Play fighting is all about connection to your own body and energies flowing through it. Only from that space you can wrestle and play in a wholesome, connected, delicious way with other beings. What you discover in this kind of deeply embodied connection with others is likely to surprise you.
Perhaps your body, and spirit, crave gentleness and flowing, perhaps there’s a lot of passion, fire and wildness yearning to be expressed. You might awaken your creativity or meet your Inner Child. It can be playful, silly, deeply spiritual and/or a way of fully knowing your body.
In a typical workshop, we talk through safety practices, demonstrate techniques and go through a series of fun and connecting exercises to warm up and create an intimate container. Importantly, we will explore boundaries and consent and learn to communicate them in explicit and nonverbal ways.
Play fighting can be joyous, sensual, erotic, sadistic, feral and so many other things. You can learn to let go, to give yourself permission, and to take yourself and your partner to the limits of the known – however there are some fundamental practices that when learned will allow you to push farther into these realms. This invitation and our mission, is to guide you in learning how to keep yourself safe, how to keep your partner safe as well as how to use your body, whatever kind of body you or your opponent has, in a way that will allow you to let out your inner combatant.
Roy first discovered play fighting at a burning man regional event in Europe in 2018. After taking part in several workshops, he recognised the potential of this practice to help people become more embodied, to learn about their own boundaries and improve their non-verbal communication and empathetic listening to others. The range of expressions people create in play fighting is truly incredible and extremely imaginative. Roy’s further training in Psychotherapy, Radical Honesty, Non-Violent Communication and Wheel of Consent all serve to inform the way he constructs the practices and flow of the workshops.
The first time Roy facilitated a conscious play fighting workshop was at Burning Nest, the UK regional Burning Man event in Devon, UK in summer of 2022. Then since December 2022, in collaboration with Paulina Tenner and Temples of Eros, a conscious sexuality and embodiment community in London, he began running bi-monthly workshops in London. In the summer of 2023, Roy collaborated with Carla Crivaro to bring conscious play fighting to Manchester, Nottingham and Bristol.
The venues we use typically are yoga studios that are large enough to accommodate between 10-30 people. We work on padded rubber flooring or crash mats that are also used for other forms of contact dance or martial arts. We aim to work in accessible venues as we believe that this is an activity that should be available to everyone, regardless of abilities and mobility.
As we continue to run these workshops, we see the positive change that it has on people and are committed to holding with care, the trust that people put in us. A new addition to the conscious play fighting space is a skills workshop developed in partnership with Tanya Hyde, a trained and experienced fetish wrestler. In this workshop we aim to deepen the connection to body and improve technique and skill as well as ways that we can keep ourselves and others safe.
Testimonials
Carla’s review: Carla’s play fighting experience
“Thank you so much for yesterday’s workshop. It reawakened for me the amazing power of fighting, within our boundaries, to move stuck emotions and energy. It’s something we don’t get to do much (well I haven’t) but it’s so natural and can be so incredibly safe. I take away some lovely tools, but primarily it was the experience of support, acceptance and encouragement from the group and space holders that enabled me to go into it. Curiously being challenged by a partner to a playfight – which brought up some long running issues – felt so much safer and had a greater transformative power in this space than if we’d been alone. I felt supported to reveal more parts of myself, and relieved and encouraged to experience their acceptance. And I want more, thank you!
Love and gratitude, Anna”
“Play Fighting workshop was everything I had hoped for: well-organised, fun, energetic and intense. It was lovely to witness a variety of play fighting styles from competitive to sensual to almost erotic (had I stayed for the optional Temple, I’m sure eroticism would have been the main energy ingredient). I was pleased to see how quickly a bunch of standers are able to authentically connect with each other on a wide range of levels within the safety of the play space. Kudos to the organisers, for their excellent teamwork and professionalism. The next Play Fighting is on 15th April and I can highly recommend to anyone to attend it.”
Kristina (@lora.poly).
“It was with great anticipation that I went to the Play fighting workshop. I was not disappointed it provided a space for me to be physical, powerful and playful with others. Wrestling, pushing, grabbing, snarling, rolling around – I loved it. A place to let out my inner animal without inhibition. I came away more confident and grateful to experience this part of my erotic nature with others .I learned so much about myself thank you. Dee”
Article reviews from past attendees:
The joy of feeling entirely myself
A review of a play fighting and temple combination event
Roy works with several collaborators across the UK and internationally. His aim is to bring conscious play fighting to as wide and diverse audience as he can. Roy is open to work with specific communities and groups and welcomes you to contact him if you are interested to bring conscious play fighting to your town.
