.org/goals].

<Lauren Peralta>

Photo of Asbin making his group presentation with his team members

Last July 17 to July 21, UNESCO ICM held the 6th annual International Youth Martial Arts Camp: Homecoming, which took place in South Korea, which had been the first face-to-face camp they held in 3 years after the outbreak of COVID-19. During the event, participants were given the chance to engage with fellow participants while learning more about martials arts, SDGs, and gaining life skills.

For this year’s camp, they allowed youths who previously joined during the online camps to join again. Given the chance to participate, I signed up to join with multiple reasons in mind. To begin, I wanted to meet people from around the world to form bonds, and learn new things from them. I also thought about how I might even be able to meet other participants who joined in 2021. Second, as we were unable to fully experience the camp in 2021, I wanted to experience doing everything in-person. Third, I wanted to learn about different martial arts again, something we did in the 2021 camp that I loved, but couldn’t thoroughly enjoy due to external factors. Lastly, I was interested in learning about the SDGs as I would like to learn more about our world and find ways to help my community.

During our time in the Camp, we were given a lot of activities to do, from solo work to group works that tested our abilities to communicate and work with each other. With the many programs we did, I found choosing which program I liked the most difficult, as I enjoyed many of them because of all I learned, from volunteering which sparked ideas in doing more work to help the communities in the Philippines to the talks given by the speakers, like Ms. Bertha, who taught us about gender equality, something I deeply appreciated and resonated with, as I have faced moments of gender inequality due to being a woman.

Despite all that, what I really enjoyed were the physical activities, which were Taekkyeon, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Ssireum, because I enjoyed being given the chance to train under professionals and learn about Korea and Brazil’s culture through their martial arts. These lessons also reminded me to have patience and control, as learning new things take time to perfect and since the martial arts focused on grappling and throwing, we must know how to have control as to not hurt our partners.

Because of the programs that we had participated in, I feel like I have learned so much things from the people that surrounded me. I learned how to take charge in one of our group works, I learned about life in other nations, such as issues with the environment and issues of gender inequality. I also learned about how all SDGs are interconnected and that to solve one issue in relation to one SDG, we must also work to solve the others. Lastly, through this camp and speaking to others, I learned more about how there really is more to martial arts that meets the eye and how much it truly means to me.

To a large majority of people, martial arts are sometimes just seen as a method of combat, which is inherently true, but is also so much more than that. As a Filipino, martial arts is my way of keeping in touch with my culture and heritage that existed long before I did. As a martial artist, it is a way to protect and defend myself. Lastly, as a ‘person’, it is a way to learn valuable skills and virtues that can help me in the real world, such as ‘patience, endurance, teamwork, and discipline’. Martial arts are something that has helped me stay on the right track in life and grow as a person and become a better version of myself.



Sadly, everyone knows that all good things must come to an end, and we all had to part ways at the end of the camp. Despite that, the skills we developed, the people we met, and the memories we made will continue to stay within us. We will carry all our newfound interactions into the future, something we will all be forever grateful for.