Paolina Baruchello’s martial arts journey is deeply connected to Master Mauro A. D’Angelo, under whose guidance she has studied for over twenty years. Her experience predates the founding of DECODE and has allowed her to witness firsthand the evolution of the Master’s research, from traditional martial arts styles to the gradual development of the DECODE Method.
For Paolina, the emergence of DECODE did not represent a break with what she had previously learned, but rather the natural evolution of a shared journey. As she herself describes it, the movements she had practised over the years were progressively “stripped of everything unnecessary and infused with new energies and sensations.” Alongside other long-standing students, she had the opportunity to accompany Master D’Angelo throughout his research, directly experiencing the transformations that emerged along the way.
Among her most significant experiences, she highlights the work on neurogenic tremoring, through which she learned to release tension, and the discovery of how to counter an external force through bodily relaxation. Both experiences brought about tangible changes in her perception of movement.
Since 2019, Paolina has been teaching DECODE programmes. For three years, she led classes at the Casa delle Donne in Rome, and she currently teaches at a Mental Health Centre within ASL Roma 2, as part of a project developed by psychiatrist and DECODE practitioner Dr De Stefano.
Her development as a teacher has been shaped primarily by observation and direct exchanges with Master D’Angelo, whose ongoing technical research and ability to adapt his teaching to each individual she particularly appreciates: “He does not teach everyone in the same way; he teaches each person individually.”
For Paolina, representing DECODE means contributing to the growth of a school whose beginnings she personally witnessed. Through her teaching, she seeks above all to share the joy of movement and the possibility of becoming fully immersed in practice, temporarily leaving everything else behind.