Can I or my child take classes if we haven’t experienced trauma?

Yes! Trauma-informed just means that we take into account the effects that trauma and adversity can have on people, which can benefit you regardless of if you identify as having experienced trauma or not. For example, our coaches will never yell at you or make you do push-ups for being late. We realize that life gets out of our control sometimes and we are just happy that you made it!

Do you offer self-defense classes?

The short answer is no. The long answer is that we do not frame our classes in terms of self-defense because it puts the responsibility on survivors for the violence done to them. Moreover, sometimes the safest thing to do is freeze. So talking about self-defense can increase shame for folks who have frozen or those who may have freeze responses in the future.

Instead, we focus on helping people feel powerful in their bodies. We learn about the stress response in the context of martial arts and develop grounding and emotion regulation skills to use in our everyday lives. We focus on self-confidence, self-compassion, and resilience.

This may impact how we hold ourselves, how others view us, and how we respond to potential threats in our everyday lives (which some might call self-defense), but this is not our main focus.

What do I need to bring to my first class?

Comfortable athletic clothing, a water bottle, and your wonderful self! We go barefoot on the mats, so no athletic shoes necessary. We have combat sport gear (e.g., gloves, shin guards, etc.) that you can borrow until you decide if kickboxing is right for you or not.

I have never done martial arts before. Is this right for me?

Yes, yes, and yes! One of the amazing things about martial arts is that it is an individual sport done in a community. So no matter your age, your fitness level, or your experience, you can be a part of our community and go at your own pace.

What kind of martial arts will I learn?

Nicole has a background in Taekwon-Do, kickboxing, and Muay Thai. We are registered with the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations, so this means that our instruction primarily focuses on kickboxing with an opportunity to learn different types of striking.

We have plans to expand to be a true mixed martial arts school in the near future, meaning that we will also offer Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes that you can register for if you want.

What do I need to know about gear?

To start out, you need hand wraps, boxing gloves, and combat sport shin guards. If you want to spar, you will also need head gear and a mouth guard.

Boxing gloves are measured by weight using ounces (e.g., 12oz, 14oz, 16oz), not size (small, medium, large, etc.). The ounces indicate how much padding there is between your hand and what you are hitting. For sparring, the following chart from Rival Boxing Gear Canada can give you a guideline for what weight of glove you want based on your size.