Hi, my name is Niamh and I am the owner of Snowblind Jiu Jitsu. I am a long time Jiu Jitsu competitor and coach who moved all the way from Orlando, Florida to Seattle, Washington's historic Capitol Hill neighbourhood because I KNEW that was the place the dream I had could happen.
More that 20 years ago when I started doing jiu jitsu I faced so many roadblocks. Some were physical, some were social, some a combination of both. I hated a lot of my experience and it didn't make me tougher... it just left me with injuries and trauma and slowed my progress. I vowed not to let others have the same experience I did. I founded a gym with the intent to provide an environment that would never allow toxic behaviour to take root. We pride ourselves on lifting up people of any background or ability and giving them tools to make themselves and their lives better. We also decided that we would focus on one of the historically most marginalized and excluded groups in the martial arts community....LGBTQ+ people. Prejudice has returned with a vengeance and is increasingly even "legal" targeting this group. This is a tangible way to improve safety and community awareness that does more than any protest or post on social media.
We NEED to come together as a community and keep ourselves and each other safe.
We vow that every dollar we can raise will work to make this dream a reality. A stable location allows us to offer more regular classes to more people. Purchasing all the supplies we need means we can train safely. Every goal we can reach means more we can give back. We never charge for our community self defence initiative "Just Stand Up" which includes a wide variety of services from seminars to helping other groups get off the ground. But we can't do this on our own. A lot of charities, groups, and people want your money or help and a lot of them deserve it. We aren't going to ask you to support us forever. This is an investment in which lets us become sustainable on our own, forever. Your small good will allow us to do a LOT of good over a long period of time.
We need to move into a permanent location (Which involves a shocking amount of construction, remodelling, etc)
We need to purchase mats (which cost into the 10s of thousands of dollars)
We need various equipment for the gym
We need to provide a variety of things for community safety such as background checks, first aid training, etc for all employees
We will be transparent in our process and make sure that every dollar you give us goes towards making your city, your community, and your life just a little bit safer and better.
Organizer
