My long journey home - to Africa began in 2018
It resulted in two published articles: The Rainbow Continent Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 1: Welcome Home to Ethiopia A.K.A. the Land of Cush and Abyssinia, the Amazing 3-million Year Old Lucy, the Kung Fu of Master Teshome and the Art of Life http://www.kungfumagazine.com/index.php?p=article&article=1444 Ethiopia 7/2018 The Rainbow Continent Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 2: Ethiopia The Kung Fu of Master Tofik, the Beautiful University Town of Mekelle, the Ancient Cities of Nejashi and Axum and Interview with Ethiopian Wushu Federation President Abdurahman Alakil, Museums, and more http://www.kungfumagazine.com/index.php?p=article&article=1452 Ethiopia 8/2018 And a third one: Thematic Tourist Promotion of Trans-Saharan Trade Route & Niche Market Tourism Database for Five North African Nations, by Gregory Brundage, African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, Volume 7 (2) - (2018) ISSN: 2223-814X Copyright: © 2018 AJHTL - Open Access- Online (Peer reviewed journal published in South Africa) https://www.ajhtl.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/article_36_vol_7_2__2018.pdf That was a great beginning for me. Unfortunately my teaching job here in Beijing became "problematic" due to a number of administrative changes and I haven't been able to return to the Rainbow Continent since then. Beijing is a terrific place, incredible really, but... I have always searched for new horizons and challenges. JOB WANTED
I would like to encourage any African martial art club, association, university, or whatever to invite me to continue
The Rainbow Continent Kung Fu Friendship Tour I started a couple of years ago. I have a reasonably good CV and would be happy to work my way around the continent perhaps teaching for a year here and a year there. Teaching what? English, writing, social sciences, history, geography, or even workshops on things like counseling skills, conflict resolution strategies, and writing scientific research papers. So! Please consider this a job application.
Of course I always try to find indigenous martial arts to compliment my stories - travelers who don't appreciate the local cultures and traditions of the places they visit are sadly missing something very important I will politely not define here (OK, I really mean to say: "a brain," or maybe "a heart" or maybe "reality based perceptions of the here and now, or...). Yeah, yeah, I like a sense of humor too.
I started www.fightingartsasia.com in 2010 and it has since become the single largest martial arts directory in the world. It gets an average of between 1,500 and 3,000 visitors per week. It is purely non-commercial, just a hobby. I've been most fortunate to have traveled extensively around the world since 1963, including years in North America, Europe, (just a couple of months in) South America, and most recently some 20+ years in Asia. Everywhere I travel I visit and train with martial arts clubs. About 15 years ago I started publishing with Taekwondo Times magazine, and after moving to China some 10 years ago I started publishing in Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine. During the summer of 2018 I visited Africa - specifically Ethiopia - for the first time and got to meet some of the masters of Taekwondo, Wushu Kung Fu and Karate teaching there. I'm very keen on getting to know more about African traditional martial arts as well - for I know that the river has no beginning and the deepest roots of human experience are to be found in Africa. Though I've fought in more than 300 martial art tournaments between 1970 and 1984, I am no master - only a hobbyist as I always put academic pursuits before all else. None-the-less, I have at least learned to recognize real masters when I meet them and enjoy the company of all true martial artists. Incidentally during the past 10 years I've been an avid triathlon competitor and really enjoy long (10 - 12 Km.) slow distance jogging, swimming and biking. Parts of my experiences traveling and training for example in South Korea, China and large parts of the Silk Roads are published in Taekwondo Times and Kung Fu Magazines. Some of those articles can be accessed via my websites: www.fightingartsasia.com http://www.silkroadvirtualuniversity.org/publications-by-gcb.html Anyone looking at this site or my other sites will quickly realize I also have a number of other interests besides martial arts, including history, linguistics, archeology, psychology, evolutionary biology, neurophysiology and other things. Visitors to this site are welcome to contribute and/or comment. It's only a beginning and will take years to mature into a useful resource. Email: [email protected] Currently still in Beijing though (for the past 11 years) unfortunately getting those visa extensions is more difficult every month, as my 10-Year Tourist visa was cancelled due to COVID-19. By the way, my friends call me: Abdul Rashid as I am a Muslim since 1987. Fortunately I'm well enough educated in Islam and the philosophies and religions of the world to cherish all people who have a moral code that can be summed up: Be Good. |