FOLLOWING A RECENT TOURNEY, ONE MEMBER FROM A PARTICIPATING GYM TALKS ABOUT THE NEED FOR AND INCREASING NUMBER OF EXPLICITLY POLITICAL SELF-DEFENCE SPACES. ~ Anon ~ Give us a bit of context. I’m part of a London red gym that’s been organising regular Muay Thai and self defence sessions for more than two years. Last month we travelled up North to take part in a red gym interclub organised by a Leeds club called Mutiny Athletic, which brought together anti-fascist, anti-racist and queer gyms from across the country. What’s a red gym? A red gym is a grassroots anti-fascist martial arts and fitness group which allows participants in a broad range of liberatory social movements to train together, build skills and fitness and strengthen ties. Some gyms in Europe have their own spaces and are run like regular clubs. In the UK we generally aren’t as developed due to a number of factors including extremely high commercial rents and property prices. What sort of places were represented and what political mix do you get? There were clubs from London, Bristol, Leeds and Bradford. There were boxing, BJJ, Muay Thai and kickboxing bouts. Mutiny put on a cracking event, there were around 150 spectators, the venue was packed out and there were over 20 bouts! In a our gym we have a broad mix of political persuasions, but we are all on the left and are all anti-fascist. Some of us are involved in social movements, anti-imperialist struggles, Palestine solidarity and anti-fascism. How do ‘red gyms’ differ from regular ones in eg. how they interact with communities? We have community values, we are non profit and volunteer run. We see ourselves as part of anti-fascist and liberatory struggles, it’s a political project ultimately. What takeaways have you had in terms of learning to organise and run them? The main point for organisers is to turn up week after week and set up and run regular sessions. If there isn’t a regular schedule then people will drop away over time. We shouldn’t wait for other people to orgainse stuff for us, we need to do it ourselves. Most of us had no experience of teaching when we started, we just stuck to what we knew and got better over time. We also need to be open to members taking on work/ stepping up. Organising is for everyone who wants to put in a shift and we shouldn’t gatekeep that. What similarities and differences did you see among the gyms that came along, any lessons you took away? Clubs brought fighters of different skill levels but everyone was up for it and the fights were solid. There was an atmosphere of support and solidarity between clubs and fighters. I think our main lesson was these kind of country wide events need to happen more often. Fascists are organising in the UK but they’re unevenly spread. It’s only by coming together that we can build solidarity and power in or near areas were fascists are strong. How do you reckon the concept – and implementation – of red gyms plays out? I think we’re building power in a few different ways. One is developing physical skills and capacities, and with that confidence to act in the world. Defending our organising doesn’t mean some macho one on one display of prowess, it means acting together as movements to further our wider liberatory goals. Connections built between members, and between clubs are just as, or even more important. Training spaces are known, perhaps unfairly, for having a strict master student model. How can (does) this break down in more horizontal ways? There is some benefit to deferring to expertise in martial arts. Learning incorrect technique can mean someone ends up spinning their wheels or getting themselves injured. That being said, teaching, coaching and organising can be done by anyone and anyone in the club could step up and do things. In that way we break down some of those distinctions. Was the interclub a success? How do you feel about the potential and importance of such spaces? The interclub was a massive success, big crowd, high energy, fighters and clubs coming from all over. Massive props to Mutiny for putting it on. It’s been ages since one of these things happened in the North and it showed how there’s loads of shit going on outside of the capital. Fascism is weak in London and stronger in the north, we need to build and support stuff there. We’ve heard Mutiny is putting on another one later in the year so it looks like things are picking up! We’re definitely going to be at the next one. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This article first appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of Freedom Journal. The post Red gyms: You’ll get a kick out of this appeared first on Freedom News.

THE ANTI-FASCIST COMBAT SPORTS TOURNAMENT TOOK PLACE IN POZNAŃ, POLAND ~ Czech Anarchist Federation members ~ “You give a front, back, shovel hook to the liver and then a strong low-kick” was one of the basic combinations that we drilled together with our comrades until we were completely crazy — the goal was to memorise it so much that if we woke each other up in the middle of the night , we would handle it completely automatically. It’s been more than a year since my friends and I have been regularly going to the gym several times a week. Some just wanted to get moving, some to gain strength or lose weight, all determined to fully immerse themselves in martial arts training and be ready for physical confrontation while defending both themselves and our community. During this time, we went through several different workshops and training boot camps and exchanged experiences and contacts with other friendly gyms. Then in March word came that we could participate in the 16th annual Freedom Fighters anti-fascist combat sports tournament in Poznań, Poland, and the three of us decided it was time for the first match. Although we practice muay thai en masse, we decided to occupy as many categories as possible – my brother in muay thai, me in K1, and since the last of us not only trains with us in stance combat sports, but also grappling and MMA. Unfortunately for him, there was no MMA fighter in his weight category, so he finally decided at the last minute to accept a match with a 10 kg heavier opponent in classic boxing. Our wrestling group left on Friday already, so that we could settle in quietly and enjoy a long sleep. Before noon, we set out for Rozbrat, where we were greeted by friends who arrived on Saturday morning and started accompanying us. Kamil, one of the main organisers of Freedom Fighters, welcomed us right at the gate. We exchanged a few words and then he brought us to the scale — it was time for the official weigh-in. While my brother and our friend was not worried, I preferred to strip down to my underwear, as I weighed exactly 82 kg to the gram before leaving the house, and I did not want to risk gaining more weight and losing the match. Fortunately, we all passed the weigh-in successfully and Kamil wished us good luck. He used to go to our gym to do seminars and already in the past there was a camaraderie between our circles, which we will certainly continue in the future. We went through the main gate, past the gym and found ourselves on a wider patch that served as an imaginary intersection. In front of us are the kitchen, toilets, free shop and smaller quarters. On the right hand side we had a concert hall, where a concert of crust punk bands was held the day after the match, and a library, but for now we were heading to the area next door. This part was once bought by the Rozbrat squatter collective to ensure that they would be able to continue to occupy the premises — they are still paying the amount, which is why all the money raised by organising Freedom Fighters goes to this purpose. Around the tents our friends had set up, the members of the collective pushed a giant DIY tribune, which they brought to the ring. Compared to previous years, it looked more professional and due to concerns about the weather, it was covered with a large tarpaulin along with the grandstand. It rained twice before the match itself, but the course of the matches was not affected in any way. We already changed into wrestling shorts and went to browse the library. Those of us who knew Polish read for a while, the rest ran hungrily to the oven where the Mamma Mia Anarchia collective was baking vegan pizzas. The matches started at one in the afternoon. After reading all the rules, it was time for a ceremonial match between two professional fighters from the same gym. Although most of the matches were amateur, it was not the only professional match of the day. The primary difference between professional and amateur fights is, in addition to the length of each round, mainly the use of protective elements such as helmets, shin guards and, in the case of muay thai, elbows. From our team, we all wrestled in the amateur division. A total of 16 matches took place, three of which were professional. Our friend had the only boxing match, who fought until the last round against a wrestler who was 10 kg heavier. He fought bravely –- his opponent knocked him down twice and he got up twice. However, on the third knock down, he wisely decided it would be unwise to continue and ended the match. The second match for our expedition was fought by a brother who fought in muay thai. Despite a slightly chaotic start caused by the language barrier during the preparation of the protective elements, he quickly calmed down and dominated the entire match with his elbows. He secured the win with a successful sweep, when he caught the opponent’s kick and chopped his legs — he was the only one to do that all day. I led the last match for our gym. The opponent set a high pace, and after two even rounds full of shootouts, we reached the last one, where only physicality decided – unfortunately for me, he had the better of it, so he secured the win on points. At the end we hugged each other, had pizza together and went to watch more matches. All the wrestlers performed amazingly, both from the perspective of the wrestlers and the audience, who constantly chanted and supported their favourites throughout the day. The post Report from Freedom Fighters 16 appeared first on Freedom News.