Welcome to the basement

Hi friends!

Welcome to the first official Basement Self Defense Class email! If we haven’t met, my name is Matty. I live in Logan Square and I’m the admin/secretary/treasurer/VP of marketing for Basement Self Defense Class. I started organizing these community self defense classes a few months ago with the help of our two brilliant instructors Chijioke Williams and Aspen Drake.

I’ll send these emails out about once a month with class updates and I promise, above all else, to keep them short 🫡 So let’s get into it!

Please note that some classes through June will be on Tuesdays. Each class is $15 suggested donation and takes place at Grace Church of Logan Square (3325 W Wrightwood Ave). We’ll start at 7pm and go until about 9pm.

You are totally welcome to just show up to class and pay there or you can pre-register via Partiful. As always, trans folks fight for free! Trans participants can fill out this form to reserve a free spot or just show up, truly whatever floats your boat. Pre-registering just helps us get an idea of how many people are attending, but isn’t necessary! If you’re a regular (shoutout Sylvia!) don’t worry about it.

And hey waves you in closer Even if a class is “full” on partiful, please know you are always welcome to show up.

Here are the registration links for upcoming classes:

• Tuesday, May 20 (Aspen)

• Monday, June 2 (Chi) *

• Tuesday, June 17 (Aspen)

• Monday, June 30 (Chi)

• Monday, July 7 (Aspen)

*Our June 2 class is totally free! The 14th District Council for the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability is sponsoring the class so if you’d like to reserve your spot for that, they are just asking you to fill out their form to reserve your spot! I know it looks like the wrong link talking about the May 10th class, but it’s correct, I swear.

Know someone who might sponsor a class?

It costs about $225 to cover a self defense class. This pays for the space, the instructor, covers the cost of instructor travel, snacks, and the leftover funds go towards buying more mats/equipment! So if you know of any businesses/rich friends who have been itching to donate to a fun group, we’ll slap their logo/name on our gorgeous poster. 

Ok, enough with the business. Time for some words of gratitude. 

Thank you all for showing up for these classes and being patient with us while we figure out how to build out a sustainable practice. It’s been so fun seeing people come back and watching y’all get more comfortable punching each other <3 If you have any thoughts/ideas for how we can make these classes better, feel free to reply to this email!

What else, what else:

• I loved this piece about building community and Ireland’s oldest gym.

• I’m hosting an art show in June and we are doing a fundraiser dance class ($20) this Thursday up north and next Monday, I’m hosting a little craft night (free!) at my studio in Hermosa to make some fabric tomatoes.

• Chicago Food Sovereignty Coalition (the group of Chicago mutual aid groups) is hosting a barbecue at their Keystone Warehouse this Sunday at 1pm. There will be music and food! You can bring a dish to share and some clothes you’d like to screen print the CFSC logo on. If you’ve been curious about getting involved with your local mutual aid, this is a great place to meet people! Reply here if you want the address.

• Gab! Magazine (a super cool indie press in the city) is hosting a field day at Koz park on June 14th.

Song of the day: “Just Wanna Chill” by Dominant from Chi’s class playlist

Have a great week y’all and remember that circle beats line!!! See you next Tuesday in the basement!