Clivia Conrad Gewerkschaftssekretärin bei VERDI

Übt mit uns Karate und manchmal Stille seit 2005.

Clivia erzählt von ihrer Entwicklung im und durchs Karate.

Our training group has existed since 2005. That's when Malte, our head instructor, arrived in Berlin after a lengthy stay abroad. He came into contact with the sports group at the Federal Parliament and was hired as Karate instructor. And thus our group came to be and for the next five years resided in sumptuous official dwellings right on the bank of the river Spree.

A bit too sumptuous perhaps. Right from the start, Malte's objective had been to use Karate as a tool for meditation.He challenged us to let go and to be prepared to be with nothing but ourselves, so as to face our own unvarnished existence.

In Pariiament however the powerful bask in the glory of their power, while their coterie eagerly let the shine of that power drip down towards them. This feels great to everyone around, at least at first. It is far cry from inner emptiness though and from inner truth and therefore from our practice. We would reliably create a protective sphere, where everyone could step out from the cascade of glory. At its heart, our program                       environment. That was the case, too for various meditation offerings we gave in federal ministries.

Therefore, after five years, we left the golden cage and ventured into the wide, diverse and scurrilious world of Kreuzberg and Neukölln. We still feel at home there and at ease.

Over time, our style of training has changed and we have taken great strides in teaching and training. Our teachers have learned as much as our students. However, we still look back at our beginnings with great fondness and a misty eye.