Maya Ciani’s martial arts journey has been closely connected to Master Mauro A. D’Angelo since 2004, when she began studying Wing Chun, Tai Ji Quan, and Ba Gua Zhang under his guidance, long before the DECODE Method was established. What initially impressed her most was his clarity of communication and teaching ability, qualities she came to appreciate over the years alongside the depth of an approach to research that she regards as honest, complex, open-minded, and never confined to a single perspective.
When DECODE was established, Maya chose to start again from the beginning, seeking to approach the new method without being influenced by her previous experience. In Internal Alchemy, she found the most natural path for exploring new physical and perceptual possibilities. Through Zhan Zhuang, Shi Li, and Tui Shou, she deepened her understanding of active whole-body connection, grounding, and the relationship between stillness and movement, discovering how even seemingly familiar exercises could continually reveal new qualities.
Particularly meaningful to her is the cyclical approach of the DECODE Method: returning to the same fundamental elements over time, with progressively greater maturity and understanding, allows practitioners to transform not only their practice but also the way they perceive themselves.
Since 2019, Maya has been teaching Internal Alchemy at various locations in the region and currently teaches at DECODE’s national headquarters in Rome, where she also conducts private lessons, seminars, and educational activities. Alongside her teaching, she continues to follow Master D’Angelo’s research, attending his seminars in Italy and having had the opportunity to deepen her practice with him in China.
The teacher training programme has helped her refine her lesson planning, student observation, and ability to provide effective corrections. Her aim is to guide each student according to their individual inclinations, helping them discover physical and mental possibilities they have yet to explore.
For Maya, teaching means contributing, like a single cell within a larger organism, to a shared journey of exploration and research that continues to grow and evolve.
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