The Walk
Friends of Magalies trail, Wonderboom. Saturday mornings. No pace, no pressure. Men talk better moving shoulder to shoulder.
The Training
Shimsan Taekwondo, bag work and self-defence at WarinHari. Alternate Saturdays. Hit what you carry. Leave lighter.
The Talk
Men's circle, alternate Sundays 16:00 at WarinHari. Chairs in a circle. No judgement. Just honest conversation.
"I survived the Border. What I did not survive — not straight away — was coming home. My PTSD didn't start out there. It started when I came back and there was no one to talk to."
The Cost of Silence
South African men are raised to carry it alone. Be strong. Don't talk about it. Every culture, every language carries the same message. That silence is not strength. That silence is costing lives.
Stand Up and Walk exists to give men a place to put it down. Not a therapy group. Not a crisis line. A community of men who show up — week after week — and hold space for each other.
Warriors Don't Walk Alone
Come for one session. Stay because it matters.
The
Walk
Friends of Magalies trail, Wonderboom Lapa. Men talk better when they move — shoulder to shoulder, looking ahead, not at each other. The trail does the work.
06:30 gather · 07:00 walk starts
Next to Wonderboom High School, Wonderboom South
Just show up
You Don't Need to Be Fit to Begin
The Friends of Magalies green area is one of the most accessible natural spaces in Tshwane. Multiple trail options suit all levels — from complete beginners to strong hikers. Nobody gets left behind.
5.75 to 8km on the main trail. Only 149m elevation gain. Back at the lapa by 09:00–09:30. Coffee and real conversation after. No agenda, no pressure, no performance.
Sunscreen & cap · Light snack
A boet if you have one
The need to fix anyone
Your phone (for the walk)
Wonderboom Junction directly opposite
Conversations continue here
Get Out. Get Moving.
The trail has been here 2.3 billion years. It can wait. You shouldn't.
The
Training
Shimsan Taekwondo · Bag work · Self-defence. No belts. No grading. No ego. The body carries what the mind can't say — and the bag doesn't judge you.
07:00 – 08:30 · Arrive 5 min early
769 Codonia Ave, Waverley, Pretoria
Come and see
Leave It on the Bag
This is not a martial arts class. It is a physical outlet session designed for men carrying stress, frustration, grief or anger they haven't found a way to put down.
The bag doesn't care what you earn. You can be angry at it. You can be scared and still throw the punch. Whatever you bring to the bag stays there. Whatever you take home is lighter.
What Happens
Get the body ready
Pad & bag work
Cool-down & informal debrief
Bring comfortable clothes & water
All backgrounds
The System Behind the Sessions
Shimsan Taekwondo integrates traditional discipline with practical self-defence and modern fitness. The name WarinHari means Guard of the Army — the first person you learn to defend is yourself. Physically and mentally.
In every drill, every pad round, every bag session, you learn to read the person next to you. To notice. To respond. To be present. That same principle runs through every part of Stand Up and Walk.
Hit It Out.
"I am scared of..." — whatever you bring to the bag stays there.
The
Talk
Men's circle · Alternate Sundays · 16:00 · WarinHari Martial Arts, Waverley. A space where men can say what they actually mean. No judgement. No performance.
16:00 – 18:00 · Doors open 15 min before
769 Codonia Ave, Waverley, Pretoria
No registration required
Just a Circle of Honest Men
Chairs in a circle. A loose theme opens the conversation — fatherhood, financial pressure, anger, grief, fear, identity. One man speaks at a time. Others listen. Others respond if they want.
No one is required to speak. Your presence is enough. What is said here stays here. We do not rank suffering.
Ground Rules
Topics We Cover
"You don't have to be broken to come here."
"You just have to be willing to listen."
Someone in this room needs to see you walk through the door.
Show Up. Say Something True.
The circle is open. Warriors don't walk alone.
Guard of
the Army
What WarinHari Means
WarinHari comes from Proto-Germanic: warōn — to protect, to guard, to watch — and hari — the army, the host.
Guard of the Army. Men who watch out for each other. Not from the world — from the silence.
That name came from the bush. From listening posts on the Namibian border. From men who kept each other functional not through therapy, but through presence. Through brotherhood. Through the unspoken agreement to not let a man disappear into himself.
WarinHari Martial Arts was built on that principle. The strongest thing a warrior can do is watch out for the man next to him.
In Shimsan Taekwondo — in every drill, every bag session — you learn to protect yourself. But you also learn to read the person beside you. To notice. To respond. To be present.
Stand Up and Walk is that same principle, extended into everyday life. Into the walks, the circles, the honest conversations South African men have been told they are not allowed to have.
Where This Comes From
Sixteen years in the South African Defence Force. Electronic Warfare specialist. Deployed to Namibia, on the Border, cross-border operations. Embedded with parabats, 32 Battalion, remote listening posts.
Out there, the roughest men he had ever known were afraid. Every one of them. And in those long hours between operations, they talked. That talking kept PTSD at bay — not because it was therapy, but because there was someone who understood.
Then he came home. The civilian world had no space for it. Men didn't do that. His PTSD didn't start on the Border. It started in the civilian silence that followed.
Stand Up and Walk is the place he wishes he had when he came home.
This Is What We Are.
This is why we walk.
Get
Involved
Come for the walk. Come for the training. Come for the talk. Just come.
Send a Message
Your details stay private. We only use them to keep you in the loop about sessions.
Where We Are
WarinHari Martial Arts
769 Codonia Ave
Waverley, Pretoria
Wonderboom Lapa
Next to Wonderboom High School
Wonderboom South · magalies.org
🚶 Walk: Alternate Saturdays · 06:30
🥋 Train: Alternate Saturdays · 07:00
💬 Talk: Alternate Sundays · 16:00
"You don't have to be ready. You just have to show up. The rest will happen."