Since I was little, I felt an indestructible power in my heart. Today I would say the Warrior-Healer in me wanted to express himself.

I have always aspired to the Greater Good. My boundless curiosity kept me moving forward. What could a collective purpose look like? How to create a shared future? These questions have been driving my quest for compassion and (comm-)unity. And life presented ample opportunity to act courageously.

As a child of the East, I witnessed the collapse of the social framework I grew up with. I found myself in a different context, almost overnight, and understood how fragile life can be. More often than not, the fabric that binds us is woven out of unconscious patterns, not conscious choices.

Willing to get my hands dirty, I spoke out, stood up, encouraged others in the challenge, at times more like a soldier for the Greater Good than a true Heart-Warrior. I engaged in idealistic, ideological work, got involved politically, and joined various community projects. Through individual action affecting the whole, not running my own game, that is what I wanted.

Only when I started alchemising the blood of my own wounds to be healing balm for others with similar pain, I allowed the grace of the Heart-Warrior to come forth and guide me. Through my gatka practice, I've understood the deep connection between a fight worth fighting and healing. Interestingly, in Eastern martial arts, many of the sensitive points that are used as points of attack can also be used for healing.

Today I live with my family in Leipzig, Germany. With my partner who helped me transmute the fire I've always felt into the power of my inner light. And my two stepdaughters, of which one once asked: "Why do you take everything so seriously?" While my daughter pointed out: "Dad do you know, too late does not exist. Too late is too early and too early is too late." Great teachers they are, all of them.

We have had the opportunity to build a Yoga Center, which I run together with my partner. We've called it sohang: I am you. It is the seed for our Ashram project, which we hope to realise sometime in the future. Because I will never stop dreaming and acting on my dreams. We are fundamentally go(o)d, and so is life. This is just worth standing for.

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Here are some questions with answers. Have a look, if you like.

Yoga Aktuell (in German)
Yogigems Blog

Answers need to be received. They cannot be thought up. I've committed to live with these questions, and will post the answers when I hear them.

Where do you come from and how do you feel has this formed you?

I grew up in the German Democratic Republic. I was 19 when the country, I’d call home until then, broke into pieces, and a political system that had been my frame of reference, became obsolete.

During these first 19 years of my life I experienced the security of having your basic needs met. Everything was provided, food and water, and a roof over our heads. At the same time, I’ve learned from an early age to not let a system determine who you are. I taught myself, and encouraged others, to be independent, to only rely on your own strength and inner freedom.

Which paths have you travelled unsuccessfully, and what did you learn from that?

I could never have a straight school career. I always had so much resistance. I couldn't follow a program and had to work everything out for myself. This way I never had to learn by heart and so I can play or teach everything very well. Because I experienced it through my very own way. Every person should be respected, especially the children, how and what he wants to learn and can learn, how and what he has to experience in order to develop freely.

How have your practices transformed you?

What is your greatest weakness, and if so how do you use it as an advantage?

What is your greatest struggle?

What is your mission?

How are your mission and your struggle related?

What, in a broad sense, are the teachings that you feel you are uniquely qualified in.

Which wisdom do you seem to impart again and again on others?

How have people changed under your guidance?

What is your favourite quote?

What are three things you have learned from your teachers?

With gratitude to all my teachers, Including the ones you cannot see here.

Through Pantra and Gatka I realized how I manifest myself in space and in any human interactions. I saw how I can show my sincerity, totality of presence and compassion through body and trajectory of movement (though some angles were not effective). How my psyche and mind can keep continual communication with space and people.

Few second of Gatka and Pantra are enough to spot fragile and painful aspects of personality. It is physically impossible to keep the movement from your personality. Persona always falls into one side of the duality. Victory or defeat. Attack or defence. Defenceless openness or total closeness and inability to communicate. Rage or weakness. Anger or fear.

All desires and patterns automatically show up and break the movement. And you need to lose lots of energy to restore it. In some situations, it’s even impossible to restore balance and flow. You lack necessary energy for that. But through the right technique, you gradually understand how to balance your state. How to enter the state of continuous flow and interactions. At the end of the seminar, I already saw how I break my relations with my dear ones through “broken angles” of my words and emotions. I saw an ineffective flow of interactions with partners and employees. I’m grateful to Har Anand for the precision and clarity, for his compassion, patience, and enthusiasm to share.  Peace to all, Sat Nam.

Wow, I did it! A deep immersion week in Leipzig with Har Anand Singh. It took me a while to integrate the experience and write these lines. But now I feel I'm finally ready to share.

If you watch gatka lessons from outside, it looks like steps (and jumps), body turns, hand movements, interaction with partner/enemy, fighting using different weapons (short sticks, long sticks, hands, swords if you’re brave enough). If you go a little deeper, it is a very good meditation that helps you focus and balance yourself physically and emotionally.

But what I also discovered - behind all that, there is the whole universal wisdom about how this world and our life works, and about each one of us. It's very deep if you can allow yourself to really connect with YOURSELF and all that you've been hiding inside. What is coming up for you while you practice? What can you learn from it? If you are able to observe, you will see what triggers you and how you react, how you move, how you manifest yourself to the world, how you connect to people, how safe (or not safe) you feel, how much you can trust, how honest you can be.

With you I’ve learned more about the principles of martial arts than in 4 year of Karate training.

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I really wanted to thank you for the amazing seminar. I really enjoyed it. Thank you for the loving and healing energy that you offered us through that experience. I am so happy that I met people like you, I really need it and it gives me inspiration to carry on my journey.

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Sat nam! It was the first time in my life I did martial arts and it was impressive and and full of new discoveries. I saw aspects of my character unfolding during the practice and the 'fight' , I saw my strengths and my limitations (even the well hidden ones ) I got to know myself better and that is the best gift.  The teacher , Har Anand, has the qualities of a modern spiritual warrior, an inspiring combination of Shakti and Bhakti.

I was glad to visit your Gatka workshop in Moscow. It gave a new view of the Kundalini Yoga. Before the seminar, I couldn't comprehend how martial art can be about smth more than war. But you gave it as an art of communication. I saw my blocks and fears. Thank you for beating me with a stick. I understood that it's not right to allow someone to hurt me. I should and must tell them my feelings, without fear of offending them. So much pain beautiful is hidden because of fear.Someone was afraid of my attack, someone was afraid to attack me. And it is not a reason to hide and not being ME. You showed me how to attack and to defend, how to apply Gatka and Kundalini Yoga in life and communication.

I love this picture. The brightness of the sunshine blended with the peacefulness of the poppies simply being in the field. I question what war ever achieves. Perhaps this image is a message to us that war never paves the way to a brighter future and peace.It leaves in its wake pain and destruction. A nation might have won the war, but were there really ever any winners? It reminds me of Rüdiger Har Anand Singh and his Gatka teachings on the difference between soldiers and spiritual warriors on the immersion week. If everyone behaved with his grace and wisdom the world would be a better place.