In this workshop, Frank Taherkhani and Eva Kreimendahl bring together influences from martial arts, philosophy and tantra. It has two main focal points. Firstly, they want to introduce you to the playful, cooperative art of play fighting. By this they don’t mean fighting against each other: play fighting should be understood as an exciting way of being together, with each other. It’s a way of expressing vitality and the joy of life; it means laughing a lot; and it can be wonderfully wild. Play fighting is the desire to feel our power and our partner’s power; it’s a consensual bodily confrontation that allows us to feel how physical we are in a unique, intensive way. Play fighting, with its special dynamics and energy, enriches our particular relationship to a play fight partner, whether or not it has an erotic aspect.
Secondly, play fighting can be much more than that: it can open up a protected space for us to experience and experiment with issues, situations and feelings that we otherwise don’t take a look at. Our experiences only become really useful and valuable to us if we are fully conscious of them. Philosophical reflection helps us to put what we have experienced into words and to track and break down questionable constructs and conceptual prejudices we may be harbouring that are preventing us from truly understanding our experiences. And knowledge drawn from the world of tantra will help us to take advantage of the group dynamics and consciously engage with our experience in the first place, in a light and uncoerced way, accepting differences and the unknown.
Some of the issues we will directly address: our relationship to (supposedly) aggressive aspects of our personality; our self-conception; “wrestling with each other” and “play fighting together” as everyday components of a partnership; victory and defeat; what strength is; our understanding of our role as a man or woman; dealing with people in a responsible way; and trust. With play fighting we can literally grab hold of these issues and take a fresh look at them.
No prior experience of martial arts is necessary to take part in the workshop, nor do you need to be particularly fit. However, please make sure you have the basic level of health necessary to take part in general sporting activities. Please bring soft knee- and elbow pads, or comfortable clothing that covers your knees and elbows.
Website: www.raufen.com
Booking: info@raufen.com
Frank Taherkhani (born in 1969) studied philosophy, German literature and economics; for his Master’s degree he wrote his thesis on ‘Prejudices’ and is writing on the same topic for his doctoral dissertation. Frank has been practicing various martial arts since 1984 (incl. karate, jiu-jitsu and WingTsun since 1991). He is a self-defence teacher and runs his own martial arts school.
Based on his experiences in the fields of martial arts and self-defence, in 2005 Frank started to show people how to have fun play fighting with their partners. His knowledge of safe, practical techniques and ways of behaving and his experience of how real confrontations work help Frank to develop exciting play scenarios for his workshops.
Eva Kreimendahl (born 1981) is a professional tantra masseuse. She teaches and lives tantra and also works professionally in the field of BDSM. She runs sexual therapy seminars for women and workshops on subjects such as G-spot massage and female ejaculation. Eva trained for 3.5 years in sexual therapy and massage at Andro’s Diamond Lotus Institute in Berlin. She is also a state-certified kindergarten teacher with additional qualifications in infant care and therapeutic care. Further training and vocational experience include: many years practice of martial arts; geriatric care work; youth work; improvisation theatre; and tantra yoga.