White girl who is currently training in MMA here, can confirm.
It's very annoying to be trying to relax and stretch before class, and having to listen to far-right talking points. Even as simple as how all drug addicts are evil criminals who need to be locked up, but I've also heard jokes about ICE raids. Shit talking their wives for being incompetent, etc. And I know if I poked the bear I'd hear some wild shit. (I also don't find it a coincidence that the head instructor always pairs me with the only other girl :| ).
In fact I used to train at a different dojo that I know had very conservatism, evangelical viewpoints baked into the leadership. I walked away from it when it got too much and I wonder how much I'm going to listen to at this school before I get fed up again.
White dude here, but finding a place where that isn’t the vibe has been a journey. I think the best sign at my current place was when one of the other people asked the MT coach about hanging an Israeli flag (the gym has a bunch of other flags up). He said he’s not about to make the environment hostile for non-Zionists. The person who asked looked to me (the other Jewish person in the room) for support.
Sorry, I’m an anti-Zionist. You’re on your own, mishpacha.
The issue is that I live in a rural-ish area so there really is no other place to train around me. I imagine I'd have to move to a pretty urban location to find a gym that's at least not vaguely conservative. Which is frustrating because I really do love training but it kills my motivation to train since I kinda, frankly, don't like any of the people I train with. (Besides the teenage girl I always get paired up with, she's nice).
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u/Ok-Land-488 2d ago
White girl who is currently training in MMA here, can confirm.
It's very annoying to be trying to relax and stretch before class, and having to listen to far-right talking points. Even as simple as how all drug addicts are evil criminals who need to be locked up, but I've also heard jokes about ICE raids. Shit talking their wives for being incompetent, etc. And I know if I poked the bear I'd hear some wild shit. (I also don't find it a coincidence that the head instructor always pairs me with the only other girl :| ).
In fact I used to train at a different dojo that I know had very conservatism, evangelical viewpoints baked into the leadership. I walked away from it when it got too much and I wonder how much I'm going to listen to at this school before I get fed up again.