For London women, learning to fight builds confidence

LONDON — The thwack of fists hitting hand pads echoed through the studio as pairs of women circled each other, striking blows and blocking them, with a singular focus. A solid jab from one woman elicited an approving murmur from her sweaty partner. Another ducked in anticipation of an incoming left hook.

“Just two strikes! That’s enough!” the instructor called out.

The women — lawyers, teachers and retail workers from around the city — were in the north London studio to practice the techniques of Krav Maga, a self-defense fighting system.

“When things happen to you, there are lots of things you can do to fight back,” said Jia Li, 26, a business consultant who said she joined the class partly because a man physically harassed her on the street this year. “You’re not just completely helpless and powerless.”

Combat sports like boxing and martial arts and self-defense techniques like Krav Maga had been gaining in popularity as a form of physical fitness and protection for women in Britain, many instructors say, before the pandemic increased the risks of close contact.

But after a year marked by isolation and loneliness caused by the virus, and high-profile instances of violence against women, gyms say there has been a resurgence of interest from women who want to learn how to fight and defend themselves.

One gym in east London, Fightzone London, said the number of women who wanted to take classes doubled after it reopened this year compared with 2019.

At Miguel’s Boxing and Fitness Gym in south London, where about 70 percent of the members are women, demand for boxing instruction is so high it added several new classes a week. And several branches of Safari MMA, a martial arts gym catering to women, have waiting lists.

“When we started opening up post-lockdown, we were manic,” said Khadijah Safari, its founder.

She said the waitlists had grown so long that the gym initially had to turn people away. “These were new people reaching out,” she said.

Many of the women said they were drawn to self-defense because the physical and mental fitness it requires helped ease the toll they had endured during lockdowns; the training helped them build confidence, relieve stress and make new friends.

“Lots of people hit an all-time low during lockdown,” Safari said. “They found it very hard to go back to social situations. And when you feel vulnerable, you look for strength.”

There are distinctions among sports like boxing, martial arts and Krav Maga, which was developed by the Israeli Defense Forces and draws on skills from other fighting sports as a way to teach self-defense. Indeed, instructors of Krav Maga say fighting back should be a last resort when a person is faced with a potentially dangerous situation; they advise people to give up valuables in attempted burglaries, for example, and avoid confrontation where possible.

Many women said their experiences with harassment or assault factored into their decision to take up fighting sports.

“That played a big part in choosing this sport,” said Shaaista Lalla-Saib, 22, a recent university graduate, as she finished up a Thai kickboxing class in east London. “I feel more confident.”