How the Fitness Industry Redeploys Military-Inspired Disassociation to Cultivate Harmful Body Culture
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Western hegemonic fitness culture starts with the underlying assumption that there is something wrong with who you are and that the remedy is to pursue an idealized body. In this pursuit, the fitness industry often relies on U.S. military-inspired disassociation to create a culture of extreme discipline, self-criticism, and physical transformation at the cost of physical and mental well-being.
Imperialism's impact on fitness culture
Military disassociation techniques were intended to enable soldiers to relentlessly follow orders and pursue a result regardless of the situation, context, harm, or consequence by mentally detaching from psychological and physical restraints, moral discomfort, fear, remorse, or executive function. The fitness industry has redeployed these tactics, not for the sake of military conquest but for bodily conquest.
Self-conquest
The body is detached from the self, becoming property to own and dominate. Individuals are encouraged to surveil not only themselves as the enemy but also others. In disconnecting from their current selves, they are also disconnecting from their current physical, emotional, and cultural states, creating a rift between their present bodies and a Western-idealized version of themselves that is perpetually out of reach and nonexistent. The consequence is a culture of self-harm disguised as self-care.
A toxic cycle of self-correction and destruction
Disassociation is employed to foster a mindset that glorifies extreme endurance and even pain as a path to self-worth. When you're disassociated, your executive function can't think better of it. Fitness culture often encourages people to override their bodies' signals and psychological red flags, treating them as obstacles to overcome rather than wisdom to heed. The cost is a culture where people are motivated by a desire to "fix" their perceived imperfections—where self-compassion and acceptance are flaws to be replaced by relentless self-correction and admonishment.
Instead of promoting acceptance, fitness marketing suggests that true self-worth can only be achieved through an obsessive pursuit of bodily perfection, drawing individuals into a harmful feedback loop of body-shaming and negative self-worth. This is not by accident. By driving a wedge between individuals and their present physical selves, fitness marketing nurtures a dependence on programs, products, and influencers promising to bridge the gap between who they are and who they "should" be. Manufacturing this gap means drawing on aesthetic ideals deeply rooted in colonial standards—standards that prioritize certain body types, appearances, and physical capabilities while rejecting others.
These tactics perpetuate a feeling of inadequacy where physical appearance and discipline become measures of value. Pain and suffering, often emotional, become marks of personal worth, and each failure to achieve perfection reinforces the need for further consumption, pain, and detachment. It's a cycle without end, and its effects are not only personal but also seep into our societal understanding of health and the ways we assign value to individuals and groups.
Reclaiming Movement
Rejecting this narrative of body disassociation means reclaiming movement as nutritious and empowering. Physical activities should allow participants to explore their movement potentials, reconnect with their bodies, and redefine their self-worth in ways that extend beyond physical appearance. For the oppressed, cultivating a healthy relationship with the body is an act of resistance.
The LMA Way
In Western thought, the mind and body are often seen as separate forces—sometimes working together but still distinct. Some view it as mind versus body, others as mind and body, or even the mind cooperating with the body. In Liberation Martial Arts (LMA), however, there is no divide. You are a whole being, moving in concert with your environment and community. The goal isn't to conquer, dominate, or transact but to move from a place of respect. The focus isn't on what a movement gets us but how it makes us feel. When you see movement as a collaboration with space, you open the door to endless possibilities where you're constantly finding and expressing joy in an infinite loop.
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