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<\/a><\/p>\nThousands from the Strajk Kobiet (Women’s Strike) movement have taken to the streets in Poland in 2020. Since the onset of the #metoo movement three years ago, the popularity of women\u2019s self-defence classes has exploded across the world. In Eastern Europe, a network of feminist trainers have been linking the personal empowerment this kind of training brings with a vision of more radical social transformation.<\/p>\n Olga Laniewska spends her free time working with women activists and political prisoners detained for opposing the regime in Belarus, and at weekends she offers Wen-Do self-defence training for women and trans people. Wen-Do originated in Canada, coming out of second wave feminism in the 1970s. It was originally created as a self-defence method to support women with both physical and psychological empowerment. It quickly spread across Western Europe and gained particular popularity in Germany and Poland.<\/p>\n As a certified <\/span>Wen-Do self-defence<\/span> trainer, Olga is about to deliver her 100th training. \u201cThe Wen-Do workshops are open to anyone who has had the experience of female socialization,\u201d Olga says. \u201cMy aim is to bring diverse groups of women together so we can learn from each other and grow stronger beyond barriers and stereotypes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Olga first participated in a Wen-Do workshop in 2007 when she was already working as an anti-discrimination trainer and self-defining as feminist. She was excited to learn how tools of self-defence could equip women with practical skills for empowerment, but quickly discovered that the Wen-do methodology was far more comprehensive than a set of physical practices. Her eyes light up when she speaks about the first session and what it revealed.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cRight from the beginning Wen-Do showed me that my own sense of personal power was not something I had to \u2018gain back\u2019, because it had never gone away. It helped open up my perspective to reclaim what was already there, to experience empowerment in the body, as something which is felt beyond words,\u201d she explains. \u201cMore than that, it taught me to recognise that I can be exactly who I want to be as a woman, rather than the person that the broader culture has taught me I need to be, or should be\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Olga\u2019s revelations are echoed by another trainer who has been bringing the Wen-Do methodology to women and trans people across the region. Kinga Karp also found herself hooked on Wen-Do from her very first session. \u201cIt blew my mind, to be honest,\u201d she says \u201cand brought about a total breakthrough in my ways of being in the world, both in my professional work as a psychologist at the time, and in my role as an activist in feminist and environmentalist circles.”<\/p>\n Wen-Do helped Kinga recognise what was getting in her way, the parts of her socialised self which were actively blocking her from stepping into personal power, from expressing her voice, and from asserting important boundaries. Realising it was an essential tool which could help many others, she immediately started training to become an accredited Wen-Do trainer.<\/span><\/p>\n What makes Wen-Do distinct from other methods of self-defence, and what ignited the interest of both Olga and Kinga, is the underlying methodology which addresses three key strands. Firstly, it takes into account the socio-political context which shapes how a particular culture constructs and enforces views around bodies and boundaries; secondly it addresses the psycho-emotional impact of disempowerment and empowerment; and thirdly it equips women with a set of basic physical self-defence techniques, which don\u2019t require extensive or lengthy training in martial arts.<\/span><\/p>\n In Kinga\u2019s case she found this \u2018whole system\u2019 approach useful in a range of different contexts. It had clear applications in her work as an empowerment coach teaching young girls, as well as more formal settings with NGOs, and even with frontline activist communities directly confronting the State.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When living and working on a protest camp in the Bia\u0142owie\u017ca Forest (Puszcza Bia\u0142owieska) in 2018, Kinga noticed that many of the local women, whose family members and neighbours worked for the National Forestry company that were logging the primeval forests,\u00a0were starting to speak up and take action, but needed a space to be opened up so that they could practice and articulate\u00a0their needs and opinions more confidently amidst the local conflict. Together with a group of activists staying at the camp,\u00a0Kinga decided to offer some workshops to teach basic self-defence techniques. \u201cIt was amazing to see how these local women and girls started referring to themselves for the first time as activists,\u201d she says. \u201cTo see them stepping into their own empowerment and their right to defend the land and their right to say no was tremendously powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n Within the week-long training that Kinga and two other Wen-Do trainers are developing for Ulex, verbal communication skills will be a core component, with a focus around consent and the power and legitimacy of the voice. Both Olga and Kinga have witnessed how many women or people socialised as women often struggle with verbalising and taking up space. This can play into the favour of attackers who know that women often feel embarrassed to react loudly in public spaces, even when their own safety is under threat.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe\u2019ve heard from people who\u2019ve attended these workshops who for the first time in their lives have learned to say no, and to say so really firmly,\u201d says Kinga. \u201cThey\u2019ve had the space to look at how they\u2019re fundamentally expressing themselves, and unpack what\u2019s holding them back.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Beyond a personal sense of empowerment, due to the explicitly inclusive nature of Wed-Do for people with different capacities, one of the deep benefits is how it brings different women together to build collective solidarity and power.\u00a0 As Olga says, \u201cWen-Do teaches us to work with our bodies the way they are, to be appreciative of the abilities and resources we\u2019ve got, rather than seeking to be something more.\u201d<\/p>\n She explains how in Eastern Europe, the norms of what a woman should look like are clearly defined, well maintained and conforming to certain models of beauty. By bringing together women in her workshops from different socio-economic backgrounds – some educated, some non-educated, others with limited mobility –\u00a0 helps to de-stigmatise non-normative behaviours and builds shared understanding and power. These connections are all the more necessary in light of the protests now erupting across the region.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWith what is happening in Poland and Belarus right now,\u201d says Kinga, \u201dtraining such as Wen-Do is really essential. When women are in situations of potential danger we can read the signals and respond, we can reclaim control and active decision-making about how we want to defend our rights and live our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n This aspect, contrary to what most people imagine self-defence training is about, is what Kinga believes is the most important aspect. She says it is not so much about being able to defend yourself, but more so to be able to recognise situations that are potentially dangerous and make fully informed decisions, based on a sense of awareness that has been restored in trusting the body\u2019s intelligence.<\/span><\/p>\n Olga goes further: \u201cWen-Do taught me how to become more aware of what is happening at a somatic level, to be more adept at dealing with conflict and with confrontational situations. It also taught me to love and respect my body just the way that it is, and to reclaim and remember the power that I\u2019ve always had.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Find out more:<\/strong><\/p>\n Wen-Do Belarus \/ Wen-Do \u0432 \u0411\u0435\u043b\u0430\u0440\u0443\u0441\u0438 – \u0441\u0430\u043c\u043e\u043e\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u0430 \u0438 \u0430\u0441\u0441\u0435\u0440\u0442\u0438\u0432\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044c \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0436\u0435\u043d\u0449\u0438\u043d \u0438 \u0434\u0435\u0432\u043e\u0447\u0435\u043a \u2013<\/span> Facebook page<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Ulex Project Self-Defence Empowerment and Anti-Discrimination for Women and Trans Activists \u2013<\/span> course information<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Credit: Kuba Atys\/Agencja Gazeta\/via REUTERS<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n![\"Women's](\"https:\/\/ulexproject.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/14124256_1088568731219720_3291956122146619102_o.jpg\")
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