Q&A With LMA

Someone asked us some questions about why LMA is worth supporting, and we're sharing our answers here in the hope that they will resonate with you, too.

Q: Why support Liberation Martial Arts?

A: If a project doesn't create real change, it becomes stagnant. That's where many martial arts training efforts can stall—caught up in endless onboarding and convincing people why they should train. A year later, things often look no different than day one. If no one grows, what was the point? Are we just reliving the same day over and over? Is effort and support locked in time?

LMA chose another path. We don't shame people into training or tell them why they should do it—that's a personal journey. Instead, we focus on helping people actually get better. We simply train well, grow as people, and let that speak for itself. Unlike projects that end up stuck in place, LMA has become something rare: a practice that actually delivers on the promise of change. People do LMA, and they change.

Supporting LMA isn't about supporting an idea; it's about supporting progress in practice.

Q: What structures and infrastructures are missing on the Left?

A: What's missing are sustainable, liberatory structures that nourish people over time, allow for deep learning, and support organizers so they can do the work without burning out or disappearing. Most of us don't organize because we want to—we do it under duress, out of a sense of moral obligation, out of a sense of danger. But what would it look like to have spaces where we could recover, reconnect, and show up not because we feel we have to, but because we want to?

Q: What challenges exist in bringing together organizers to LMA?

A: Many radicals and organizers still carry a bias against physical movement training—seeing it as "backward," apolitical, or unimportant. But this is the same bias historically directed at working people: that those who labor with their bodies are less valuable and backward. Yet movement is the oldest imprint on our bodies—older than conscious thought. It's the first marker of life, the foundation of labor, and the medium through which Empire and capitalism have extracted value. From wage theft to enslavement, the exploitation of movement physically built Empire.

So when we talk about self-determination, we must also ask: how much of our own movement do we actually control? How much of it is shaped and distorted by systems we didn't choose? Shouldn't we be reclaiming and fostering that autonomy, too?

To access the complete Liberation Martial Arts curriculum and contribute to the sustainability of this project, consider upgrading your membership. Find other ways to support us here. – Sam

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(I write daily about martial arts and other topics from a liberatory perspective. If you like my work, please support me on Patreon or Substack, or make a donation. Find Southpaw at its website. Get the swag on Spring. Also check out Liberation Martial Arts Online.)