Another summer, another team event!
Although calling it "summer" in Holland might seem overly optimistic, we were fortunate enough to enjoy a sunny day during our team event. As the saying goes, "The sun shines on the righteous."
To be honest, this team event sparked a lot of apprehension. Many were unsure about what to expect, as the proposed activity was boxing. Yes, you read that right—boxing. While team events usually aim to foster unity and collaboration, this one seemed to promise a lot of punching and fighting. Naturally, this stirred up a range of emotions. Some were reluctant to participate, others were scared, and a few were even excited at the prospect of landing a few punches.
Our anxious expressions weren't the best first impression for the instructor, but she quickly reassured us. She explained that the common ideas about boxing being violent and aggressive were wrong. In this workshop, boxing was used as therapy to help us handle challenging situations in the team. For example, how do you or your colleagues react to tough situations? How do you deal with setbacks?
Most exercises were done in pairs, and the trainer frequently switched the pairs. This was a great way to interact with all colleagues, even those we don't usually work with closely.
In every exercise, we had to adjust how hard we hit the glove, from 10% to 100%. Setting these percentages each time taught us a lesson: giving 100% all the time drained us. Sometimes, it’s okay to give 50% or 10%, and then be able to give a true 100% when we are at our best.
The interesting twist was that the force percentages were always set by the recipient of the blow (always on the glove—no black eyes here) highlighting that colleagues cannot always expect 100% from us.
As we went through the exercises, we learned that boxing isn’t about knocking each other out. It's about engaging with your partner, assessing situations, exploring options, working together, recognizing emotions, anticipating moves, reacting quickly, and staying alert.
