About
For as long as she can remember Yasmin Tzfania Halfon has danced.
Even when she was in her mom's belly, although there is no official evidence of this. But the truth be told, during the ultrasound they recollected abnormal, almost happy movements.
As a child, she was part of the national gymnastics circuit while her specialty was jazz and modern dance.
At the age of 15, she was first exposed to the street scene of the Afro-Brazilian martial arts Capoeira, an art form that enticed her to fall in love with the magic of movement, music and the power of an embracing community.
Capoeira soon began to flow through her veins and she flew to Brazil to research and study the martial art with the world’s greatest masters.
There Yasmin felt what she had known for all those years as a child.
"Movement is innate; it is the gift of the body, it is essential, it is the universal language of the joy of life."
A few months after the birth of her first son, she was invited to perform with a team of Brazilian dancers in Equatorial Guinea in Central Africa, at a prestigious event for the President.
At the end of the event held at a magnificent estate, Jasmine stepped out to the street for a breath of fresh air and in that moment, the breathtaking backdrop of the estate was replaced by a grisly sight.
Intense poverty unfolded before her eyes, there were neglected children hiding under a discarded table in the street. It crushed her from within and she couldn’t hold back her tears.
All of a sudden, the children noticed her and approached her.
One stroked her hair, and another made faces to try to make her laugh. Then big smiles spread across their faces.
They reached out to encourage her to get up to dance and play with them. It was a human moment she would never forget. Completely astonished, she got up and began to play with them.
They sang and danced and it became clear that every part of their being "danced".
That was when her tears turned from tears of anguish to tears of joy.
It was at that moment maybe more than any other that Simbo was born within her.
"At that point I decided to take my expertise in the world of fitness, gymnastics and dance and connect them to a bona fide rhythm the heartbeat that is in every human being.
To convey values of: coherence, kindness, devotion and instill joy – that is Simbo. "
She later flew back to Africa, this time as a guest of the "Zulu" tribe – when she returned, she officially launched her vision of the Afro Brazilian Simbo Fitness technique in Israel. The technique was incorporated as a course at the Wingate Institute while branches simultaneously began to open both in Israel and abroad as more and more people connected to the rhythm of fitness.
To live in motion is our choice.
