Well hello! So glad to see you here ready to add some kicking and punching action to your week! 

We have a new venue! Our Saturday classes will now be at St Margaret’s House in Bethnal Green, at 3pm. 

More detailed directions to get to the hall will be sent after you book. PLEASE BRING TRAINERS as our new venue has a more unforgiving floor than we are used to. 

Please keep an eye on the times of the classes, and make sure you’ve marked messages from Outsavvy as ‘Not Junk’ so you get any updates from us, as the times/locations might change (we apologise in advance, this is the best we can do at this stage).

And before you book, please take a look at the T&C. 

Every week we reserve free spaces for people on a low income/unwaged, transwomen/transfems people and QTBIPOC. If this is you, and you can’t get (or afford) a ticket, message @bender_defenders_ on instagram or email at the.bender.defenders@gmail.com

Who are we?

We are Bender Defenders (Caroline and Luca) and these are our Muay Thai classes. 

This is a playful environment where queer and trans people come to train, make friends, have fun and explore their own strength through martial arts and partner work. 

You will learn strikes, movements and defences and have a lot of fun hitting things, doing group challenges and playing games. 

We have two levels for each sport 

– beginner (people with very little to none experience) you will learn stance, movement and basic strikes and defences

– intermediate level: pad drills 

If in doubt speak to coach Luca (the Italian one with curly hair) and he will suggest the right group for you.

What to expect:

We approach exercise playfully and with community building in mind. Participants are not asked to spar or fight each other.  You will be provided with pads to hit/kick and gloves to do all the hitting with. 

Everything you learn in these classes can be used in self defence, however we do not run these classes with the aim of having to defend ourselves in mind. As a community we are already very hypervigilant and we do not need reminders that we might be in danger. 

The class consists of:

• Warmup (10mins)
• Introductions (names and pronouns)
• Muay Thai training, partner work (50 mins)
• Fitness/games (5mins)
• Stretching (10mins)

And then we go to the pub or the park!

Our approach to fitness:

Your best will always be enough. Please remember that it is okay and normal to find exercise challenging, it doesn’t mean you’re ‘bad at it’. It usually just means you’re pushing yourself or going out of your comfort zone. Be gentle with yourself when things feel difficult and only push yourself within your window of tolerance (we do not make assumptions about what that looks like because it is different for everyone). We appreciate that sometimes just turning up is an achievement (we’ve all been there). 

Come as you are – you don’t need to be ‘good at it’ or ‘be fit’. We understand everyone has their own relationships with bodies and exercise and these can often bring up complicated feelings from peoples past experiences. We avoid cultures of toxic masculinity and fitness in our classes. We do this by encouraging you to listen to your bodies, take breaks when you need it and try not to compare yourself to anyone else. You are not going to be the only one struggling with something! Many feel that way.

If you are struggling with something, give the coach a wave and let them know. We will suggest modifications or find another way to explain the movements to you.

We welcome queers of all abilities, particularly those who don’t feel at home in mainstream gyms. We don’t tolerate transphobia, fatphobia, ableism, racism or fascism. 
NO COPS AND SOLDIERS IN OUR CLASSES.

Ticket link