FMA Sessions
FMA Freedom. Movemeant. Alignment. is a wholistically integrated public program of empowerment self-defense, Filipino Martial Arts, and body-based awareness exercises practiced within a trauma-informed and healing engagement community. FMA aims to empower, uplift, sustain, and embody personal power and agency for cis and trans womxn of color, young girls of color, gender non-conforming folks of color, and to do so in a queer friendly space in Chicago. In this environment we co-create through the technologies of our bodies, our minds, and our spirit.
My Masters in Art Therapy and Counseling, a background in dance and movement, as well as my training in Filipino Martial Arts for the past 14 years highly informs the way that FMA is intentionally orchestrated. I have developed a decolonizing practice as my personal arsenal of empowerment, healing, and connection, and in my findings I would like to share this practice with other queer, womxn of color who are seeking to process through their own experiences in a body-centered approach with the impetus that self-determination precedes self-preservation. Throughout my time of training, I’ve found myself in classes where I am the only womxn of color in a sea of cis males or white cis males or males affiliated with the armed forces, in which their targets are usually black and brown bodies. I want to cultivate an intersectional approach to FMA, creating a safe sense of community through a body-centered practice in learning to defend the self and community, one that is inclusive and validating of the full life experiences of all participants.
FMA is a two-hour training session that progresses from body-based awareness practices to full contact combat training with weapons and empty hand. Beginning the session with mindfulness movement focuses one’s attention on the present moment. Grounding and connecting more deeply with one’s body allows for better awareness, creates a sense of safety within the self, and nurtures trust in one’s own power and decision-making. The complete self-defense system of Filipino Martial Arts is versatile, with principles and skills that are transferable: when training in weaponry one is simultaneously developing the empty hand. My art therapy lens and sustained practice allows me to facilitate and cultivate care and awareness to possible trigger reactions and traumatic memories.
I have been holding FMA sessions since January 2018. The first session was hosted at Atomix Cafe as an approach in creating a system of care in response to violence that occurred within the Ukrainian Village neighborhood. Summer FMA Backyard Sessions were initiated after the kidnappings of young Black girls from neighborhoods of Chicago. These sessions were hosted by community members offering their backyards for training; training FMA brings much connection between people amongst the different neighborhoods of Chicago.
Teaching, facilitating, and holding this space has already demanded of me my own personal and relational growth and leadership development. This is my seed vision of self-defense to community defense, equipping folks with skills for protection of themselves and others, and a balm for nourishment and rejuvenation. My role is to guide folks in discovering and connecting with the strength and power that’s already within them- to trust in their power and trust in the decisions they make.
Come join us in this movemeant, as we enter a new dimension we create with our bodies; a dimension that honors the personal power and agency of the most vulnerable population in Chicago and one that honors that our healing and growth into a more empowered version of ourselves is connected to our Freedom. Movemeant. and Alignment.
art Therapy Internship Experience
Free Write Arts & Literacy
Deborah’s Place
John B. Drake Elementary
Professional Experience
Right at School, Site Director
Youth Organizations Umbrella, Inc., Youth Development Specialist
Educational background
School of the Art Institute Chicago: Master of Arts in Art Therapy and Counseling, 2019
Harry S. Truman College, 2016
University of Wisconsin-Madison: Bachelor of Science in Art, 2010