This is the first of what I hope will be many posts on topics related to training in the martial arts as a queer person. The idea for this blog came out of this previous blog, Traveling While Female, which I created in 2011 to document, process, and help others prevent or heal from sexual assault and harassment while traveling out and about in the world. I no longer maintain that blog for a few reasons. One is I no longer travel as much as I did in those days as a PhD candidate in South Asian Studies. The other, more relevant, fact is I do not identify as female.
I am a non-binary transgender person (leaning towards trans-masculine). I was assigned female at birth. For simplicity, I usually identify simply as "queer" as this also can apply to my sexual orientation which is also not straight (and not precisely 'gay' either--what is gay or straight when you're off the binary?)
At the time I was writing Traveling While Female, I had not yet begun to truly process my gender identity, and so the closest overlap in identities with what I thought I was experiencing was "female." That experience remains both true and untrue for me. I have never felt female (let alone felt like a girl or woman), and yet I know that as a person assigned female at birth and socialized as female, much of what I have experienced in life is on the basis of others assuming me to be female even if my internal reality did not match that assumption. So Traveling While Female was true for me. And where I am now in my life, Training While Queer just fits better. My life nowadays is much less about travel, and much more about training in the martial arts, moving around in the martial arts world, and teaching self-defense in a still cis-male dominated field. While I find myself often feeling more comfortable around cis-female martial artists than most cis-men, I have come to a point where I fully recognize that it is not the same.
And hence this new venture. Training While Queer. I intend this to be a space primarily for those who identify as either trans, non-binary, or genderqueer to find a place to come together, contribute, find solace, and connect. And I was this to be a space for other marginalized identities for whom one of their identies falls along the LGBTQIA++ spectra. Maybe you're ACE (asexual) and trans; maybe you're lesbian and live with a disability; maybe your a gay POC. If you are training in some kind of martial art--or in search of a truly queer-friendly place to train--this blog is for you.
Now to introduce myself: My name is Erin Epperson. I am a second degree black belt in Seido karate and a beginning Aikido student. I have also trained in western kickboxing, Yang Tai Chi (Cheng Man Ching style), and fencing. I earned my PhD in South Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago in 2017 and promptly abandoned a career in that field to pursue a life teaching empowerment-based self defense, martial arts, and meditation to kids and adults. With my partner, I run a business called Culture of Safety, LLC.
I hope you enjoy this new blog. Please reach out if you'd like to contribute.
I am a non-binary transgender person (leaning towards trans-masculine). I was assigned female at birth. For simplicity, I usually identify simply as "queer" as this also can apply to my sexual orientation which is also not straight (and not precisely 'gay' either--what is gay or straight when you're off the binary?)
At the time I was writing Traveling While Female, I had not yet begun to truly process my gender identity, and so the closest overlap in identities with what I thought I was experiencing was "female." That experience remains both true and untrue for me. I have never felt female (let alone felt like a girl or woman), and yet I know that as a person assigned female at birth and socialized as female, much of what I have experienced in life is on the basis of others assuming me to be female even if my internal reality did not match that assumption. So Traveling While Female was true for me. And where I am now in my life, Training While Queer just fits better. My life nowadays is much less about travel, and much more about training in the martial arts, moving around in the martial arts world, and teaching self-defense in a still cis-male dominated field. While I find myself often feeling more comfortable around cis-female martial artists than most cis-men, I have come to a point where I fully recognize that it is not the same.
And hence this new venture. Training While Queer. I intend this to be a space primarily for those who identify as either trans, non-binary, or genderqueer to find a place to come together, contribute, find solace, and connect. And I was this to be a space for other marginalized identities for whom one of their identies falls along the LGBTQIA++ spectra. Maybe you're ACE (asexual) and trans; maybe you're lesbian and live with a disability; maybe your a gay POC. If you are training in some kind of martial art--or in search of a truly queer-friendly place to train--this blog is for you.
Now to introduce myself: My name is Erin Epperson. I am a second degree black belt in Seido karate and a beginning Aikido student. I have also trained in western kickboxing, Yang Tai Chi (Cheng Man Ching style), and fencing. I earned my PhD in South Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago in 2017 and promptly abandoned a career in that field to pursue a life teaching empowerment-based self defense, martial arts, and meditation to kids and adults. With my partner, I run a business called Culture of Safety, LLC.
I hope you enjoy this new blog. Please reach out if you'd like to contribute.
