Hi friends! Last week my friend Jaydra and I met to talk about our ongoing vision for Femm Fighting, the twice-yearly event we are creating for women and genderqueer martial artists in Portland, Oregon. Our next two event dates are Saturday, May 17th, and Saturday, October 4th, 2025. Both events will be held at Southwest Portland Martial Arts. Jaydra and I talked about our overall vision for the events moving forward, our values surrounding the event, and we made a preliminary schedule and To-Do list for May’s event. In the interest of transparency and sharing the planning process, I’m including what we talked about as a blog post. Enjoy!
Why Femm Fighting Exists
Femm Fighting is a one-day martial arts training opportunity for women, genderqueer folks, and others who may experience being a gender minority in the martial arts. The event is open to women and genderqueer folks of all martial arts styles and experience levels. Many of us have experienced gender-based discrimination and other forms of discrimination in the martial arts, and Femm Fighting exists as a safe space for us to learn, train, grow, share, and practice together.
Vision for Femm Fighting
The goal of Femm Fighting is to create community among women & genderqueer martial artists of all styles and backgrounds. We hope that people will enjoy the events and will make friends and connections that will support their training throughout the year. We would like to create a sustainable event that can grow as we move forward. We would like to increase the number of participants, keep participation costs low, and invite other teachers to share their practices so we have well-rounded and diverse martial offerings. We are also open to sharing the tasks of organizing the event with others in the future. So that the event stays true to its intentions, we have started creating a list of values that we hold dear in our training. We hope these values keep us on course and help our events flourish.
Our Values
- Non-hierarchical skillshare & learning
- Healthy mind/body/spirit practices
- Gender Expansiveness
- Liberation & change-making
- Sharing tools to interrupt cycles of violence
- Inclusion
- Acknowledging Intersectionality
- Multiculturalism
- Self-expression & embodiment
- Protecting ourselves and others
- Anti-Oppression
- Sustainable martial practice/longevity in the martial arts
- Community-mindedness
- Discussion & education
- Individual voices & experiences are honored
- Honest inquiry and compassionate listening
- Fun & Joy
We noted in our conversation that we are often learning martial arts from cultures other than our own. We aim to be respectful to other cultures’ practices and traditions. We are also aware that tensions can arise in this area, and we will do our best to address these with listening and compassionate conversation.
TO DO List
- Draft new flyer
- Create new registration form
- Email a Save-the-Date to prospective participants
- Have planning Meeting with Teachers
- Procure snacks
- Promote the event
- reach out to schools
- post fliers
- tell friends
- promote on social media
- Create a Day-Of Timeline
Femm Fighting 2 Plans
At our next event, we hope to function even more as a hub for connecting people to each other and to martial arts events in the area. We’re planning to invite participants to bring fliers or information about their own women & queer-friendly classes, events, or community resources. The discussion topic we’re floating for our next event is “How do we take our martial art into the world?”
We believe that the work of the martial artist is the work of standing up for ourselves and for others who may experience violence or discrimination. This work is deeply important, especially given the current political climate. We are committed to questioning and dismantling oppressive power structures, and fostering the growth of healthy, inclusive, functional communities.
We would like to make it clear that Femm Fighting is a stand-alone event, and there is no expectation for participants to sign up for anything else or buy anything. However, if a participant finds a teacher they like or learn about a class that they want to try, that’s great!
Jaydra and I led the classes at the last Femm Fighting, and this time we are excited to bring on two other teachers to share their wisdom and skills. We will share more info as planning for the event unfolds. Thank you for reading!
Michelle Folk Johnson 