Welcome to Sad Girls' Fight Club
A place for sad girls and their pals to talk about mental health and combat sports
Oh hey! Welcome to Sad Girls’ Fight Club. My name’s Elena and I’ve been a member for a while.
If you’re here, I assume it’s because you know me, but just in case you don’t: I’m an amateur Muay Thai fighter based in London. I’m also a somewhat lapsed journalist, spending more of my time editing videos these days.
I’ve written about my journey from a London national newsroom to amateur fighting before. But, as it’s 2020 and we’ve all had a lot more time for introspection than ever before, I’ve felt the itch to start writing again. Sometimes I forget, a long, long time before I even knew Muay Thai existed or that I was the kind of person who was fine with being hit, my first love was writing. Somewhere along the line, perhaps when I first became a journalist, I lost that.
A lot of amazing women let down by the digital media scene have found space for themselves in newsletters - so, here I am too.
What can you expect if you sign up? Well, I was hoping to make this into a space to talk about the intersection between mental health and combat sports. I think it can be difficult sometimes to be a fighter, or any athlete really, and be candid about your personal struggles. I’ve definitely felt awkward about disclosing my depression or anxiety issues, in case an opponent feels that makes me somehow weaker or an easier fight (trust me, it doesn’t).
I also want to try and highlight women’s Muay Thai where I can because, wow, is it a good time to be a woman in Muay Thai right now. Even through this dystopian pandemic, the visibility of high level female talent in Thailand right now (particularly as the pool is even smaller due to the borders being shut) is leading to some exciting matchups, which can only get better when more shows can resume worldwide.
So, if you are sad and like combat sports, then you know what to do:
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One last thing before I go - huge shout out to my teammate Paul Downes for making my logo. He’s a real pro to work with and is on the hunt for graphic design work now. Check out his website for more details on what magic things he can design for you too.