Novum Experience is an idea by Andrea Merli and Sara Caruana.

We live our time as a married couple, professionals, educators and martial arts amateurs.

Andrea was born in Turin, Italy, in  1977,  entrepreneur, specialized in Project and Innovation Management of international R&D projects. He completes his classical and humanistic education with studies in Industrial Engineering and Management. Committed for two decades in the education of children and kids in recreational and spiritual fields. Lecturer of Innovation Management for post graduate courses, he has a twenty-years experience in the fields of corporate communication, advising and training. Among his passions, he studied piano since the age of 4; this allowed Andrea to share this passion for animation for young. After a first experience in the ’90s devoted to the study of Karate Shotokan, he started with Sara the study of Aikido since 2012. Andrea successfully attended the  Conflict Transformation course provided by Emory University, given by Prof. Ellen Ott Marshall; the Science of Well-being course provided by the Faculty of Psychology of the Yale University by Prof. Laurie Renee Santos, and the Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance course organized by the Monash University by Prof. Craig Hassed.

Sara was born in Turin, Italy, in 1982, and she is a civil-law lawyer. After her scientific education, she completed Law studies, specializing her profile in the comparative analysis of civil, ecclesiastical and canon law. For a decade she collaborated in the education and training of children and pre-adolescent classes in the recreational, spiritual and educational fields. After a quite long experience in the trade sector,

After a period of work in the commercial sector, she refined her training with a specialization in legal fields. A true sportswoman, she successfully practiced many sports and started a new path with Andrea, practicing Aikido. Sara has actively participated in initiatives to promote the culture of the right to defense for victims of domestic and gender-based violence; in this perspective Sara supported teaching during classes at the “Gym of Rights” (Palestra dei Diritti) and delivered out several seminars about the legal aspects of personal defense.

Thanks to the experience gained at a technical and professional level, in which she came into contact with the numerous problems of family law, the world of addiction and gender and economic violence, Sara created a format aimed at female audiences. (Stress & Defense Response – Conflict Transformation).

Andrea e Sara investigate together the martial discipline attending the Hara Kai Dojo, led by  Marco Rubatto Sensei, which is a part of the Evolutionary Aikido Community directed and inspired by Patrick Cassidy Sensei. Thanks to this network, they participate in international events, taking advantage of the experience of internationally renowned teachers such as Miles Kessler Sensei and individuals practicing from different Countries and cultures. Currently, they are ranked as Aikikai nidan and are attending the courses for the Italian federal habilitation of Aikido teachers in the FIJLKAM settore Aikido. In this federation they are ranked as nidan and awarded with the second of the three foreseen levels by the European Qualifications Framework. Since sometimes some people like to talk about lineage, here you can find a brief recap of our roots and teachers we met on the tatami around the world.