Introduction
Across the Vancouver underground music scene are whispers of a private martial arts gym with an “anti-fascist” identity, and agenda of teaching martial art’s skills to marginalized groups in a community space.
My first introduction to The Cellar was through a friend named “Raff,” who mentioned the gym in an interview for a previous project. In this interview Raff described The Cellar as a “community gym space.” Every week they host a variety of different martial arts classes from boxing, Muay Thai, yoga and more. All of the instructors are volunteers, and they use a PWYC (“Pay What You Can”) payment policy for all the classes. This type of donation system is largely accepted in the underground music scene, but is rare for a martial arts gym. The Cellar has a distinct overlap with local music and queer groups, sharing many members and overlapping in other spaces. They also practice the political values they preach, by creating an equitable payment system, defending people often rejected by other gyms, and holding workshops such as “police de-escalation training” and “street medic training.” Raff further described the politics of the space to be generally “anti-fascist,” and referenced that fascists and/or cops already have these martial arts skills. I asked about the origins of The Cellar, and he told me they used to train out of the Brittania rental gym, but so many people got involved they were inspired to build a space of their own.
From my first impression of The Cellar, it sounded like a pretty radical place. Radical in the sense that it had this curious “anti-fascist” and “queer” identity, and maintained a donation based payment system. It sounded like an extension of the community I am already involved with, and although I am nothing of an athlete, I was curious to build a routine of being more physically active in an accepting space.
Raff sent me The Cellar’s address, and instructions to find a secret doorbell. On February 15th, I made my friend Liam accompany me on our first Cellar experience, the Monday “Introduction to Striking” class. I was excited, but a little nervous, trying to keep an open mind to learning new things. Liam and I failed to find the hidden doorbell, but after a bit of time waiting outside we were approached by a friendly face in black clothing. “Skull” was the volunteer instructor for Liam and I’s first class at The Cellar. I swear that I recognized him from somewhere before, but I never brought it up. We each gave him ten dollars for the class, and in exchange he gave us hand wraps to keep. Mine are bright pink.
For this first class their was me, Liam, “Skull” and maybe four other people. Two of which I would later learn were other instructors at The Cellar. We began by sitting in a circle and saying our names and pronouns. Next we played a warm up game of running around trying to slap bean bags out of others hands, which got lots of laughs. Although everyone was way more experienced than Liam and I, Skull took the time to walk us through every step of the basics from; wrapping our hands, footwork and technique, and finally throwing our first punch. We got a great workout in this day, it was a lot of fun. Upon leaving, one of the other instructors named “Sleep” gave me two zines to later return. One titled “In-Depth Interviews with 3 Members of Fauda, The Anarchist Movement in Palestine,” and the other “Antifa, Autism and the Border Wall Around Punk.”
I left The Cellar for the first time with brand new skills, and newfound leftist literature. For the past six weeks I have been going to The Cellar at least once a week. Most commonly I attend the Tuesday “beginner queer and trans boxing class” with Sleep, or the Open Gym on Wednesday. On these days there is maybe six to seven people in attendance. On some rainy days it would just be me, Sleep and someone else in class and I would get even more personalized instruction. I did once attend the Thursday Muay Thai class and found it to be the most popular, with maybe fifteen people in attendance. In this class I learned how to throw a kick for the first time which was pretty exciting.
Over this past month and a half I have began to feel more confident in my martial arts potential, and I am looking forward to learning so much more. I have made friendships with other members of The Cellar, and have seen some of these folks out at shows and on the street. On Saturday the 29th I played a show with my hippy folk band “10 Million Mosquitoes” at local venue “Grey Lab” and Sleep just so happened to be working security for the show. I feel like I am part of the community. Becoming part of The Cellar has taught me that by people coming together in a shared space, sharing skills, and ideas, with the mission of looking out for one another; we can create change here in our city. Change starts with community, with connections to other people who share a vision for a better future. Members of The Cellar are on the front lines of supporting marginalized groups and fighting fascism here in Vancouver, by practicing the change they want for the world in this community space.
For the purpose of this project I interviewed three friends of mine at The Cellar. The first two interviews are audio only, and feature two instructors; “Sleep” and “Spliff.” Sleeps speaks specifically to the significance of providing a boxing class for queer and trans people, with the realities of gender based violence. They also speak to natural exchange of skills and ideas at The Cellar. “Spliff” tells me the story of political inspiration at the heart of The Cellar’s identity, and describes their Saturday class “breath and movement.” The third interview I conducted for this project was with “Finn” AKA “Bugsy.” Finn is one of the founding members of the Cellar, and lead singer of anti-fascist rock and roll band “Toy Tiger.” I had the opportunity to film Toy Tiger play at the “Wise Hall” on March 19th, and edited the footage into the interview with Finn, where he speaks to the goals and strategies of fighting fascism in the city, importance of privacy for these types of spaces, and connection between the Cellar and other local communities.
Interview #1 - "Sleep"
“Sleep” teaches the beginner queer and trans boxing class on Tuesday’s at the Cellar, is helpful with the necessary organizing tasks at the space, and is frequently in attendance to other classes during the week. Sleep has taken the time to teach me the foundations of boxing. She taught me the essentials of form and technique, and I have learned some punch combinations, as well as blocks, dodges and other tactics relevant to realistic use. Most of the Tuesday classes have had about four to five other participants. Some of them are queer and trans as well, everyone is helpful and respectful. In my time at the Cellar I have began building relationships with these folks, and feel comfortable learning alongside them in the accepting environment Sleep has created.
On March 18th, I sat down with Sleep in the “Zine Library” area of the Cellar to hear the story of how they got involved, what goals they have for the space, and their passion for teaching queer people martial arts skills.
“Hi I am Sleep, I am a volunteer here I suppose. I teach the beginner queer and trans boxing class, and otherwise generally try to help out wherever I can.”
Sleep, and all the other class leaders at The Cellar are volunteers. She does not receive any money for teaching classes, or all the behind the scenes organizing necessary to maintain the space. Sleep’s efforts represent their dedication to building community and passing on martial art’s skills.
“I heard from somebody there was a queer boxing class, I was interested in martial arts but not comfortable really going to mainstream gyms…”
Sleep first got involved with The Cellar with excitement for the opportunity of a queer boxing class. The accepting presence of the space, and explicitly queer description got them in the door.
“… there are a lot of cops a lot of fascists who are into combat sports, so ya this is the kind of space where that bullshit would not fly.”
An explicitly queer combat gym is rare. As Sleep notes, many gyms attract a “hyper-masculine crowd.” The queer demographic, skill-share format, PWYC policy and loving personality of the space, sets The Cellar apart from other martial arts gyms.
“It’s really nice to have a lil place for ideas and knowledge to get shared… I brought a chunk of these (zines) back from a visit down to Texas… its really cool to bring info and ideas between communities…”
The “zine library” cultivates the exchange of ideas in a physical space. Members are able to learn about political topics they are interested in, inspiring overall leftist values. The exchange of ideas, and exchange of combat skills meld seamlessly in a shared excitement to learn new things.
“It is a space for people to share ideas and learn practical skills to use in their anti-fascist pursuits.”
Zines of political movements and theory, provide members of The Cellar with knowledge they can apply to fighting fascism here in Vancouver. Learning martial art’s skills is also relevant to the physical reality of fighting fascists who may want to hurt us, and are training at other gyms.
“There are people with a variety of… similarly left leaning beliefs, but there is absolutely a variety. There is not one ideology running the space.”
The “anti-fascist” nature of The Cellar can be defined by it’s collectively progressive beliefs. The term “anti-fascist” is a generalization of many political beliefs “against fascism.” The lack of doctrine is what makes this space political. The Cellar is a space for everyone rejected by other spaces.
“There is no expectation of any level of performance. We are all here to get better and share knowledge.”
The “acceptance” ethos of The Cellar translates to the instructors loving methods of teaching through patience, kind words and sometimes fun games. The positive atmosphere creates a more engaging and motivating learning space. In Sleep’s classes, she always take the time to hold pads for each person in the class and gives helpful, personalized feedback.
“That is the part of this I am certainly the most passionate about, sharing these skills with the queer and trans community.”
For queer and trans people, who are at risk for gender based violence walking the streets anywhere in Vancouver, learning martial arts skills can be of life saving importance. Queer and trans people also may not be accepted at other gyms with a more “hypermasculine” attitude. The Cellar, and specifically Sleep’s queer and trans boxing class, plays a significant role in offering these skills to queer people here in Vancouver.
“It’s a mishmash of people from different walks of life, who have all come together by this shared dream of safe and positive training space and community space.”
“Sleep” – Uncut Interview Audio
Interview #2 - "Spliff"
“Spliff” teaches the Saturday breath and movement class at The Cellar. Sadly, I have never been able to attend one of these classes because I always work on Saturdays. However, Spliff is perhaps the most frequent face I have seen at the Cellar so far. He was also in attendance at my first class at the Cellar, and has been present in most of Sleep’s boxing classes. We often partner up to hold pads for each other in different drills across classes. He has offered me encouragement and constructive support in learning new skills, and is overall a really friendly individual.
Following my experience with the Thursday Muay Thai class on March 13th, I interviewed Spliff out in the rain, where he told me about the connection between yoga and martial arts, The Cellar origin story, and how creating an accepting community is a form of radical change.
“I’m Spliff, I am one of the instructors at The Cellar, one of the volunteers I guess.”
“I am doing the breath and movement class, which is basically a yoga class, but we do not call it yoga out of respect for the tradition holders of the practice.”
“I felt like we needed something more therapeutic, get in touch with your body a little bit more, it has helped me a lot personally… so I just wanted to share that.”
True to the “skill-share” nature of The Cellar, Spliff teaches his Saturday class out of love for sharing his knowledge of breath and movement.
“Always feel great after the classes, it’s so uplifting mentally for me, I always come feeling a little bit down and I leave feeling like this nice buzz, it’s a good feeling.”
Spliff speaks to the uplifting feelings of physical activity, something the Cellar provides in an affordable and safe way.
“A lot of it had to do with trying to find community here, and also all I did was work, and never sit down and spend time with my thoughts…”
Spliff’s motivation for joining The Cellar and dedicating time to learning the traditions of Yoga was to find community, and be in touch with his mind and body.
“How I got into this community… there was a drag queen telling stories and there was word that far-right fascists might be there to harass. There was a callout, some people showed up and I talked to them and exchanged info… We rented a community gym for two hours every week. There was a lot of people coming, so a few folks found this place for The Cellar. Did a little bit of work, quite a bit of work actually… I was kinda at the tail end of that… get all that gear, build some walls inside the space, painting and all that stuff.”
Spliff has been involved with the Cellar since before it was in its current location. His introduction to the community was through a political context, where Spliff and other members of the Cellar showed up to defend a drag queen telling stories. Inspired by political action, Spliff joined the Cellar community in their first sessions at the rental gym. When these sessions grew so popular, Spliff and other members volunteered in the labour of building the Cellar it’s own space. From the inspiration of social change, Spliff and others collectively contributed their abilities to make The Cellar exist. The ethos of acceptance and skill sharing is representative within the physical walls of The Cellar space.
“A lot of these spaces are a little bit toxic… a lot of these (gyms) often tend to be affiliated with the far-right. So creating a space where you can actually learn all these skills but in a friendly and nurturing environment.”
The Cellar has the anti-fascist agenda of providing self-defense training. However, the meaning of anti-fascism has extended to its collective, nurturing and friendly atmosphere, when compared to other gyms, which often have a “hyper-masculine” or “far-right” identity.
“That has always been kind of a difficult path, to figure how do we keep this inclusive but how do we also keep it safe.? So that is why the address is not public, there is usually a little bit of a vetting process.”
“More and more people are coming now, it has been a bright light in my life.”
To protect the marginalized people involved at the Cellar, it is important to keep out the people who want to hurt us. To ensure the safety of the space, and accepting kind atmosphere, new members need to be recommended by someone at the Cellar. Spliff also speaks to how their is a vetting process for people new to city. For minority groups, specifically queer people, it is important we have these spaces to be ourselves and feel safe.
“It’s everywhere this rise of fascism… the more we stick together and create community, we are there for each other the better off we are. That’s what we are trying to do here…”
By sticking together and creating community, sharing ideas and skills, people can form new relationships, learn new things, and push forward into the future together. Creating community is a form of radical change, because we are all able to look out for each other in these difficult times, and fight for the shared vision of a better future.
“Spliff” – Uncut Interview Audio
Interview #3 - "Finn" AKA "Bugsy"
Over the past two years I have known Finn locally as the friendly Communist skinhead. Seeing him at shows he would often call me “comrade” and on a couple of occasions he gave me zines of communist/anarchist literature. Recently he started dating a friend of mine, and I have had the opportunity to get to know him better. Not only is Finn the lead singer of “Toy Tiger” and founding member of The Cellar, but he also organizes shows at “Blue Room” a new local music space out of “The Cobalt.” Finn is a representation of the overlap between The Cellar, local music and queer groups. A thriving community exists under the surface of this city, desperate for any space to come together. I have no idea how Finn manages to make the time for so much community organizing, but I have the upmost admiration for his dedication. In my interview with Finn, I find him to be desperate in his efforts to create community. He has a vision of a loving and accepting society, and so he recreates this vision in the communities he is a part of. Finn is hopeful of the future, full of joy and a reminder that The Cellar is a happy place for people to come together, to look out for one another in these desperate times.
Final Thoughts
Thank you to the members of The Cellar for accepting me into your space. As a lonely, broke, queer person it means a lot to spend time with people who relate to my existence. The routine of going to the gym once or twice a week has been uplifting my emotional well-being. In these final weeks of university, I find myself looking forward to Sleep’s boxing class as a break from study, to spend time with friends. I am learning a lot, about throwing punches, and how to fight the system. I can see Finn’s vision of the future. The Cellar and it’s connections to music venues and queer groups, is only the beginning. As more and more people are becoming involved in The Cellar, it shows we have the ability, the confidence to practice our values of acceptance, equity and love on a greater scale. The Cellar has impacted me in a positive way, I am grateful to be a part of this growing social movement.