Counselling through combat
Professional, confidential counselling delivered alongside non-contact combat training — for the people who find the words more easily once their hands are busy.
No fighting. No sparring. No experience needed.
The problem we kept seeing
Plenty of people never get as far as a counselling room. Not because they don't need it — because a quiet chair, an hour of eye contact and the question so, how does that make you feel? is the exact opposite of how they cope.
Combat Life was built for those people. Movement first, conversation second. The work is the same professional counselling work; the way in is different.
Why it's built this way
Combining talking therapy with structured, non-contact boxing isn't a gimmick invented here. Clinical researchers have been testing it — and the early findings are encouraging enough to build a service around, while being honest about what is and isn't yet proven.
Only around a third of referrals to NHS talking therapies are for men — despite suicide being the largest cause of death for men under 50.
Mental Health FoundationOf the studies in a 2023 scoping review of boxing as a mental health intervention, 94% reported reduced stress and improved mood, self-esteem and quality of life.
Bozdarov et al., Am J Lifestyle Med, 2023Workers in Great Britain reported stress, depression or anxiety caused or made worse by work in 2024/25 — the biggest single driver of work-related ill health.
HSE annual statistics, 2024/25A 2025 feasibility study in PLOS ONE trialled mindfulness-based, non-contact boxing therapy — twice-weekly 90-minute sessions over 10 weeks — with adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder or generalised anxiety disorder. Depression scores (PHQ-9) fell 54% and anxiety scores (GAD-7) fell 51%, with 89% retention and 84% attendance.
The caveat matters: a small pilot of nine participants, designed to test whether the format is workable, not to prove it treats a condition. Larger randomised trials are still needed.
NICE's guideline on depression in adults (NG222) lists a group physical activity programme delivered by a trained practitioner among the recognised treatment options — recognition that structured, supported movement belongs inside mental health care rather than alongside it as an afterthought.
Combat Life is a private service, not an NHS treatment pathway. It works alongside your GP or clinical team, never instead of them.
Hitting a pad doesn't cure anything. But for a lot of people it's the difference between getting through the door and never booking at all.
Combat Life
The method
The structure never changes, so you always know what's coming — which matters a great deal when you're walking into something new. What changes is the intensity, the focus, and how much you want to say on any given day.
Check in, agree the focus for the hour, set boundaries. Breath and simple footwork to settle the nervous system before we ask anything of it.
Pads, bag, stance and rhythm. Controlled effort at a level you set. This is where pressure gets somewhere to go instead of somewhere to sit.
Gloves off, water, sit down. What came up while you were working, and what it connects to outside this room.
One practical thing to take into the week — a breathing pattern, a boundary to hold, a reframe to try. Reviewed next time.
Anatomy of a session
Most people's biggest worry isn't the work — it's not knowing what they're walking into. So here it is, minute by minute. Nothing on this list is compulsory, and you can stop any part of it at any point without explaining yourself.
Hands wrapped, kettle on if you want it. A short conversation about how the week has actually been, and what you want out of today.
Breathing, stance, footwork. Deliberately unglamorous. The point is to settle before we load anything.
Pads, bag and shield. Combinations, rounds, rest. You choose the pace; the counsellor holds the pads and the conversation runs alongside it.
Sit down properly. What surfaced, what it's linked to, what pattern it fits. This is the counselling hour doing its job.
One thing to practise. Written down if that helps. Reviewed at the start of the next session so nothing quietly disappears.
Honest fit
Being straight about this up front is part of doing it properly. Combat Life suits a lot of people extremely well and is the wrong call for others. If you're in the second column, you'll be told on the clarity call and pointed somewhere better.
Programmes
Everyone begins with a conversation. Nobody is signed up to anything on a first phone call, and there's no minimum commitment beyond what you agree together.
20 minutes · no cost · no obligation
A private phone or video call to talk through what's going on, how the method works, and whether it's the right fit for you right now.
60 minutes · weekly or fortnightly · £XX per session
Private one-to-one counselling delivered alongside non-contact combat training, in a closed space at RECREATE.
Half-day taster or 6-week block · from £XXX
For Peterborough employers who want wellbeing provision their teams will actually turn up to. Delivered at RECREATE, or at your site for larger groups.
Figures shown as placeholders — swap in your live prices before publishing. Concessionary rates and payment plans can be discussed on the clarity call.
Who you'll be working with
The reason this works is that it isn't a coach having a chat, or a counsellor holding pads for the first time. It's one practitioner properly trained in both — which is also why the diary is finite.
Replace every highlighted field before this page goes live. Claims about registration and accreditation should match exactly what appears on the BACP register.
Standards
A gym setting shouldn't mean lower standards than a counselling room. It means the same standards, in trainers.
What you say stays between us. The limited exceptions — risk to you, risk to someone else, or a legal requirement — are explained in writing before your first session, not discovered later.
Practice is governed by the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions, covering competence, boundaries, consent and accountability.
All casework goes to regular independent supervision. It's a professional requirement, and it's what keeps the quality of the work honest.
Pre-session health screening, correct wraps and gloves, non-contact only, and a documented stop signal you can use at any moment.
Session notes are stored securely and handled in line with UK GDPR. You can ask what's held about you, and ask for it to be deleted.
With your consent, we'll liaise with your GP or clinical team. We don't diagnose, we don't prescribe, and we never ask you to stop treatment you're already receiving.
The space
Combat Life runs at RECREATE on Culley Court, Orton Southgate. Sessions are held in a private area, scheduled so the floor is quiet. You won't be walking through a packed class to get to your appointment.
The home of
Combat Life
Combat Life is its own service, with its own counsellor and its own confidentiality — but it needed the right room to happen in. RECREATE is a coached, community-led gym in Orton Southgate: pads, bags, shields and floor space, with people on the floor who know what they're doing and nobody staring at the newcomer.
Starting plan
A short set of questions, so the reply you get back is specific rather than a brochure. Answer only what you're comfortable answering.
Questions people actually ask
If yours isn't answered here, ask it on the clarity call. No question is too small, and "I don't know if this is for me" is a perfectly good place to start.
None whatsoever. Most people arrive having never worn a glove. Everything is taught from the ground up and matched to your fitness, mobility and confidence on the day.
No. Combat Life is strictly non-contact. You work pads, bag and shield. Nobody hits you, and you are never asked to fight another person.
It's counselling. Sessions are held by a qualified counsellor working to the BACP Ethical Framework, with the same confidentiality, contracting and supervision arrangements you'd get in a counselling room. The combat training is the medium, not a substitute for the work.
Fit enough to move at your own pace for short bursts, with rest whenever you want it. Anything needing GP clearance is screened for first. Plenty of people start well out of shape — that's often part of the point.
Then you don't. Some sessions are mostly movement with a few sentences at the end. The structure holds either way, and silence on the pads is not a wasted hour.
There's no fixed number. Some people come for six weeks around a specific situation; others stay longer. It's reviewed openly and regularly, and you'll be told when the work looks done.
Yes, it's confidential, and sessions are scheduled for quiet periods in a private area. The limits of confidentiality are explained and agreed in writing before your first session.
In most cases yes, and with your consent your GP or clinical team can be kept in the loop. Nobody is ever asked to stop treatment they're already receiving.
Trainers, something you can move in, and water. Wraps and gloves are provided. There's no dress code and nobody is watching you.
Not at present. If you're enquiring on behalf of a young person, get in touch anyway and you'll be pointed towards appropriate local support.
It's exactly what the clarity call is for. Twenty minutes, no cost, no pressure — and an honest answer either way.
Book a clarity callCombat Life is not a crisis service and can't respond to urgent messages outside session hours. If you're in danger, or thinking about harming yourself, please use one of these instead — they're free, and they're there now.
Hosted at
Start your journey
Book a free 20-minute clarity call. No commitment, no sales pitch — just a straight conversation about whether this is right for you.
Counselling through combat. A movement-led counselling service for stress, anxiety, anger, grief and confidence — Peterborough.
Sessions hosted at RECREATESources for the figures on this page: Mental Health Foundation, Men and women: statistics · Bozdarov et al., Boxing as an Intervention in Mental Health: A Scoping Review, American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 2023 · Bozdarov et al., Mindfulness-based (non-contact) boxing therapy for depression and anxiety: a feasibility study, PLOS ONE, 2025 · NICE NG222, Depression in adults · HSE annual workplace health and safety statistics, 2024/25 · BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.