Now that we know more about trauma and understand it's not necessarily a memory but an imprint on our nervous systems and bodies, therapists are increasingly recommending movement activities to heal, such as martial arts. So consider the cruel irony then when martial arts smash you, haze you, and sustain toxic, judgmental, and oppressive environments. There's the injury of being harmed, but there's a double injury when you're harmed by the thing that's supposed to heal you.
There is this misconception in martial arts that somehow the more toxic the training environment is, the better the training must be. It's the same misconception some folks have with economics where they assume the more rightwing and fascistic someone is, the more they must understand numbers and the economy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Whether it's the academe of school or the gym, you learn best when you feel safe. Just as the best understanding of the economy is that it's made up of people, not machines. How can you learn with a boot on your neck? How can you be objective about the economy while licking that boot?
Staying in a toxic training environment for the training is like staying with an abusive spouse because you think they cook well. Do you really think you can even enjoy those meals in that environment? Think about how oppressive our society must be for us to believe that experience can be separate from our environment and relationships. Look how mean he is. He must know his shit! No wonder we're so alienated and have such a hard time connecting. Look at how people, especially young men, lash out at their environment and community. The culture that creates this is the best culture to learn in?
If you're in a toxic environment you hate and only stay there because you misguidedly think you learn best there, leave. That environment only suits people who like that environment. Find a school that you like regardless of accolades or "prestige" from a toxic community—an environment where you're safe and nurtured. If there's no school, find a training collective. Even if you can't train as often as you'd like, the few times a week you do train will be more productive and better for your holistic health than daily training at an oppressive school.
Even beginners might be better off creating their own training collectives than training in toxicity. There are now so many resources and ways to do this. If there is a school or collective you like, but it's too far, then go there occasionally while training regularly with your friends and family. Find training material online. There's a whole online Liberation Martial Arts training program for people to train independently. Resist giving chuds and enablers your money or your tacit support.
There are occasions where training at a reactionary school is the only option, and you feel any training is better than no training. But those instances aren't hegemonic, and there are more alternatives than people think. Sometimes it can be about harm reduction or not training at a school with abusers. But whatever the case may be, toxic training is never good training. We have to abandon that default assumption. Abandon what harms you. The law is not a moral bar, and by the time a law is broken, it's too late.
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Love that you’re bringing out the topic of trauma within martial arts. Feels like such a vital aspect to uncover & explore (why do most of us find ourselves training anyway...?). There’s a concept I first heard from Nkem Ndefo “traumatized people create traumatized organizations.” This feels prescient to your piece here, good on you for pulling back the veil & de-normalizing the experience of traumatizing toxicity that is so prevalent in the world(s) of martial arts.