'Coreeda' is being used to control aggression in young people in Western New South Wales, but it's also good for fitness, fun and community ties:
Based on Aboriginal combat, the ancient martial art of Coreeda has played a crucial role in controlling hostility for thousands of years.Great background story from Living Black:
Gavin Dickson of the Coreeda Association of Australia is using this art form to similarly manage the aggression among kids on Mornington Island.
He said the children often resorted to violence and experienced aggression as a result of boredom.
"We were invited to Mornington Island to try and utilise the sport to help the kids in town manage aggression and inspire them towards traditional culture," Mr Dickson said.
Some more background:
"The legendary Dreaming account of how Coreeda first came into being was told in the Ngiyampaa Nation of Western NSW and is about a lizard man named Beereun, who was told by a giant snake to watch the Red Kangaroo bucks so he could learn how to fight without weapons. He then brought these fighting techniques back to his clan and initiated a wrestling tournament as an important peace-keeping ceremony, which instigated an era of great prosperity for the Ngiyampaa people.
Based on the dating of rock art at sites like Mt Grenfell near Cobar in Western NSW, it is estimated this first Coreeda tournament began over 10,000 years ago, making Coreeda one of the oldest documented styles of Folk Wrestling in the world"
More at the Coreeda Association here
