Why this course?   

• Do you sometimes struggle to set boundaries in hierarchical environments?  
• Do you notice tension in group dynamics, but find it difficult to address?  
• Do you want to respond more clearly under pressure — without overthinking every interaction, while also working with your body?  

Academic life asks for more than intellectual excellence. You are constantly working in complex environments — with supervisors, teams, competition, and ongoing uncertainty.  In these settings, communication is not just about words. Leadership, hesitation, tension, and boundaries show up first in behaviour.  

This lab offers a practical and embodied way to explore these dynamics. Instead of talking about leadership or resilience, you will experience them directly.  Through structured boxing-based exercises (no sparring), you explore how you:  

• respond under pressure  
• deal with proximity and confrontation  
• signal confidence or withdrawal  
• read others’ non-verbal cues  
• regulate emotion and impulse  

Boxing becomes a mirror — giving you direct insight into your patterns.  The focus is not on athletic performance, but on awareness, resilience, and clarity in interaction. The atmosphere is energetic, safe, and playful, with room for humour and experimentation.  

Course description  

This is a full-day experiential training.  

In the morning, we build a safe learning environment and explore your personal and professional context. We look at themes such as hierarchy, boundaries, collaboration, and conflict in academia. You reflect on situations that are relevant to your own work.  

In the afternoon, we move into practice. You work in pairs using structured boxing-based exercises in a safe and controlled format (no fighting or sparring).  

Boxing functions as a mirror: it reveals patterns such as avoidance, control, hesitation, dominance, cooperation, and trust — in real time and through the body.  Insights from the exercises are continuously translated to your academic and professional context. Reflection is integrated throughout the day.  The emphasis is on doing, noticing, and experimenting — rather than analysing from a distance.  

Course objectives  

In this course you will explore and gain insight into:  

• recognising your behavioural patterns under pressure  
• setting and respecting boundaries in professional interactions  
• reading non-verbal signals in collaborative and hierarchical settings  
• responding to confrontation with more clarity and regulation  
• balancing assertiveness and cooperation  
• strengthening personal and emotional resilience  
• increasing self-awareness in group processes  

Format  

This module is offered as a full-day workshop. Each workshop accommodates a maximum of 14 participants to ensure personal attention.  

No prior boxing experience is required. All exercises are adapted to different physical abilities.  

Safety — both physical and psychological — is a core principle throughout the day. Personal boundaries are respected at all times.  

Participants are advised not to schedule intensive academic work immediately after the session, as the training can be physically and mentally demanding.