All Styles – One Mission

The International Association of Gay and Lesbian Martial Artists (IAGLMA) was born in the excitement and camaraderie of Gay Games III in Vancouver, Canada. It was there that the first international multistyle LGBTQI+ martial arts competition and seminar series was held.

 

Formed in the spirit of Tom Waddell’s Gay Games vision, IAGLMA embraces the principles of “Participation, Inclusion, and Achievement of One’s Personal Best.” To carry this vision forward, our events include seminars presented by an international array of female, male, and gender non-conforming martial arts masters from multiple styles. All are welcome. Our tournament rules for sparring, forms, weapons, and self-defense were designed to provide a fair and level playing field for as many styles, ages, and experience levels as possible.

 

Until Gay Games III, many LGBTQI+ martial artists trained in the closet, often not knowing any other martial artists from their community. IAGLMA was formed to ensure that the incredible experience of GGIII would be included in every Gay Games to come.

 

IAGLMA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to fostering the empowerment of LGBTQ people through martial arts.

 

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IAGLMA welcomes martial artists and all interested parties from around the world. Current participants in include:

 

• Martial artists from Australia, Canada, China, Finland, France, Italy, Germany, Malaysia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, The Philippines, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, The United Kingdom, The United States, and West Africa

 

• Practitioners of all styles: competitive and noncompetitive (such as many styles of Aikido), as well as mat and floor practitioners

 

• Martial artists of all abilities, ages, gender identities, adaptive needs, and healthcare regimens

 

• Martial artists of all ages, ranks, and levels of martial arts and self-defense experience

 

• Schools and organizations committed to our common goals and mission

 

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IAGLMA is committed to the ideal of multistyle educational martial arts and self-defense seminars, as well as multistyle tournaments. Our goals are to provide a safe, inclusive environment for all martial artists, and to ensure equal access and opportunity at every level of the martial arts for all genders and gender non-conforming martial artists. We are dedicated to ensuring the inclusion of martial artists with special needs and providing multistyle seminars, tournaments, and learning opportunities within the international martial artists community for all styles, ranks, ages, and abilities.

 

We aim to continue our international outreach to include diversity of styles among our members and directors and to educate through the martial arts and self-defense. We are committed to forming partnerships with traditional local, national, and international martial arts organizations to promote our ideals of inclusion, safety, respect, participation, and attainment of personal best. We work with and teach martial artists worldwide to educate, empower, and protect ourselves through local, national, and international self-defense seminars for the general public.

 

We are dedicated to including the largest geographic and martial arts style representation among our board members. Membership on our Board of Directors requires a commitment of energy and expertise so that together we may continue our commitment to education and outreach to all martial artists everywhere.