We Protect Us: Self-Defence 4 Celestial Bodies

For many of us, we have never felt less safe. In the wake of the instability of the pandemic, womxn, queer people and sexual minorities around the world are facing fresh surges of violence.  As we engage in action, committing ourselves to resistance and revolution, we must remember to not forget ourselves. We are worth protecting and defending.

Remember that we are celestial bodies. In orbit, we protect both ourselves and our communities - we are nourished by the Sun of eternal love. Understanding our bodies, our seasons, our changes of temperaments, is the key to greater security, self-love and inner harmony. We become one with the universe.

Join Shadow Sistxrs Fight Club in our latest offering.In We Protect Us: Self-Defence 4 Celestial Bodies, we explore self-defence as a tool for empowerment in a time when our communities are being harassed and exploited by increasingly oppressive and violent forces. We will explore narratives of cyclical healing, holistic  and coming home to ourselves.

Shadow Sistxrs Fight Club is a physical and metaphysical self-defence collective for women, non binary people and queer, trans, intersex and queer people of colour. They have a holistic approach to self defence, incorporating Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, meditation and medicinal/magical herbalism in our workshops.

Monique Etienne is co-founder of Shadow Sistxrs Fight Club. She has been a practitioner of martial arts for twenty years, and holds a Black Belt in Karate and a Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She is interested in creating inclusive self-defence spaces by redefining stereotypical notions of strength. 

Randa (spice.mystic) is a grower, forager, maker/crafter, cook and herbal apprentice. They are passionate about communal learning and collective liberation, practices that interrupt notions of individualism and separation from nature to grow towards symbiotic and collaborative communities. Recently, Randa was the herb trainee at OrganicLea and she is currently apprenticing with Community Apothecary and Rasheeqa Ahmad. Venus is a sex worker and a practitioner of martial arts for over twenty years. She is interested in subverting typical notions of strength and power and using self-defence as a tool for individual and collective healing.

Ayesha Tan Jones @yayabones is an artist and musician based in London. Ayesha’s work is a spiritual practice that seeks to present an alternative, queer, optimistic dystopia. They work through ritual, meditating through craft, and building forms from their dreams.