Successful People from Our Neighborhood - Alejandro and Renata Pereira, Taekwondo Instructors
How long have you been in Canada and where did you come from?
Reni: I am from Bulgaria and I came in 2000
Alejandro: I am from South America, Paraguay and I came in 2001, in January, arrrrg!
How did you, guys, meet?
A: At my first school, my fist martial art school that I opened here in Canada in 2002. One day Reni dropped her kids at my school and we started talking. First she was helping me with the classes, gymnastics and cardio exercises. Day after day we were communicating more and more and this is how it all started.
So, now you have a pretty big family, how many children?
R: I have 2 and Rafi
A: I have 3 and Rafi, my older one is 31 years old.
So a total of 6! Sounds like one famous family from Hollywood. What you were dreaming about in your childhood?
A: When I was 4 years old, I wanted to find myself, I felt that I was missing something important and now I am 53, and I am still trying to understand who am I and why I was brought into this world. I see my life as a horizontal line and I am in the middle, with my past behind me and my future still way ahead and I am trying my best to concentrate on this present moment.
How about you Reni?
R: I always knew what I wanted to be, since very little I wanted to be a doctor. Actually I did pretty well; I graduated as a physio therapist in Bulgaria. I like to help people. When I came to Canada, I realized that to pursue my carrier as a doctor here I needed to start everything from the scratch: tests, exams, school. It was a hard decision for me not to carry on with my dream at the time, but now looking back, I understand how happy I am doing what I do: teaching children and helping them in all the ways I can.
I think your dream still came true, you are doctor, curing children’s souls!
A: Well, I am also a massage therapist. I was in martial arts for over 36 years and I find that over all these years I helped so many children and families, and I think this is the best that I did in my life.
How did you start, what brought you into martial arts?
A: It was a lack of confidence. I am from a very poor background and you know that materialistic side is very important when you know nothing about spirituality. The culture was about having THINGS, and you wanted to have, you thought you deserved to have what your peers had, what your neighbors had, what people on the street had. And realizing that you could not afford to have all those things was a painful experience that was not helping with my already low confidence and self-esteem. At the age of 17 I started martial arts and found a piece of mind, I gained the ability to understand my body. This is what martial arts are all about - working physically, mentally and spiritually. And now after 36 years I finally can appreciate what I have, my family, and my students.
How about you, Reni? You only started martial arts when you met Alejandro, right?
R: Yes, but I was a lot into sports before. In Bulgaria I was in competitive swimming, I attended one of those old schools, where you were training twice a day for 8 years. Sport was already deep in my soul, I couldn’t do without it. And once I discovered martial arts for myself - I totally loved it. It also helped me a lot in the other sides of life.
Do you think that competitive genes run in the family and competitive parents will have competitive kids?
R: Not necessarily, I don’t find our kids very competitive even though we are very much so. Everyone is brought into this world differently, every child has his own mission to accomplish and I think this is right that they don’t want to follow our dreams, because they have dreams of their own. If we force kids to do sports - they would either refuse or do it and hate it.
How about Rafi, does she like sports?
R: Rafi is an amalgam of two of us. She is very active and she likes sports.
Would you be really disappointed if she does not follow your steps into a taekwondo?
R: No, I am ready to accept it. We understand that she needs to do whatever would make her happy, fulfill her dreams.
I ‘ve heard a lot from different people that a new generation does not have any dreams, that they are not trying to achieve anything. Do you agree with this statement?
R: I think this depends on a culture. When you are new to the country you have so many dreams and plans and you are working hard and studying. But when you were born in Canada you might be looking at the things differently, you already have it all.
A: I believe kids of the new generation already come in a completely new dimension. May be in 10-15 years we will understand better. Currently they are conducting a research on what they call Indigo, Crystal and Rainbow children and their families. Apparently these children don’t need to talk a lot; they have a different type of perception, more like looking into your eyes and reading your mind. I know this sounds crazy but the time will show. In our generation, our parents’ generation they wanted a huge house, with 3 garages, huge garden. The new generation does not care about this stuff anymore, they want a small bedroom, big living room with big TV and something to eat and that's all.
(Learn more about Indigo, Crystal and Rainbow children and take a test. I am Indigo by the way)
So you are saying that the new generation is more spiritual?
A: Not just the new generation but children in general! They are smarter than adults, they live in the present moment. Think of a lake and birds on the lake - they are hunting for fish and when they catch something, they eat and they are happy, they don’t worry too much what they will eat tomorrow - it will come. Or, you are driving somewhere; you are pushing hard, rushing to get there, but what about your present moment? Enjoying the ride, feeling the breeze? We are trying to be everywhere, thinking about past, worrying about future and we forget that we live here, in the present. And children know how to live now.
So, they are much smarter than we are?
A: Absolutely, they are!
Then what right do we have to teach them? They shall be teaching us!
R: I guess, yes!
A: And they are, they are teaching us every moment!
R: I look at Rafi and they way she talks - she is expressing herself as an adult, she surprises me every day.
I think we shall be very careful with our children, so that we don’t break or damage that unknown little thing, growing inside them!
A: We have to be vary-very careful and supportive. They way they are acting and talking is very advanced, but they have no experience how to develop and how to communicate with us and often, instead of opening to them, we close. I am coming from a very dictating family, kind of “be quite and get out!” and I used to be the same. But I’ve changed, and this is because I am learning from the children.
What is your highest achievement so far and what are you still trying to achieve?
R: The main idea is to have our school holistic, to help the children in every way, spiritually and physically. Even for the children with injuries to be a go to place. And not only children, adults as well.
How many schools to you have?
A: We have 2, we opened one more in January. We are also in the community centers, elementary schools.
Do you still offer adult classes?
A: Yes, we do!
And what is the earliest age for the kids to join?
R: two and a half!
No wonder your baby-defense videos are so popular!
R: yes, and it was just filmed here, in the class, no special preparations
Do you guys like to travel and how do you find time to do it?
R: we love our job very much because it offers flexibility! We are free to use the time for ourselves during the day, as we are mainly busy in the evenings.
A: This year in May I went to Paraguay to visit my family and my school. We went to Dominican Republic. Last week we went camping. And now in October we are going to Reno, Nevada for International Competition and we will make a stop in Los Angeles for Disneyland.
Where else would you guys like to go?
A: Somewhere south, where it is nice and hot! For the Olympic style athletes very soon we will be going to Korea. We will visit headquarters of the Olympic Style in Korea; this will be an instructor black belt club. And next year the Grand Masters will be coming to Canada next year in July and stay with us, we will arrange black belt training, testing, tournaments, seminars; we will probably do a camp together. This association is present in so many countries, Israel, Australia, England, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and now it is in Canada since last year. The systems name is UWTA - United World Taekwondo Association.
What is success for you?
A: We are here to help people!
R: Many don’t realize, but we are also certified in MPS therapy, which is treatment with electrical acupuncture. The applications of this therapy are numerous, we started assisting people here, providing a pain relief as well as emotional support. We have many cases when parents keep coming back and asking to help them again. The most successful case was with a girl who started hurting herself because of the bullying at school. She ended up in the hospital for a month; she had seen psychologists, psychiatrist and it did not help. She is one of our students, so I offered help. We had electrical acupuncture session twice a week for quite some time now and she shows great improvement.
Do you have a funny story to share?
A: I have so many funny stories! Especially related to my bad English. I just opened my new school; a fellow came in and started asking me questions. All I understood was that he was interested in Taekwondo, so I brought him uniform and said: “Here, take off your cloth, this is your uniform!” He looked a little confused, and said “No!” I was getting a bit annoyed and said: “You want martial arts, put on the uniform!” He said: “No, this is for my child!” I did not know what “child” meant, if he’d said “son”, I would have understood, but at that time I was just getting angry and could not figure out why he was refusing to wear the uniform. After a while he brought his son and then I got it.
Then another time, little boy came in and said: “Master, I broke the frame with my back”. We had all those frames photographs on the wall and they were fighting and one frame came down and broke. But, of course I did not know what “frame” meant. I said: “it’s ok, I am massage therapist, can I see your back?” I gave him some massage and asked how he felt. He said: “Master, I feel better, but I broke the frame!!!” Then my son came in and said: “Don’t worry, his back is fine, he is trying to say, he broke the picture!”
But this one is probably the worst. We were still at our old place, with the basement. We had the award ceremony and the place was packed: parents, students, friends and relatives. One of the students came for the test wearing his t-shirt. And I knew that the day before he forgot his uniform after the class. So, I got his uniform and hang it in the basement. He showed up at the door and said: “Excuse me, Sir!” I asked: “Where is your uniform?” He said: “I don’t know, Master, I lost it”. Then I said: “OK, fast, run to the basement and grab your uniform from the hooker!” The entire place fell silent and froze. So, I realized I probably said something wrong. I carried on with the presentation and only some time later someone came and said, that this thing for hanging clothes was called a “hook” not a “hooker”!
What is home for you?
R: Canada is home for me!
A: Yes, same for me! After so many years I realized that Canada is a beautiful country, with too many opportunities to count.
All video and photographs - compliments of CFTP
Story - Compliments of Marina Gavrylyuk
Real Estate Agent with Sutton Group Summit Realty
MarinaG.ca
More Success Stories:
Dmitry Dovnar - IT-professional
Andrew Heron, Sign Market - Business Owner
Erika-Leigh Howard (Stirton) - Rhythmic Gymnast
Chris Chapin, Vice President at Mutual Transportation
Danuta Smiehowski - Head Coach of Olympium Rhythmic Gymnastics Club
Lisa D'Avino - Mortgage Broker
Matin Saliev - Chef
Yevgen Aleksyeyenko - Truck Driver, Owner Operator
Successful people
Reni: I am from Bulgaria and I came in 2000
Alejandro: I am from South America, Paraguay and I came in 2001, in January, arrrrg!
How did you, guys, meet?
A: At my first school, my fist martial art school that I opened here in Canada in 2002. One day Reni dropped her kids at my school and we started talking. First she was helping me with the classes, gymnastics and cardio exercises. Day after day we were communicating more and more and this is how it all started.
So, now you have a pretty big family, how many children?
R: I have 2 and Rafi
A: I have 3 and Rafi, my older one is 31 years old.
So a total of 6! Sounds like one famous family from Hollywood. What you were dreaming about in your childhood?
A: When I was 4 years old, I wanted to find myself, I felt that I was missing something important and now I am 53, and I am still trying to understand who am I and why I was brought into this world. I see my life as a horizontal line and I am in the middle, with my past behind me and my future still way ahead and I am trying my best to concentrate on this present moment.
How about you Reni?
R: I always knew what I wanted to be, since very little I wanted to be a doctor. Actually I did pretty well; I graduated as a physio therapist in Bulgaria. I like to help people. When I came to Canada, I realized that to pursue my carrier as a doctor here I needed to start everything from the scratch: tests, exams, school. It was a hard decision for me not to carry on with my dream at the time, but now looking back, I understand how happy I am doing what I do: teaching children and helping them in all the ways I can.
I think your dream still came true, you are doctor, curing children’s souls!
A: Well, I am also a massage therapist. I was in martial arts for over 36 years and I find that over all these years I helped so many children and families, and I think this is the best that I did in my life.
How did you start, what brought you into martial arts?
A: It was a lack of confidence. I am from a very poor background and you know that materialistic side is very important when you know nothing about spirituality. The culture was about having THINGS, and you wanted to have, you thought you deserved to have what your peers had, what your neighbors had, what people on the street had. And realizing that you could not afford to have all those things was a painful experience that was not helping with my already low confidence and self-esteem. At the age of 17 I started martial arts and found a piece of mind, I gained the ability to understand my body. This is what martial arts are all about - working physically, mentally and spiritually. And now after 36 years I finally can appreciate what I have, my family, and my students.
Click to viewHow about you, Reni? You only started martial arts when you met Alejandro, right?
R: Yes, but I was a lot into sports before. In Bulgaria I was in competitive swimming, I attended one of those old schools, where you were training twice a day for 8 years. Sport was already deep in my soul, I couldn’t do without it. And once I discovered martial arts for myself - I totally loved it. It also helped me a lot in the other sides of life.
Do you think that competitive genes run in the family and competitive parents will have competitive kids?
R: Not necessarily, I don’t find our kids very competitive even though we are very much so. Everyone is brought into this world differently, every child has his own mission to accomplish and I think this is right that they don’t want to follow our dreams, because they have dreams of their own. If we force kids to do sports - they would either refuse or do it and hate it.
How about Rafi, does she like sports?
R: Rafi is an amalgam of two of us. She is very active and she likes sports.
Would you be really disappointed if she does not follow your steps into a taekwondo?
R: No, I am ready to accept it. We understand that she needs to do whatever would make her happy, fulfill her dreams.
I ‘ve heard a lot from different people that a new generation does not have any dreams, that they are not trying to achieve anything. Do you agree with this statement?
R: I think this depends on a culture. When you are new to the country you have so many dreams and plans and you are working hard and studying. But when you were born in Canada you might be looking at the things differently, you already have it all.
A: I believe kids of the new generation already come in a completely new dimension. May be in 10-15 years we will understand better. Currently they are conducting a research on what they call Indigo, Crystal and Rainbow children and their families. Apparently these children don’t need to talk a lot; they have a different type of perception, more like looking into your eyes and reading your mind. I know this sounds crazy but the time will show. In our generation, our parents’ generation they wanted a huge house, with 3 garages, huge garden. The new generation does not care about this stuff anymore, they want a small bedroom, big living room with big TV and something to eat and that's all.
(Learn more about Indigo, Crystal and Rainbow children and take a test. I am Indigo by the way)
So you are saying that the new generation is more spiritual?
A: Not just the new generation but children in general! They are smarter than adults, they live in the present moment. Think of a lake and birds on the lake - they are hunting for fish and when they catch something, they eat and they are happy, they don’t worry too much what they will eat tomorrow - it will come. Or, you are driving somewhere; you are pushing hard, rushing to get there, but what about your present moment? Enjoying the ride, feeling the breeze? We are trying to be everywhere, thinking about past, worrying about future and we forget that we live here, in the present. And children know how to live now.
So, they are much smarter than we are?
A: Absolutely, they are!
Then what right do we have to teach them? They shall be teaching us!
R: I guess, yes!
A: And they are, they are teaching us every moment!
R: I look at Rafi and they way she talks - she is expressing herself as an adult, she surprises me every day.
I think we shall be very careful with our children, so that we don’t break or damage that unknown little thing, growing inside them!
A: We have to be vary-very careful and supportive. They way they are acting and talking is very advanced, but they have no experience how to develop and how to communicate with us and often, instead of opening to them, we close. I am coming from a very dictating family, kind of “be quite and get out!” and I used to be the same. But I’ve changed, and this is because I am learning from the children.
What is your highest achievement so far and what are you still trying to achieve?
R: The main idea is to have our school holistic, to help the children in every way, spiritually and physically. Even for the children with injuries to be a go to place. And not only children, adults as well.
How many schools to you have?
A: We have 2, we opened one more in January. We are also in the community centers, elementary schools.
Do you still offer adult classes?
A: Yes, we do!
And what is the earliest age for the kids to join?
R: two and a half!
No wonder your baby-defense videos are so popular!
R: yes, and it was just filmed here, in the class, no special preparations
Do you guys like to travel and how do you find time to do it?
R: we love our job very much because it offers flexibility! We are free to use the time for ourselves during the day, as we are mainly busy in the evenings.
A: This year in May I went to Paraguay to visit my family and my school. We went to Dominican Republic. Last week we went camping. And now in October we are going to Reno, Nevada for International Competition and we will make a stop in Los Angeles for Disneyland.
Where else would you guys like to go?
A: Somewhere south, where it is nice and hot! For the Olympic style athletes very soon we will be going to Korea. We will visit headquarters of the Olympic Style in Korea; this will be an instructor black belt club. And next year the Grand Masters will be coming to Canada next year in July and stay with us, we will arrange black belt training, testing, tournaments, seminars; we will probably do a camp together. This association is present in so many countries, Israel, Australia, England, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and now it is in Canada since last year. The systems name is UWTA - United World Taekwondo Association.
What is success for you?
A: We are here to help people!
R: Many don’t realize, but we are also certified in MPS therapy, which is treatment with electrical acupuncture. The applications of this therapy are numerous, we started assisting people here, providing a pain relief as well as emotional support. We have many cases when parents keep coming back and asking to help them again. The most successful case was with a girl who started hurting herself because of the bullying at school. She ended up in the hospital for a month; she had seen psychologists, psychiatrist and it did not help. She is one of our students, so I offered help. We had electrical acupuncture session twice a week for quite some time now and she shows great improvement.
Do you have a funny story to share?
A: I have so many funny stories! Especially related to my bad English. I just opened my new school; a fellow came in and started asking me questions. All I understood was that he was interested in Taekwondo, so I brought him uniform and said: “Here, take off your cloth, this is your uniform!” He looked a little confused, and said “No!” I was getting a bit annoyed and said: “You want martial arts, put on the uniform!” He said: “No, this is for my child!” I did not know what “child” meant, if he’d said “son”, I would have understood, but at that time I was just getting angry and could not figure out why he was refusing to wear the uniform. After a while he brought his son and then I got it.
Then another time, little boy came in and said: “Master, I broke the frame with my back”. We had all those frames photographs on the wall and they were fighting and one frame came down and broke. But, of course I did not know what “frame” meant. I said: “it’s ok, I am massage therapist, can I see your back?” I gave him some massage and asked how he felt. He said: “Master, I feel better, but I broke the frame!!!” Then my son came in and said: “Don’t worry, his back is fine, he is trying to say, he broke the picture!”
But this one is probably the worst. We were still at our old place, with the basement. We had the award ceremony and the place was packed: parents, students, friends and relatives. One of the students came for the test wearing his t-shirt. And I knew that the day before he forgot his uniform after the class. So, I got his uniform and hang it in the basement. He showed up at the door and said: “Excuse me, Sir!” I asked: “Where is your uniform?” He said: “I don’t know, Master, I lost it”. Then I said: “OK, fast, run to the basement and grab your uniform from the hooker!” The entire place fell silent and froze. So, I realized I probably said something wrong. I carried on with the presentation and only some time later someone came and said, that this thing for hanging clothes was called a “hook” not a “hooker”!
What is home for you?
R: Canada is home for me!
A: Yes, same for me! After so many years I realized that Canada is a beautiful country, with too many opportunities to count.
All video and photographs - compliments of CFTP
Story - Compliments of Marina Gavrylyuk
Real Estate Agent with Sutton Group Summit Realty
MarinaG.ca
More Success Stories:
Dmitry Dovnar - IT-professional
Andrew Heron, Sign Market - Business Owner
Erika-Leigh Howard (Stirton) - Rhythmic Gymnast
Chris Chapin, Vice President at Mutual Transportation
Danuta Smiehowski - Head Coach of Olympium Rhythmic Gymnastics Club
Lisa D'Avino - Mortgage Broker
Matin Saliev - Chef
Yevgen Aleksyeyenko - Truck Driver, Owner Operator
Successful people