Welcome to FIST FEST!!
A day of hard queers fighting hard with hard fists!
That's right, it's our long-awaited, first ever London-based community interclub.
We've been running community interclubs for 3 years now in Brighton, collaborating with Team Queen, Athena Combat Club and Nam Yang Brighton. While we wait for our next one later in the year, we wanted to bring these good vibes to London.
On this day queers and allies will come together for a day of controlled, technical decision and non-decision bouts, with fighters matched by weight and experience rather than by gender.
Check out the power of queer and trans communities in action!
We can't wait for this celebration of queer and trans power in muay thai, this time brought to you by Bender Defenders and bringing together queer, trans and community gyms from around the country.
This is our way of pushing back against the big sports organizations that continue to exclude or segregate trans people, especially trans women, from sports. We’re done with their unfair practices.
We are here to show that everyone can participate in sports together. No segregation here! Allies are welcome! You’ll see allies both watching and competing at this event.
We are super excited to be holding this interclub at the iconic Chats Palace in Homerton, a gorgeous venue with a long history supporting punk and DIY movements.
After the event we will also be holding an evening celebration and social in the lovely Chats Palace bar, so if you're not free during the day you can come join us afterwards too!
So what are you waiting for? Get yourself a ticket and come and support your mates, queers and trans people doing sport together and unbothered as it should be!
Event details:
- This event will take place at Chats Palace, Homerton on Saturday 20th June 2026.
- Fights will start at 3:00 pm
- At 7:30pm we will move into the Chats Palace bar for a social and celebration! Entry after 7:30 will be free, but you will still need to register for a ticket so we can manage numbers.
- Coaches may take videos or photos during the fights, and across the day as a whole. Please inform one of the organisers if this is something you are not able to participate in.
We will be running this event in accordance with our values as a club, which can be found here.
THIS EVENT HAS A ZERO TOLERANCE APPROACH TO BIGOTRY OF ANY FORM THIS INCLUDES BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO: RACISM, ABLEISM, FATPHOBIA, TRANSPHOBIA, BIPHOBIA AND HOMOPHOBIA.
ACCESSIBILITY:
Physical Accessibility info:
- Access info for the venue can be found here
- Chairs are available upon request throughout the premises to accommodate guests who need them
If you have any specific access needs, please email the.bender.defenders@gmail.com or speak to an organiser on the day.
We have a limited number of free tickets available for those who need them, please email us if you cannot afford a ticket.
WHAT IS AN INTERCLUB?
An interclub (or “exhibition fight”) is an opportunity to test fighters’ skills in a low pressure atmosphere. This means that there will not be winners and losers in this event, both fighters will walk out with a cool, snazzy medal.
Fighters are not going to try to knock each other out, but they will put into practice everything they have learned over their training time. Every fighter has put in a lot of work to fight on this date and there will be many novice fighters, so make sure you shout out extra loud for everyone fighting!
HOW DID WE DO IT?
We don’t use gender as the primary way to categorise bouts. If fighters are the same weight and similar skill level we match them up. This approach has been successfully used in some European sporting competitions. It wasn’t that hard at all.
WHAT WILL YOU SEE?
In this event there will be muay thai and K1 fights.
Muay thai is a martial art that utilises punches, kicks, knees, elbows alongside standing clinching. This martial art is the national sport in Thailand, and is taught and practiced all over the world. Fighters are allowed to throw strikes to the head, body and legs. Fighters are allowed to clinch to attempt to off balance or throw each other on the floor. No strikes are allowed to the groin or to the back of the head.
K1 is a modern style of kickboxing where two standing people are allowed to use their fists, legs and knees to strike. Fighters are allowed to throw strikes to the head, body and legs. No strikes are allowed to the groin or to the back of the head.
I WANT TO FIGHT, HOW CAN I SIGN UP?
Great! How exciting! We will be circulating a sign-up form for fighters shortly, if you would like to recieve this please email the.bender.defenders@gmail.com to express your interest. All fighters must be accompanied by a coach and corner team, no exceptions (no solo fighters).