My dear friend Charlotte Brandi and I share, among other things, the joy of venting about the “coffee-warm, curly-flaky toxicity” of 90s series, and the urge to release the anger that builds up during martial arts training.
You, Charlie, throw yourself into your dogi several times a week to strengthen yourself for all eventualities with Brazilian Jiu-Jutsu. I’ve been wrapping bandages around my hands on a regular basis for almost eight years to help me clear my thoughts while training in Düsseldorf’s coolest boxing club (if you know, you know!).
Exchange of blows with a Chauvi
And when you, Charlotte, tell me about how (once again) a middle-aged man, in this case with a rap background, tells you what you can or can’t do as a woman, I feel a strong urge to put on my gloves immediately and to hit it somewhere, I want to be completely honest. There’s nothing “sweet” about it, as your rapper put it.
The fact that men could and would always defeat us – also a “learning” from your “conversation” with the gentleman in question – is, as you yourself say, a well-known fact and part of a much larger problem. To assume that all women who practice martial arts do so in vain is a gross impudence! On so many levels that it would be beyond the scope to list them here.
That’s why I would rather answer your question about what martial arts can teach me, or us, that goes beyond, as you put it, “winning and being defeated.”
Boxing – the best sport in the world!
Let me start by saying the following short declaration of love for boxing. Although I tend to use superlatives and perhaps exaggerate a little here and there, let’s say euphorically: Boxing is the best sport in the world! Because of the obvious benefits, of course. Endurance is trained, stamina is increased, muscles are built in areas of the body that you didn’t know could be built there. You become stronger, faster, fitter. And honestly – it looks SO cool! In addition to the hard punching hand and the hard working thighs, boxing also strengthens the soul, the mind – and the heart.
Oh, what life lessons I’ve had, set in motion by a little comment or instruction from my trainer (probably the wisest boxing instructor in the country!). “Don’t always show everything straight away.” This of course means a fighting combination that (in an emergency) only I know and which can therefore unsettle potential opponents and send them to the mat. This shouldn’t be revealed directly, the round in the ring would probably be quite short.
I hear: Don’t always reveal everything straight away, sometimes keep things to yourself, check the situation first before you act – then, in the best case scenario, not so much can happen to you! Or: “Don’t open too early.” The command is for cover. Nevertheless – the same principle, the same scope for my life outside of training. “Keep your distance and you’ll keep track of things.”
The sandbag doesn’t fit in your pocket
The sport teaches me that, even if there is only one person on each side in the ring in the end, you always need the crew, the community, the club. To challenge, encourage, strengthen and recover. He shows the joy of sharing successes. So it’s about much more than just exercising. It’s about growing, about discovering and developing your own strengths. But above all, it’s about being in the moment. And that is perhaps the biggest challenge, especially at a time when, whether we like it or not, we are constantly distracted by the noise that is happening around us.
A realization that only struck me last year was that the 90 minutes that I spend a week in total at the boxing club are the only (awake) minutes in which I don’t look at my phone. Could we expand a bit more in 2025, or what do you think, dear Charlotte?
What’s your take on the whole ‘mindfulness-despite-the-world-is-getting-louder’ issue? Are you afraid that the current much-quoted state of ‘Brainrots‘ takes over? And is internet abstinence really possible when, unfortunately, punching bags are much more difficult to transport than cell phones and are therefore rarely on hand when an annoying thought needs to be put down or a fear needs to be beaten?