venue:

Böse Buben e.V.
Sachsendamm 76 - 77
10829 Berlin Schöneberg

+49 (30) 62 70 76 10

opening hrs (Start - End)
Wednesday 16:00 - 23:00
Thursday 19:00 - 01:00
Friday 20:00 - 02:00
Saturday 20:00 - 03:00
Sunday 15:00 - variable

 

In the April 2023 issue, the queer Berlin city magazine "Siegessäule" reports about our FIGHT-Club:

BOXING, WRESTLING, GUT PUNCHING

On the mat

In the "Fight Club", gay and bisexual men meet to fight each other - because that's what they find sexually appealing. Host Leo*, a passionate hobby wrestler, shows them the right holds and makes sure that no one gets seriously injured.

When Leo started training martial arts more than ten years ago, many things went through his mind - but he certainly wasn't thinking about sex. More like naked survival. For the 42-year-old, mixed martial arts was first and foremost self-defense: With punches and kicks while standing and with wrestling holds on the ground, he wanted to defend himself in an emergency - against neo-Nazis and other violent homo-haters. "They are unfortunately still very present in Slovakia and Poland," reports the programmer, who now lives in Berlin. In his early 30s, he trained in the lions' den: in his Slovakian gym, many fellow fighters were under the influence of right-wing propaganda about the alleged gender lob- by that would threaten traditional families. "If they had found out I was gay right at the beginning, I wouldn't have ended up in Ber- lin, but in the grave," Leo says. But over the course of two years, he says, he gained the trust of his training partners, and their fears of gays subsided. "And in the end, it was these straight guys who gave me new hope after my involuntary coming out."
Leo only learned five years ago that martial arts can also be a sex fantasy. Back then, he was already in Berlin and wanted to organize a self-defense course for gays. "Instead of learning how to defend yourself against homophobia, some people wanted sex from me," he recalls. Meanwhile, he enjoys exploring how sports and sex can merge.
Since last summer, he has been organizing a martial arts party at the Bad Boys. At the "fight club," there's music and drinks, too, but mostly there's fighting on wrestling mats in two rooms - until someone gives up or Leo says, "Enough! Or you'll hurt yourselves."
Many guests wrestle right away at 7:00 pm. Others wait until 9:00 pm. Then Leo demonstrates holds and techniques in his workshop. On average, about 20 men come to the "Fight Club," ranging in age from 20 to 50. They all share a desire for a duel, but their sexual fantasies differ. Some are attracted to sweaty wrestling on the mat, others to more targeted blows to the abdominal muscles, known in the community as gut punching.

"Most of them have little prior athletic knowledge," Leo says, "but lots of horny dreams in their heads. They appreciate that I can show them a few tricks and also give advice." One of the most important: When playing contact sports, please don't wear metal on your body! "Earrings and piercing rings also need to come out before fighting," Leo stresses. And if the pressure on joints, bones or neck veins becomes too great in a duel, the underdog must "tap out", i.e. concede his defeat.

More than just sports gear

Unlike the "Sports Club Party" at the Bad Boys, the "Fight Club" is not about the fetish of sports gear, but about contact sports. "It's the test of strength that excites the boys most of all," Leo reports. "I'm pleasantly surprised that many of them take the chance and have sex right after their fight. After all, that's what makes 'Fight Club' so special."
For the host, wrestling remains primarily a sporting challenge, not a sexual one. "But such a muscular, sweaty wrestler with a nice ass is already sexy," Leo admits and begins to philosophize: Why does he find the athlete horny, but not the sport itself? "Is it because of the sweaty bodies? Or because of our image of extreme masculinity?" Fetishes are probably already passed on to us in our DNA, Leo suspects. "What exactly the appeal is about it is different for every fighter. But I'm glad we're creating a space at Bad Boys where everyone can safely explore those fantasies, dreams and fetishes."

Philip Eicker