Want your child to join a club and class dedicated to fun, fitness and wellbeing? Then look no further as on Sunday 22nd May we are holding our FREE Ninja Open Day in Milton Keynes!
It is running from 10:30am-12:30pm for children aged 4-8 and lets them try our fun, physical and fantastic children’s gymnastic and Muay Thai classes! Drinks and snacks will also be provided so it’s a win-win for you and your child.
Our classes are designed to help teach children a sport and learn valuable life skills whilst also having fun and making friends, all integral parts of a child’s development. Our instructors ensure that each child is having fun, feels comfortable and not only committing to the sport but also committing to themselves.
Click HERE to book your child’s free place at our fun open day! We look forward to seeing you there and creating some fun memories.
Did you know that there are 6.5 million carers in the UK? 800,000 of them are young carers aged 5-17 years old. Whilst navigating their own life, growing up, attending school and trying to be a kid, they are also caring for another person full time. It is a full-time job that is placed upon young shoulders who sometimes are not offered the rest bite and help they require and need.
Which is why we are excited to announce that we have teamed up with MK Carers to offer young carers free Muay Thai classes at our Safari Health Hub located in Bletchley!
Here at Safari MMA, we are dedicated to helping the disengaged groups, the groups of people who are overlooked and often forgotten about. We want to equip them and support them in as many ways as we can and one of the ways we do this is through martial arts.
We are currently running our Male Young Carers class on Wednesdays at 6-7pm and Female Young Carers class on Friday’s at 4:30-5:30pm.
Our classes are designed to help carers take the mental escape from always being on, available and putting others needs first. These classes help carers to put their physical wellbeing first by enjoying the physical benefits of Muay Thai whilst also putting their mental wellness first and escaping the endless thoughts that flood their brain by concentrating and focusing on the moves and technique required in MMA.
If you know any young carers who would benefit from this opportunity, please contact MK Carers or us! We look forward to seeing you.
What is MMA?
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a hybrid of combat sports and martial arts, combining techniques from Jiu Jitsu (grappling, chokes and locks), Boxing (punches), Kickboxing(elbows, knees and kicks), Wrestling (takedowns and submissions) and many other disciplines. It is trained for competitive or self defence reasons. There are many benefits to training in MMA including improved fitness and hand-eye coordination, increased confidence and learning how to apply the techniques in self defence scenarios.
Read this blog on how MMA specifically benefits women.
MMA and Self-defence
MMA is considered as the closest discipline for self-defence. It is widely ranked top 3 in Self-defence blogs and articles.
As you may already know, self-defence has many elements to it such as emotional intelligence, preventative measures and physical techniques for escape. As attackers can grab and strike you, you need to know not only how to strike, but a means to escape holds, etc. So MMA is a perfect mix of techniques to practice ways to strike, escape holds and how to defend yourself if the fight goes to the ground.
Street fights usually end up on the floor but it’s not a position you want to be in. Essentially self-defence highlights the importance of staying on your feet. Therefore kickboxing is a great way to learn how to utilise your limbs in a stand up fight with strikes using the hands, feet, elbows and knees.
Why women should train in MMA..
Women are getting more into MMA for self-defence reasons. Learning how to defend yourself is an essential life skill for women in particular. In the UK, 1 in 4 women will experience domestic abuse and 1 in 5 sexual assault during her lifetime. Globally, this rises to 1 in 3. That’s a third of women that will experience some form of assault or abuse globally!
These statistics shed light to the importance of learning MMA. As a woman, our self-development journey involves becoming more confident and stronger in whatever we do- not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally.
Read this blog on 8 strong reasons why women should join MMA.
So what’s stopping you?
Limitations can include perception of the discipline; with it being portrayed by the media as a competitive, commercialised sport and the misconception of it being a ‘mans’ sport as the industry is dominated by men. This aids in dispelling the notion of MMA being a viable option for women and so discourages women from joining local combat sport clubs.
Accessibility is also an issue as MMA and combat sports can be demoralising. For instance, some days you can feel you’re not getting something out of it or you’re burning yourself out, trying to match your male partner’s strength. Having other women to practice technique with is encouraging and can keep you going.
Female representation in MMA organisations is the turning point to whether females will thrive in the sport. Whether they are on the board of advisers or training, seeing a woman around will help you relate and see it as a stronger option, whereas lack of female representation will have an opposite effect.
How to start?
Many go through the route of boxing and kickboxing first before getting comfortable with grappling and ground work. Top level MMA athletes have a base discipline such as Ronda Rousey with Judo before taking up other disciplines and making use of them all in her MMA career.
If you prefer to train in a womens only setting, Safari MMA has got you covered! Providing accessibility with many locations and an abundance in female representation. From a female CEO and a female led team, the perception of MMA and combat sports is diminished!
Read this blog about the importance of finding a gym with women involved.
Check out Safari MMA for kickboxing classes with many locations and wellness classes all catered to uplift your wellness levels and give you the means to defend yourself if you have to.
The first month is half price! £18 Only. Then £36 from the second month onwards.
There is a chance for you to help by visiting our GoFundMe Campaign and sharing it with friends and family
GoFundMe – View Campaign to help
100% Donation Policy
Link to share: https://www.gofundme.com/manage/safari-mma-faces-collapse-sports-club/
It is no understatement to say that Safari MMA has literally saved lives, and this very platform which has taken 10 years of dedicated work to engage communities across the UK who ordinarily wouldn’t participate in sport, is on the brink of collapse. Before the first lockdown Safari MMA was spread across 11 locations in major cities in the UK.
Safari MMA is in critical need of financial support, with no idea of when lockdowns will lift, and when classes will be able to return without social distancing in place. The forecast for the next financial year, without support or a full lift of social distancing, is set for the company to collapse with a forecasted loss of £49,292 for 2021-2022, a debt that would cost not only jobs, but hundreds of members to lose the one thing that has kept them going for so many years.
Why Safari MMA needs your support?
The team’s main goal is to engage the disengaged groups in the community in sport, primarily, but not exclusively through Martial Arts, with specialist focus on trying to engage women and youth who ordinarily wouldn’t consider getting involved in sport, or more importantly have cultural barriers where sport is seen inappropriate for women to be involved in. Khadijah Safari has spent the past 10 years breaking down barriers by working within these communities herself, as a woman of religious belief she’s been able to successfully educate and lead a change in community’s understanding of sport and has brought about a shift in the way the sport is viewed by the BAME community and also women of religious belief. The work has since far extended part this to bring focus on out-reach work, helping with mental health prevention, socio-economic groups, victims of domestic violence, concern for youth, crime prevention and self belief in children. Safari MMA has been running online live sessions during this period at a cost, just to keep people active, however the period of needing to open when lockdowns lift will come at a further cost, as social distancing will mean that running costs are higher, with less members being able to attend class, meaning that classes run at an expense. If we can get support during this transition period then we can come out healthy on the other side.
Who you’d be helping?
For the majority of members at Safari MMA, there is no alternative. This is their only means to access sport in an environment that considers their needs, where they feel mentally safe and can unite and feel equal in society. To keep Safari MMA running would mean keeping the one place open, for many that gets them through their week, and more often than not is their therapy. You’d not only keep the company running but you’d also be assisting those members and potential members who due to current circumstances are not able to afford to train, from children through to adults, many of whom are extremely vulnerable.
Your contribution matters
As we see sports clubs crumbling by the day as a result of this pandemic, we will fight and do all that we can to keep Safari MMA open, and your contribution could bring reward for you for many years to come, as you’ll never know how much you really could have changed someone’s life for the better.
And if you can’t afford to contribute? Please just share with friends and family, your time is appreciated.
Have you heard about easyfundraising?
Here at Safari MMA we know that for some, times are tough financially right now, however we don’t want this to stop anyone from being able to train, which is why we have set up Safari Sport Support. We care about the lives we are changing and we would like to invite you to help us make a difference too. Before you know it, you will be changing lives by just doing your everyday shopping at some for your favourite retailers! It costs you nothing, but the impact this could have on someone will be life changing.
Its free and simple to join easyfundraising!
Click here and it will take you straight to Safari Sport Support homepage.
Every time you shop online, go to the easyfundraising app or website first, pick the retailer you want and start shopping
After you’ve checked out, that retailer will make a donation to us for no extra cost whatsoever!
These are the easiest ways for you to raise a donation.
Shopping on your mobile? No problem, for mobile phones and tablets there is the handy easyfundraising App, perfect if you like to shop on the go and available completely free of charge from your App store. Now you can not only shop using it but you can check out your own donation total and see how your cause is getting on too. More information can be found here.
Shopping from your computer? Install the Donation Reminder – this means a box will appear if you are shopping with a retailer who participates with easy fundraising and you don’t even need to visit the easyfundraising site! All you need to do is click Activate Donations and any eligible purchase will be recorded for you. Take a look at the Donation Reminder here. It’s supported by Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari but can’t work on mobile phones or tablets.
Visit easyfundraising.org.uk – simply search for the retailer you want to shop with and click onto them using the green ‘Go Shopping’ button. You’ll be taken straight to the retailers website and your experience will be identical as if you had gone there directly but easyfundraising will be able to track your purchase to ensure a donation for your good cause. More information can be found here.
A note about Amazon and eBay
If you’re shopping with Amazon and eBay always make sure your basket is empty before you start shopping and remember to go through the easyfundraising website or app to get to their websites. If you have the Donation Reminder it will be able to tell you when a donation is available at these two great sites.
How to collect donations at Amazon and eBay:
1. Start at easyfundraising Before you add anything to your basket, go to the easyfundraising webite or app and search for Amazon or eBay.
2. Go shopping easyfundraising will take you to their website – everything is exactly the same, even the price!
Safari Sport Support has the powerful ability to help people transform their lives and it takes a moment for us to help do this. From all at Safari MMA thank you, we couldn’t do it without you!
Here at Safari MMA, we want to use our platform to empower and strengthen others, by providing a space filled with tools for women to build for ourselves. To equip you with knowledge, of self, so that you can better combat problems that arise. We aim to create a space for men and women to learn more, in every area of life, to become skilled in physical activity, mental agility, emotional intelligence, but also in practical tools to better help you on your journey with your career path of choice, and so much more. We are not just an MMA club, we wish for the best versions of our students to surface, as a result of our work.
With this in mind, we are providing Gymnastic *social distancing* class for Women and girls on Sunday 12th July. This will be held in Milton Keynes. The teen girls session will be held at 10 AM, and the Women’s session at 11AM. The classes will be held by Kati Simpson, former elite Gymnast of 18 years, British Championship competitor, Commonwealth, Scottish Team Squad member and currently coaching Elite Gymnasts at an international level. Look out for more amazing classes like this one, designed to boost confidence, increase your serotonin level, and motivate us through this gloomy monotonous no-gym time.
To Our Community,
We are nearing the ‘post Quarantine age’ globally, but more so here In the UK, as the lockdown loosens, and we find ourselves coming to terms with life outside, the body may find overexposure to all the stimulus, a bit of a shock to the system. It is so important to keep on working out keeping the mind positively busy so that the transition to life outside, will be one of ease, and what better way to transition then to try Muay Thai Kickboxing, even if it is for the first time. Keeping something consistent to focus on for two weeks, will allow you to feel empowered, focused, and disciplined.
Safari MMA is here, to alleviate that worry off of your shoulders, offering 12 women in any part of the UK the opportunity to train with us for 2 weeks FOR FREE. We want to give back, and what better way than to give you time with some of our most skilled trainers, to interact, seek advice, and learn from. No Gym membership required, no scam, no strings, just straight training. You decide thereafter, how you’re feeling, our guess, is that with how good it will feel, you will want to keep training with us. But we will leave that to you! We hope you enjoy this gift, our community has built us up in so many ways, look out for more surprises we have planned over the next few months!
Team Safari x
Unknown artist, all rights credited
Nadiya Sultana, 26, a registered junior Doctor working in the emergency department at Wexham Park Hospital, Slough “the ups feel like you’ve conquered the highest peak; exhausted and breathless but with the clearest view whereas the downs are equally deep and obscure.
Three weeks in isolation, and a lot of us are struggling with burn out, Instagram lives, Tiktoks, Netflix, and overeating. The first few days, to a week, have felt like coming to grips with a loss, a type of grieving of sorts, trying to come to terms with the life we once knew we had, that can’t be lived anymore. David Kessler, world’s foremost expert on grief
working for a decade in a three-hospital system in LA, describes it to the Harvard Business Review, as a ‘collective anticipatory grieving’, something we have spent a few weeks coming to terms with. A global grieving of the life we once built up and had. Knowing it will never be the same. We have also seen interesting trends arise in the online space, where people from all walks of life have awoken to new hobbies, talents, and skills we didn’t know they possessed. It has been overwhelming, to say the least, we are collectively experiencing loss together, and processing it all in different ways. We have seen how when anything that isn’t man-made is left alone, it has remarkable abilities to heal. The earth is healing as our bodies fight this disease and build immunity, the smog is clearing up, the flowers and trees are
swaying and dancing, as the earth lets out a sigh of relief. It is mandatory, to wake up and journal about the things you are grateful for every day during this tough season of collective grieving and healing.
Now more than ever is a time to monitor and protect your mental health and ensure you are putting in the work when it comes to self-care of the mind, body, and spirit. According to the Office for National Statistics, over a 12 month period, in the UK, three-quarters of registered deaths were suicide among men with over 6,507 suicides registered in the UK. Rates among under 25 s have increased in recent years, particularly 10 to 24-year-old females. With this in mind, we are committed to ensuring those who struggle with abuse, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and any other difficulty, are given a safe, fun, healthy outlet to connect with others who are in the same boat. With our online classes for men, women, youth, and children every day, weekly, everyone is given the opportunity to train with our instructors, battle loneliness, keep up their fitness goals, ensure Serotonin (the happy hormone) is circulating around the body, whilst checking in with friends, all from the comfort of your living room. During this particularly difficult time, there are still those amongst us, waking up early, staying late, clocking in shifts in the hospitals, around the clock, putting their lives at risk every day to fight the Covid 19 pandemic.
Our Heroes, in the NHS have always been on the front lines nurturing, healing, and building our nation back up. Nadiya Sultana, 26, a registered junior Doctor working in the emergency department at Wexham Park hospital, Slough said,
“the ups feel like you’ve conquered the highest peak; exhausted and breathless but with the clearest view whereas the downs are equally deep and obscure. With the pandemic the waits become longer, the staff shortage worrying, decision making cumbersome, who do we send home? Who do we admit? Who Is for full escalation? Who do we think won’t survive this? I couldn’t have foreseen the magnitude of this when it started. The helplessness caused severe anxiety”.
Heba Mimouni, 25 a Midwife at Northwick Park Hospital told us,
“Some days I cope well, and I feel ok, other days I feel stressed and anxious as the number of cases increase. It has been a wake-up call to humanity, it has brought people together Maternity care has seen changes; women are now only allowed 1 birthing partner, now that Covid 19 cases have increased, women are unable to have
anyone with them during birth, often women feel scared, anxious, and ambivalent about their pregnancies. This puts on more pressure as we have to fill the void of their loved ones, as they transition into motherhood. We don’t even know if pregnant women are more at risk from this disease, we do know that for a percentage of women, pregnancy can alter how your body handles severe viral infections. Despite the shortage of staff, we will continue to make women feel and know their inner strength, and provide the levels of care and support to each and every one of them.
There has also been new guidance on personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect us and the patients, this puts me at ease. So I know I am protecting myself and my family with these precautions.”
With all this, we felt it was time for us to give back, Safari MMA is offering 50% off on all online classes for NHS workers to gain a little bit of normalcy back to their day, and maintain strong immunity and mental wellbeing. Fatima Omrani, 25, a registered pharmacist at Guys and St Thomas in London said,
“Working in the NHS can be intense and tiring, but I always try to fit in some me-time. Especially now, with the pandemic, morale is low, and stress is high with the work load, exercise has always been essential as it keeps my mind clear and body feeling good. Even if it is one HIIT class before a nightshift, these days with the madness, I can take the time out to have a moment to improve my mental and physical health. I always share great online classes I find with my colleagues to boost morale and to do something fun together, to burn off snacks and stress”.
Heba Mimouni mentioned, “Due to the nature of my work, I have always tried to fit in fitness, I would go on weekly 5-6k runs, and make sure I keep up at the gym. Now more than ever exercising has been keeping me sane.” Nadiya Sultana too echoed, “The helplessness made me block off the news, I used this time for rehabilitation I used to go on 5k runs every week to help me escape from stress and discover new potentials within myself, now I use online classes, I turned to Yoga for grounding, in times of uncertainty a constant, to ground you so you are not blown away with uncertainty, is so important. The constant need to be productive, paired with an indefinite amount of time really works against us. Online classes are survival for us”.
From all of us at Safari to everyone at the NHS: we applaud, deeply respect, and thank you for using your hands, and risking your lives, to heal us.
We also offer 20% off for our in person classes across London, Milton Keynes and Birmingham.
THAI TUM BOOTY BLAST!
LETS BE REALISTIC: Having a hard time loving yourself and your body? Desperate to do something about your weight? Want to change the appearance of your butt?
LOOKING FOR 14 WOMEN IN MILTON KEYNES TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR SPRING LAUNCH BOOTCAMP!
This amazing fun fitness class will incorporate easy Muay Thai techniques to spice up your session!
The course is designed to focus especially on your Glutes (buttocks) and Abs (stomach) as well as making sure you:
•Burn calories (up to 500+)
•Increase strength
•Increase flexibility
•Feel great
This course is suitable for all ages and abilities, for those who are looking to tone up,get fit and have a blast doing it!
“GET FIT FOR THE SUMMER”
Starts: Tuesday 24 April
Time: 8-9pm
Where: Kingston, MK gymnastics centre.
Price: £27 for 4 weeks
How to book: Text Amira on 07880550011
Only 14 spaces available so MUST pre-book.
Follow on courses available for those who wish to continue.
