Kristin Jankowski is a journalist, author, and Muay Thai coach. After reporting on the uprisings in Egypt in 2011, she met Muay Thai Master Refaat Ahmed Sayed, a living legend in his home country. Refaat Gaber is the technical manager of the Egyptian Muay Thai national team.
While publishing several children’s books and staging a play featuring underprivileged children, Jankowski trained for many years at Master Gaber’s Academy in Egypt’s capital, learning that martial arts require not only strength and endurance, but also respect, resilience, and fairness. After Master Refaat gave her the opportunity to train her own Ladies group, she quickly realized the positive effects the training had on the women’s well-being. It’s clear to her: There’s magic in boxing training. She wants to find out exactly what’s behind it from Berlin-based boxing therapist Robert Rode.
Kristin Jankowski “In Berlin you are successfully lifting boxing out of its dirty image and using it to help people overcome life crises and open their eyes to new perspectives. That sounds pretty crazy at first. How do you manage, between the sweat, the punches, and the defenses, to help your clients learn from defeats and develop a goal-oriented mindset?”
Robert Rode:”First of all, as a coach, I offer my clients a safe space where everything is allowed to be. Because all the wounds that arose in insecure relationships, which often had to be suppressed and were not allowed to be true, can only be transformed for the better in secure relationships. Here, I act as my clients’ advocate, not as a plaintiff or judge. Often, resulting from old attachment and developmental traumas, it is important to look at the anger, grief, shame, guilt, and above all fears, to accept them as part of one’s own history and integrate them. We stop passively resisting these feelings but actively engage with them. We allow them to arise and see which avoidance behavior really helps and when we need to let our guard down in order to land effective blows ourselves. Those who open up are more vulnerable; we take this into account and practice a wide variety of scenarios.
Boxers almost always return to the ring stronger after defeats and knockdowns, precisely when the hidden power inherent in such defeats is understood and harnessed. Boxing is a great sport because, in addition to the enormous physical training, it offers many mental benefits, such as stamina and frustration tolerance. Ultimately, I serve as a catalyst, fostering self-awareness and responsibility for self-efficacy in my clients. Full contact with bloody noses is only very rarely necessary. Only those who desire to compete will find in me a protective coach who moderates the sparring sessions.”
Kristin Jankowski “Often, suffering brings us to a standstill, and we don’t know what to do next. Then therapeutic boxing training comes along, which can get us moving again. How are body and mind connected?”
Robert Rode:”The body always carries the burden of memories, which were often traumatic, toxic, or otherwise hurtful. Mental health issues often manifest themselves through disturbing and blocking physical sensations, even leading to anxiety or even panic attacks. The past is subconsciously reenacted, even in current relationships. We all know the proverbial “thick neck,” “having something on my mind,” “I’m feeling like I’m losing my footing,” or “I’m paralyzed.” The following metaphor applies here: “The soul tells the body, “You go first,” but it doesn’t listen to me, and the body responds: “I’m getting sick, then it has time for you.”
People often come to me who no longer want or can live with this exhaustion. In therapeutic boxing, we get moving and express the unspeakable, because the body speaks! This often soothes and transforms anger into courage. Because pain isn’t there to make us suffer, but to set us in motion. Perhaps to that point, into the circle of life, where the clarifying crisis conversation, the separation, or the termination that we’ve been putting off for years, takes place externally as a result of inner strengthening. These self-effective actions then lead to an increase in self-esteem and self-love. That’s what we strive for: the mind follows a strengthened body and the body follows a well-adjusted mind.”
Kristin Jankowski “In martial arts, the first thing that comes to mind is usually the concept of “assertion”: setting boundaries, expressing needs, defending oneself, and being able to say “no.” How can assertiveness be learned through boxing training and applied in everyday life?”
Robert Rode: “Classic martial arts are about a balance of self-control, physical training, and mental discipline in order to assert oneself in athletic competition. The goal here is to win over one’s opponent, which increases self-confidence and provides support in everyday life. In mental boxing, people step from their desks into the ring to verbally practice assertiveness in sparring. This is to develop the courage to take up space, set boundaries, and rediscover, strengthen, and use their own voice.
These are exercises in front of the mirror with your own reflection, which do not always include boxing exercises.
Here, boxing is not a fight against the other person, but an encounter with yourself. Every movement, every breath, every punch is a statement: I am here, I give myself the appreciation I deserve. During the training, participants learn to use their bodies as a resonance chamber for inner clarity. A stable posture, a firm stance, and conscious breathing have a direct effect on the nervous system, conveying security and presence. Those who have learned to demonstrate physical posture can also maintain it in everyday life. In this way, a jab becomes a physically anchored “no,” and a clear look becomes a nonverbal boundary. This experience will certainly help in other life contexts as well.”
Kristin Jankowski “Our greatest enemy is often ourselves. How can boxing training address inner wounds with love and care and transform them into strengths?”
Robert Rode: “The greatest enemy in life is rarely the other person, but rather what we fight within ourselves. Old wounds, repressed anger, disappointment, or shame, they continue to have an impact as long as we avoid them and refuse to feel them. Therapeutic boxing is not about beating away this pain, but about meeting it with love and care. The long bandage around our wound can finally be removed, because only then will the wound stop festering and subsequently heal.
When we box, movement comes into what was frozen. The body is allowed to express what words sometimes fail to: powerlessness, anger, fear. But instead of destroying the energy, it is guided, grounded, and transformed. The punch is not an attack, but an exhalation. It says: I am ready to look. In this moment, a connection is created between body, feeling, and consciousness. Love and care here mean not judging the pain, but acknowledging it as part of one’s own story. When the body learns to release tension, inner space for compassion arises.
And compassion transforms what once made one weak into strength. In soul boxing, strength doesn’t mean no longer being afraid, but rather remaining present despite fear. Courage is acting despite fear! It is the art of treating oneself with the same care one would give an injured child. Boxing is not an escape from pain; it is a loving return to oneself. And there, in this encounter, healing begins.”
Kristin Jankowski “In martial arts, you have to take a beating sometimes – just like in real life. Everyone gets knocked out at some point. How can you learn to bounce back more easily from life’s setbacks?”
Robert Rode: “It’s rarely easy to get back up after a knockout. But what could be the alternative? It becomes even more difficult when the referee has counted us out, in a classic knockout, and the defeat in the fight is “official.” After such a knockout, boxers are given a ring ban and a rest period. Not without reason! Primarily because it simply takes time for the body and mind to recover. It’s similar, or should be, with strokes of fate or the low blows in life! Unfortunately, social regulations rarely give us enough time for that.
Yes, you can learn to get up more easily after life’s setbacks, not by avoiding pain, but by acknowledging it as part of the life process. Suffering is part of it because it reminds us that we feel, that we are alive. When we no longer understand life as a struggle against the inevitable, but as a path on which joy and pain are equally a part, something new emerges: acceptance. And from acceptance grows inner peace.
Boxing teaches precisely that. You fall, you get up again, you breathe, round after round. The body learns that defeats are not the end, but transitions. Every blow that hits us can teach us to see more clearly, to feel more deeply, and to become more loving towards ourselves. Those who no longer curse suffering, but instead face it with love and understanding, transform it into wisdom and strength. This is not a romantic thought, but a lived attitude: I am allowed to stumble. I am allowed to feel. And I am allowed to love life anyway. “Strength doesn’t mean never falling, but rather landing softer each time through ‘falling exercises’ and getting up again with an open heart.”
Kristin Jankowski “Let us be honest: Berlin is a pretty tough place. Robberies, pressure to perform, poverty, drug dealing, bureaucratic madness, crime, extremely high rents, a severe housing shortage, a lack of education, and loneliness. Add to that anxiety disorders and depression. How do you keep yourself healthy?”
Robert Rode: “Now we’re talking about avoiding blows, which makes a boxer significantly more successful than constantly punching and wanting to dish it out. The old boxer has matured and often turns his back on these “phenomena” you describe. For me, it’s a regular return to my roots and back to nature. I’m particularly fond of the wonderful Barnim district, 50 km northeast of Berlin. It’s a region where I spend most of my free time.
My clients often travel to see me for occasional forest bathing and forest boxing.
Exercise in nature definitely contributes to maintaining good health. It brings joy, recharges batteries, and gives emotions time to catch up with the soul. Cooking good food, going to the sauna, going to music, cycling, strength training, and cultural activities round things out. Of course, it’s also possible to appreciate Berlin’s beautiful sides and opportunities, but even as a native Berliner, I find it increasingly difficult. “Berlin, how you’ve changed!”
Kristin Jankowski: “How can therapeutic boxing make the world a little bit better?”
Robert Rode: “You’ll hardly believe it, but in the many years I’ve been involved in martial arts, I’ve rarely met more peaceful people than those in this scene. The people who come to me feel empowered, with a positive attitude and energy, and this has a positive impact on their environment. If you want to change and improve the world, we have to start with ourselves. Because we all know we can’t change people, only ourselves. A peaceful boxer radiates serenity, which rubs off on those around them: their partner, family, friends, and colleagues. In this sense, even after 25 years, it’s still a joy and satisfaction for me to be able to empower people. Boxing for peace!”
For more Information: www.seelenboxer.de and info@seelenboxer.de