Known as ‘Contra-Mestre Simpson’ in the ‘roda’ (capoeira circle) I live with, through and for this beautiful martial art/dance/culture. It became a philosophy of life and I love to explore its capacity of setting myself free in every way. I am driven to motivate and inspire others to apply capoeira for their own emancipation of physical and mental slavery. and have myself experienced its life-transforming potential. My capoeira journey began 1999 when I met Mestre Paulo ‘Sorriso’ Mendes whose pupil I remain until today I became part of ‘Grupo Cativeiro Capoeira’, an international capoeira group with the motto ‘Be nobody’s slave’, co-founded and headed by...

I have been in love with nature from as far back as I can think. I remember spending my days in the woods as a child and building planters from discarded pallets or digging garden ponds as a youth. As a young adult I remember vividly aiding during the construction of a Japanese Zen garden. Soon thereafter followed work experience at a plant nursery and while working with landscape gardeners. The earnings and lessons of those jobs would eventually allow me to travel and they proved to be very useful during my trips around Europe, to Brazil and to Jamaica, where I ended up settling down, teaching capoeira. After conducting social work for several years,...

I knew it was a transitional point of my life when I first heard of the autonomy course. I had just travelled to Germany with my family and after 15 years of living in Jamaica, winds of change were hitting strongly. While we were not sure of what was going to happen or how and where we would continue our journey, we made a conscious decision to go with the flow of life and see where it would take us. It was at that point when I heard about autonomy. The description of the course immediately resonated with me and I recognized how it seemed to perfectly fit my vision of life as being a journey towards liberation. I was familiar with Richard Grove’s work and had been utterly impressed for...