Trauma-informed self defence
We’re creating spaces for people who live with the effects of violence to practise martial arts.
Right now, we’re speaking with survivors and martial arts trainers to understand needs and how to make this work really well. If this affects you, read on.👇🏽
Survivors
Thinking of learning self-defence or taking up a martial art? Maybe you already tried to get started, maybe you train regularly, or maybe you haven’t found the right environment just yet.
Coaches
Keen to support survivors but not sure what approach to take? Maybe you already coach someone affected by trauma, or you’d like to be ready the next time someone approaches you.
Tools for coaches
Think about how easy it is for typical activities like sparring, commands, or corrective body adjustments to remind survivors of the violent experiences that brought them to want to learn self defence.
Worryingly easy, right? That’s the bad news: martial arts practices can trigger trauma responses.
The good news —backed up by a growing body of research— is that self-defence training can be empowering and healing when trainers have the knowledge and resources to support survivors.
Fuelled by this research and the inspiring ways people are putting it into practice worldwide, we’re bringing trauma training to martial arts instructors in the UK.
Support for survivors
We’re building communities with self defence trainers who get it; who understand how backgrounds and past experiences affect how we learn, who can create space for us to explore, practise, and thrive with martial arts. You can tap into this community in the UK. Pretty soon we hope to have have a full map.
In the meantime, we’re sharing tools and ideas to help you practice martial arts if you’d like to —things like what to look out for when you choose a school, how to approach a coach, and ways to adapt your training so that you get what you need from it and maybe even have some fun!