Lane Self Defense Collective is a group of people with varying self defense and physical conditioning experience that are organized to meet people where they are, and aid the community in development of self/community defense techniques. LSDC runs group and individual trainings in martial arts and exercise (including self -defense, conditioning, running, boxing, and taichi chuan), facilitate open source kali, arnis, and muay thai trainings, as well as train people in firearms, knives, and batons. We are willing to work around schedules and offer these services for free. Our presentation style is consent driven, and strives to work with people where they are, including trauma informed consent and self defense training for participants with physical disabilities.
We are aware that self defense training can be a big step in someone’s life, especially when one may have to use it for their community, and we don’t take that lightly. This group also regularly meets up to unpack what community defense means and attempts to break down this colonial edifice many of us have constructed that places hero worship and violence ahead of community and resilience.
This is an anti-abeleist, anti-racist, antiTERF, antiSWERF, antifascist, pro queer group working on decolonizing our minds and radical self care to better ourselves for the communities we love. If that works for you, we hope that we can make you feel welcome.
FAQ
Where are the training sessions held?
Training can be held in various places; we regularly hold sessions in backyards, houses, and parks. The setting is largely dependent on the participants’ comfort. Future plans of LSDC also include cohabitating shared leftist space where some of these trainings may take place.
What are the size of groups you teach? Can I get solo training?
Training group size is best when it is limited in number, since we are limited in instructors that can assist. Preference for size is eight or less for basic self defense training, and four or less for basic FMA sessions
What are your Covid19 precautions?
Currently, all of our trainers have received and completed their vaccines. We continue to wear masks in solidarity with our participants that cannot or have not received the Covid vaccinations, and ask our participants to share in the consideration. We maintain standards on par, or stricter, with state policies regarding safety and hygiene precautions surrounding Co
What Drives Us
Our Mission
LSDC has been gathered to:
- Create self defense training for oppressed and marginalized groups, as well as front line activists/organizers
- Foster community discussion around the decolonization of community self defense and martial arts
- Connect martial arts practitioners with people that need their assistance
- Evolve the overall understanding of what the term self defense encapsulates (is growing food for the community self defense? How does community self defense look in a world without police?)
- Help in the growth of a leftist martial arts culture in the PNW and on Turtle Island
Our Ethos
With the growing calls to abolish the police it would seem that communities have a long road ahead of them in determining what a world without policing looks like. At LSDC, our hope is to work with the community in developing what our self defense would look like and provide spaces where this discussion can be had. Through the empowerment of community members in the most direct threat of violence, we wish to assure our unified voice is stronger.
At the same time, we desire to help in the fostering of a liberatory martial arts community in lane county that attempts to develop understanding of its more appropriative/imperialist history and violent toxicity. It is our belief that addressing this history of oppression and understanding how it applies to our community’s defense may allow us to move the conversation forward in how to create a unified front against the forces that would choose to oppress any of us.