Georgia Verry

This paper discusses gender as a barrier to participation for trauma survivors in martial arts.

One barrier to participation is the common practice of using martial arts as an arena for the performance of masculinity (Spencer, 2012). Another barrier is the need for “women only” spaces as outlined by Channon (2014), including “women only” spaces that are safe for trans women and non-binary people. There are physical gendered barriers such as endometriosis and pregnancy, as well as societal barriers such as the common place practice of women fulfilling caregiving roles.

Presented as a practitioner essay, the paper uses case studies from the Conscious Combat Club (CCC), a trauma-informed kickboxing program in Melbourne, Australia. The paper outlines how the CCC addresses potential barriers to participation for women and gender-diverse people by utilising a trauma-informed approach. It will specifically contrast practitioner experiences of facilitating trauma-informed kickboxing classes for women in Australia with facilitating classes for women in El Salvador.

In developing gender-responsive, trauma informed solutions it is valuable to decolonise the concept of trauma which comes from the Global North, by collaborating on and learning from projects in the Global South. By offering practitioner insights into the intersection of gender and trauma-informed practice in martial arts, this paper highlights where the research is helping practitioners and where anecdotes need to be replaced empirically.