Tuff Love’s Spring Fundraiser
Tuff Love is a women-run nonprofit providing self-defense and martial arts training to our community since 2019. Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 2020, we offer free self-defense training on a weekly basis for adults and youth of all genders. We also offer specialized free trainings for at-risk groups including LGBTQ+ people, AAPI people, women, teens, and elders.
Here is just some of what we've accomplished in 2024 so far:
- Held our third LGBTQ+ Safety and Self-Defense Workshop in partnership with Bay Area Superheroes
- Held two editions of our free Eight-Week Self-Defense Series in partnership with Compassion in Oakland, bringing us to 15 total editions since we began these workshops
- Taught safety and self-defense to Asian elders as part of a Hate Crime prevention event in collaboration with Compassion in Oakland and Through Peace
- Presented a women's safety and self-defense workshop in honor of Women's History Month in collaboration with Generation Thrive, a Golden State Warriors Community Foundation and Kaiser program
- Led a self-defense seminar for Berkeley Women for Good, a local grassroots philanthropy group
- Taught women's self-defense at "Our Time," an event celebrating Asian women hosted by Asians are Strong
These important events couldn't happen without the support of community members like you! Unfortunately, we fell short of our 2023 fundraising goals, so we need your help now more than ever to make sure everyone in Oakland and the Bay Area can access free and effective safety and self-defense training. Join us in making Oakland and the Bay Area a safer place for all of us!
Highlights
See all activity8About Us
Tuff Love Fitness was founded by longtime martial arts practitioners Mollii Khangsengsing and Karin Spirn, who were inspired to share their knowledge and skills with a larger audience, particularly underserved populations outside of the traditional martial arts community. Based on the belief that people of all sizes, ages, physical abilities, gender identities, and cultural and economic backgrounds have the right, and therefore should have the capability, to defend themselves effectively and to feel safe in the world, we began a free women's self-defense class in 2019.
Since then, we have expanded our offerings to include trainings for AAPI people and other people of color, LGBTQ+ people, youth and elders, as well as operating Four Elements Gym in Oakland, CA. Over the past four years we have helped over 3,000 people in our community develop a sense of personal safety, connectedness, confidence, and well-being.
We have partnered with other organizations including Compassion in Oakland, Downtown Oakland Senior Center, UC Berkeley Jiu-Jitsu Club, AAPI Women Lead, Chinatown Volunteer Coalition, Protect Oakland Chinatown, Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, East Bay Municipal Utilities District, Alameda County District Attorney's Office, YMCA of San Francisco, San Mateo High School, Las Positas College,UC Berkeley,Asians are Strong, and UC Berkeley Queer Alliance and Resource Center. We operate three primary service programs: Tuff Love Self-Defense, Four Elements Fitness Gym and Sweaty Betties Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Each of these programs offers free, low-cost, and scholarship-based training opportunities.
Tuff Love is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All donations are fully tax-deductible. EIN: 85-1005571
