I attended The Metta Centre to learn some self-defence skills and came away having learned so much more than that! This place is a dream.

Honestly, the whole experience was incredible - I have never had as much energy as I have since returning to London. I expected the feelings I had in Italy to fade away pretty much as soon as I came back to my stressful job in the real world, but they haven't.

It was truly an incredible adventure and if - like me - you think you aren't capable of training in jujitsu for a whole weekend, you will be proved wrong too!

The instruction and support we received was like nothing I've ever been part of before. The periods between training were full of talking, laughing and joking and some serious debates were had - I found myself moved by the things people were prepared to offer and share, and I'm proud and honoured to have been part of it.

I am a nurse in a central London hospital and my work, my relationships with my colleagues and my ability to deal with stress have all been completely turned around.

I am now busy recruiting colleagues so that we can go back later this year for a one week combined meditation and self-defence course.

I can only recommend it to anyone interested in martial arts, self-defence, meditation, buddhism, or even just a group get together.

My visit to the Metta Centre last September was a truly unique experience. It was so incredible that when describing it to friends, I often find it difficult to express quite how fantastic it really was! Hopefully I have done a better job here.

To some, a martial arts retreat may appear quite an alien concept, but I have no doubt that the Metta Centre will convince you otherwise. I was surprised how relaxing intense training could be. The combination of martial arts, meditation, and lazing in hammocks made for a wonderful week.
For those who have never done any martial arts or self defence, the idea of training in a dojo equipped with swords and sticks with a master in Ju-Jitsu might be intimidating! But there is no pressure to get involved with training, and there is a lot more to offer than martial arts. The dojo would be suited to a range of activities, and the area is beautiful. There is a lot to see (far more than was possible to take in on one visit).

Personally, though, I would not pass up the opportunity to train with Master Sawyer. I found the Ju-Jitsu lessons incredible, and was surprised how much it was possible to learn from a beginners’ level in just a few lessons. Jeff Sawyer is an excellent instructor, and one of the most inspiring, loving, and approachable people I’ve ever met.

For me, the most special thing about the centre, though, was not the beautiful house, the surrounding hills, or even the training, but the culture that Jeff, Nicky and the rest of the staff have developed. During our stay they were all incredibly generous with their time, often staying to have long discussions with our group which were very thought provoking, but also resulted in a great deal of laughter. It really did feel like we were staying with old friends.

I went to Sarnano with my Taekwon-do school and we loved it so much that we couldn’t even wait a whole year to return. I am eagerly awaiting our next visit to the Metta Centre in June.

The Metta retreat centre is a refurbished hotel which has been turned into a place for meditation retreats, training camps for the martial arts and activities such as yoga, painting, acting and writing courses, and dance.

It has a large and beautiful hall on site that is used as a meditation hall, training hall and as a Dojo (a place where martial arts are studied). Myself and two friends stayed there for three days (we'd enrolled on a self-defence course).

The course was excellent, the food was fabulous and the people who run the place are warm, open and friendly. I think the staff are all Buddhists, but don't be put off as there was no attempt to push any agenda.

Our weekend was full of fun, good conversation and delicious food and drink. The room we used was large, en-suite and had two sets of bunkbeds.

At first, I was a bit put off by the idea of sleeping in a room with my friends (in bunks!) but it was great fun; we sat up talking most of the night about the training we had done during the day. The rooms are beautiful, very traditional and comfortable.

The gardens are lovely and there are official nature walks criss-crossing the area. We were told that there are wild boar, deer and eagles regularly seen in the area.

Penna St. Giovanni (the town nearest to the centre) is heartbreakingly beautiful and is ancient. The views from the terraces there are wonderful and there is a fantastic (and cheap) pizza restaurant and bar there named Paolo's

The Metta Centre is run by a fantastic team.

I ran a Shadow Jumping weekend retreat there dealing with personal development, fear and courage.

If you bring a group to the centre you can have as much, or as little support as you want. If you want the full board and pampering experience, they'll do it. If you want to be left alone, they'll do it.

This is a beautiful facility, run by nice people, with high moral and ethical standards.

You will not find a nicer retreat centre anywhere. And I found it was more cost effective to bring people from the UK, than it was to run the retreats in UK retreats.

So you have beautiful facilities, ethical people and great value, all wrapped up in an easy to access package.

The centre is advertised as a martial arts retreat. Don't let that put you off if you are a yoga instructor, writers group, personal development facilitator etc. The Metta Centre caters for all of you.

I will certainly be taking my groups back there this year.

I stayed in the Meta Centre for a long weekend with new friends. The relaxed atmosphere and hospitable spirit of our hosts was second to none. Having been involved in the holiday industry for many years myself, I know how hard it is to get a balance of allowing people to feel relaxed in what is essentially your pride and joy and a result of your blood sweat and tears!

I am eagerly awaiting the next opportunity to visit the centre in June.