Trainer, coach, and consultant in primary and secondary education for APS working with primary and secondary schools (Netherlands). Johan Hamstra Johan Hamstra (1947) was educated as a teacher. Later on he worked for the APS as a trainer / coach/ consultant in primary and secondary education, mostly on themes as personal development of teachers and schoolleaders and school development. Session Information: Fighting and Emotional Intelligence. Key Concepts: More conscienceness about emotional patterns in conflict situations and making more healthy emotional choices 'A workshop on fighting. Will that really make me emotional wiser? In life and work it is not about fighting, is it? No fighting please. It can only bring loss, pain, hurt, grief. You could hit someone and cause pain. Or somebody else could hurt me. There is nothing to be learned from fighting' This is an understandable reaction to the word fighting...... if you don't know how to fight! If we would look more closer to the way that we are dealing with each other than we would have to acknowledge that we are involved in quite a number of 'battles'. Not with our fists but with words and attitudes. Who does not recognise the irritations and quarrels with family or colleagues about being on time, things that you thought you agreed on. We don't want these conflicts but alas they are part of our lives. And most of us believe that conflicts are negative so we avoid them or end them as soon as possible. Martial Arts look at fights (physical conflicts) as an opportunity for learning and change. That is why we developed a unique working form. You will be placed in physical fights and will experience your own power when in contact with others. A fight is as a mirror to daily life: It becomes very clear in which way and to what extend you take up your personal space. Also when fighting, direct impulses and emotional reactions surface without being censored. You are directly confronted with the themes such as resistance, tension and power. The working form provides a safe way to investigate how these themes work out for you and experiment new strategies to steer situations by alternating physical- emtional experience and reflection upon this experience. The Art of Fighting enables you to optimise your strengths, and develop personal strategies to physically and emotionally manage disharmony in your life. So if you want to be more effective in dealing with conflict, power and tension in your life or work then this experiential workshop can help you to develop more healthy emotional responses to difficult situations. Presenting with Stephan Seegers