Join our Team!

We’re onboarding bag holders, assistant instructors, and fall people! Multiple openings for each, training for all positions provided, no prior experience required. 

Location: Central Virginia 

Pay: $25-$40/hour

Time Commitment: About 6 hours/month

About Us

Fight Like a Grrrl Club is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that offers free self-defense workshops across central Virginia. We strive to empower people with the ability to protect their physical and emotional well-being through intersectional feminist self-defense education.

Our mission is not only to teach self-defense but also to empower individuals, raise awareness & change the way society condones an unsafe world for youth, trans, non-binary, and femme folx. Outside our classes, we fight to change the culture that teaches grrrls it's rude to say no and that it's wrong to fight back. We teach individuals how to set boundaries, to say NO & to fight back. We firmly believe that self defense education should be for all people, regardless of income level or resources. We provide traveling, pop-up workshops across Virginia.

Information Sessions

RSVP for an information session here: https://forms.gle/QfiVi1LzVdfvA1Uc9 

• Wednesday, July 29; 6:30-7:00pm (VIRTUAL)

• Sunday, August 9; 1:00-1:30pm (Richmond, Studio Two Three)

• Thursday, August 13; 6:00-6:30pm (Charlottesville, The Beautiful Idea)

• Sunday, August 16; 11:00-11:30 (Nelson County, Trager Brothers Coffee 1.0)

• Monday, August 31; 7:00-7:30pm (VIRTUAL)

• Wednesday, September 9; 5:30-6:00pm (VIRTUAL)

• Wednesday, September 16; 6:00-6:30pm (VIRTUAL)

Position Descriptions

Bag Holders: Assist the Instructor and Assistant Instructor in running the workshop. Hold striking bags and support workshop participants in performing the defense techniques correctly. 

Assistant Instructors: Lead self-defense workshops alongside the head Instructor. 

Fall People: A big part of FLAG workshops involves throwing someone to the ground for about a third of the workshop time. The ‘Fall Person’ will learn how to take a fall as safely as possible and how to offer just enough resistance to allow the student to properly learn the technique without making it unrealistically easy. 

Training

Specialty martial arts training and certifications offered to all participants at no cost. Following completion of training requirements, participants will receive a $400 stipend.

Training cohorts will begin in late Summer, early Fall at gym space in Nelson County and/or additional training spaces based on applicant locations. Sessions will be held on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Additional timeframes may be offered depending on applicant availability. All training sessions are led by Sensei Joshua Copson, FLAG’s Martial Arts Specialist. 

Bag Holder: 35 hours of martial arts training through FLAG’s Bag Holder Certification Course.

Assistant Instructor: Attend FLAG’s 35 hour Bag Holder Certification Course and 25 hours of additional martial arts training through FLAG’s Assistant Instructor Certification Course.

Fall Person: 50 hours of training through FLAG’s Fall Person Certification Course.

Time Commitment and Work Schedule

All positions are considered very part-time with a commitment of about 6 hours per month including training and workshop attendance. 

Training will be offered about 2 times per month and will take about 8 months to complete if starting with no martial arts experience.

Following training and certification, team members will be added to the workshop schedule. FLAG hosts about 2 workshops/month for about 4 hours/each. Team members are asked to support at least 1 workshop/month. 

Skills and Qualifications

• For Bag Holders; be 18 years or older. 

• For Assistant Instructor and Fall People; be 21 years or older. 

• Receive and complete training by a certified FLAG trainer as described above.

• Stand and lift up to 25 pounds without difficulty. 

• Understand that physical contact and touch is required by teachers and be able to tell the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching. 

• Participation in role play to demonstrate proficiency. 

• Invest a minimum number of hours into continued training each year: 

• Complete a trauma-informed care workshop.

• Ideally applicants will have attended a past FLAG workshop.

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Pay

Bag Holders: $25/hour; about $100/workshop

Assistant Instructors: $40/hour; about $160/workshop

Fall People: $100 per-workshop 

Additional Info

The time and hours of your training could decrease if you have previous experience in a martial arts discipline that allows you to grasp the techniques and self-defense concepts that we are teaching. 

To Apply

Please send a letter of interest to katie@fightlikeagrrrl.org. Letters will be reviewed and interviews offered on a rolling basis until September 30, 2026.

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In your letter, please include:

• A little about yourself

• Which position(s) you're interested in

• Where you're located

• Any prior martial arts experience