LAUREN MUSCAT visits a gym in the community of Sanur, Bali, that’s using martial arts training and education to help local children reach their potential…
In a narrow, cobbled street, much like any other in Sanur, Bali, one building stands out from the rest.
Graffitied with words like “hope” and “faith”, the cement walls of the block hold a school unlike most.
Known as Akademi Kristus (AK), the gym provides training in martial arts and classes in education, creative arts and specialist disability education for those who might not otherwise have had the opportunity.
SCHOOL DAYS: From top down – Children take part in a class on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu; creating works of art; Geoff grades his daughter Kellie; and, Erma with daughter Kasy. PICTURES: Caleb Westwood and Bethany Ross
“Martial arts was one of the tools we had at the time for God to use. My wife uses craft and cooking. As long as you are willing, all you need to do is start with what you have. We often get tired and it’s not always easy…but every time we get to the end of our rope, God is always there to fill us back up with energy and enthusiasm”.
– Geoff Collins, Akademi Kristus co-founder
Akademi Kristus co-founder Geoff Collins is an Australian expatriate who has lived in Indonesia for 15 years.
Since 2010, Mr Collins and his wife Erma have visited a local slum to teach children subjects like art, craft, English language, boxing and martial arts on a tarp under a tree.
There were initially no plans to extend operations to a more formal layout, however, Mr Collins’ Christian faith acted as a catalyst to turn his passion for educating into something more.
“I was in a prayer meeting when God gave me a vision to open a gym,” Mr Collins says. “My logic kicked in and I figured the vision must be for one day in the distant future when I was retired and rich. After all, my family had left financial security behind to move to Bali and I hadn’t trained in jujitsu for more than a year due to repetitive back injuries.”
However, with prayer and the support of friends from Australia, including support from Melbourne’s Renegade Martial Arts gym, Mr Collins’ vision transitioned into a reality.
“AK began with a roof and not much else,” Mr Collins says. “For the first four months we rolled on cardboard boxes under some puzzle mats on a dirt lot.”
After visiting Indonesia and seeing the dirt lot where the Akademi Kristus gym stands today, Mr Collins’ friends returned to Australia and put on a ‘grappleathon’, breaking the world record for the longest non-stop jujitsu class at 33-and-a-half hours, as well as raising enough money to rent the site for a year and build a roof.
Geoff and Erma now teach around 70 children, six days-a-week at the gym, with a curriculum that includes Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai boxing, as well as more conventional classes like art and English.
The pair are also involved in running specialist classes for children with disabilities.
Geoff, Erma and their three daughters – Chloe, 12, Kellie, nine, and Kasy, two – live on site and run the academy.
“Outside of classes, we wash over 50 gis a week and several tangles of boxing wraps, keep the gym clean, hang out in the gym with the kids from the local neighborhood, visit the people in the slum and show guests around Bali, on top of working and being fairly active at church.”
The inclusion of martial arts training in the syllabus was not originally planned, Mr Collins says.
“We had been teaching the kids in the slum for a few years when we had them at our house for Christmas. Some of the boys saw my boxing gloves and before we knew it, I was teaching them boxing a few times a week at a local gym.”
He says while some of the kids at AK “have very little interest in learning English or improving their math”, “they love to train martial arts”.
“It’s particularly appealing for teens, especially boys, who may not be the most academically inclined and may also have some emotional issues.”
Mr Collins says that martial arts was also implemented as a way of using his own skills.
“Martial arts was one of the tools we had at the time for God to use. My wife uses craft and cooking. As long as you are willing, all you need to do is start with what you have. We often get tired and it’s not always easy…but every time we get to the end of our rope, God is always there to fill us back up with energy and enthusiasm”.
The kids themselves are another great motivator, Mr Collins says.
“A lot of these kids have nothing, they were born on dirt floors with plywood walls. We have a young girl who has lost her father and her mother makes money by washing other people’s clothes by hand. We have a boy whose father, his older brother and his uncles sit around drinking moonshine all day, everyday. He tells us he’s not interested in following their footsteps but wants to train instead. It’s easy to stay motivated when you see how critical your role is.”
Quick to share the credit around, Mr Collins says there is an amazing group of behind-the-scenes volunteers that keep Akademi Kristus running.
“We now have a project management group full of people who work tirelessly behind-the-scenes to make sure the rent is paid and to take AK to the next level. My line is always that we are the selfish ones. We get to see the kids smile everyday, watch them gain confidence and see them better themselves just by getting some good mentoring”.
As for the name, it was clear from the beginning.
“A lot of these kids have nothing, they were born on dirt floors with plywood walls. We have a young girl who has lost her father and her mother makes money by washing other people’s clothes by hand. We have a boy whose father, his older brother and his uncles sit around drinking moonshine all day, everyday. He tells us he’s not interested in following their footsteps but wants to train instead. It’s easy to stay motivated when you see how critical your role is.”
– Geoff Collins
“’Christ’s Gym’. We decided to go with an Indonesian translation Akademi Kristus or Christ’s Academy as it encompassed more than just a gym,” Mr Collins explains.
The stories that come from Akademi Kristus speak for themselves.
“In the early days, on the tarp under the tree, it took six months to get some of the young girls in the slum to even talk to us. Now they come along merrily to class, laughing and carefree, helping Erma to set up and teach the younger kids.
“A young boy who used to hit his mum and little sister, no longer does. Kids that couldn’t hold a pencil, now proudly display their paintings. Kids who wouldn’t look you in the eye when they talked to you, now confidently shake hands at the beginning and end of class. That little girl who lost her dad proudly learning to ride a bicycle for the first time at AK and was announcing it to me as she would her own father if he were there. Each and every kid has grown in their own way. Running AK is an honour”.
For more information on how you can help Akademi Kristus visit www.akademi-kristus.org or email [email protected] to get in touch with the team.
