We Will Not Comply: Indiana's Anti-Trans Legislation
Yesterday, I made my way to the Indiana Statehouse to stand in opposition to legislation put forward by lawmakers in the House of Representatives. Indiana ACLU organized the event and hundreds of individuals came out to demand the bill be voted down. Unfortunately, despite the bill’s extreme unpopularity, the highly conservative makeup of the House guaranteed its passage, and will likely guarantee its passage in the state Senate.
Why I Won't Train Cops and You Shouldn't Either
I recently had the opportunity to travel to Memphis, Tennessee to join in on the protests against police brutality for the murder of Tyre Nichols. While I did not get to participate in the kind of direct actions that I was able to as part of the Good Trouble 65 or the Filibuster 42, but I was able to meet local activists and organizers and see how they worked and what they were doing to push the work forward.
De-escalation in the Face of Gun Violence
I recently had a run-in with someone experiencing a mental health crisis who was also armed and intended to carry out an act of violence. I do not believe that everyone who reads this blog should go out and attempt the same thing if a situation were to arise, but I wish to illustrate how important de-escalation is and why it should be one of the main focuses of any sort of self-defense curriculum. Self-defense should be about more than meting out violence when we feel threatened.
From Pancakes to Provisions: How We Became Mutual Aid Over Everything
Last November, we began volunteering with a local mutual aid organization, Because of Adam in order to provide food to our unhoused neighbors here in Indianapolis. The service we provide has since grown and expanded and shifted and I felt it would be good to update everyone on what we do and how we have changed our goals over the last year, and how we went from calling ourselves Indy Pancake Popup to Mutual Aid Over Everything.
Let Trans Women Compete
In the recent months, we have seen a number of anti-trans laws come into play in various states and imposing various restrictions and humiliations on our trans friends. From not allowing name changes, to actual genital inspections in order to participate in sports, things have become increasingly dark and dangerous for members of the trans community.
How Being Arrested Created Academic Grappling
We’ve developed a space in BJJ where we can stand up and be vocal about issues that matter and feel supported in it. We can collectively work to keep our communities safe and healthy through sharing our time, resources, and talents to causes that matter to us. I am grateful for what we have at Academic Grappling and KruFit. I am grateful I didn’t quit.
Use Your Voice
I am tired of the lack of kindness from our city. I am tired of the lack of care or concern. I am tired of the lack of any sort of plan that doesn’t involve a badge and a gun and a jail cell.
Why We’re Sucker Free
2020 was a year that changed everything for so many of us, especially within the martial arts and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community. Between the rise of COVID-19 and the George Floyd protests for police accountability that took place across the nation, we began to learn that our friends, family, and even our training partners were not the people we thought they were.
Mental Illness and Homelessness via #submitthestigma
I initally wrote this piece for #submitthestigma but have made minor additions and updated it here for Academic Grappling.
Making Pancakes and why they Matter
It’s been quite some time since I’ve sat down to write a blog. However, our gym has recently started doing some mutual aid work that I thought deserved to be shared.
For those of you who know me personally or have just been following the gym on social media, you are likely aware that I recently started the Indy Pancake Popup. This little project is simple: I make pancakes and other breakfast foods for unhoused individuals in Indianapolis once a week. My children come with me and we set up a couple of propane stoves, throw a cast iron griddle on top, and get to work.
My Surgery and What it Means to Me
For the last few months, I have been discussing having surgery. Everyone has assumed it was for my spine, which is in fact, a huge mess that hinders me. But to say that I had surgery for my back is only half of the truth. I haven’t exactly been honest about what I’m having done, which is bariatric surgery.
Benefits of Jiu-Jitsu for the Neurodivergent
I sit in my classroom on this warm spring morning, half-finished energy drink on my desk, the sounds of my students arriving echoing down the halls and reverberating off of the lockers. I look at the schedule I’ve made for my students, but my brain doesn’t even register that my eyes have fallen on that sheet of paper. Instead, I’m thinking about Jiu-Jitsu.