With the Rangers munching away on a quick lunch of hot soup and crusty rolls inside the Caddey, I was standing outside giving one of my oldest friends a bear hug. I first met Becca Shepherd around the age of thirteen at a local youth group, and fourteen years on, here we were preparing to share a body confidence/ stage combat/Suffragist workshop with some young people.
Sounds like an odd brief for a workshop right… But, Becca Shepherd who trained in Stage Combat at East15 and who is one of the kindest, strongest, most positive women I know, can handle pretty much anything. Bouncing back from serious spine surgery, facing down the fear of never being able to walk again, let alone continue in her profession of stage combat, persisting in her career as an actress in a notoriously difficult industry, and continuing with her passion for working with young people, Becca has a knack for inspiring those around her to push for their dreams. So, I had asked her to share with us something inspired by the obscurest of all workshop briefs in the history of workshops knowing that she’d make the drive from our hometown Wolverhampton and share something special with Egham Rangers, and wow, did she deliver. Before I had even stepped back inside the Caddey, I knew we were in for a treat: ‘You heard of the Suffrajitsus?’, Becca asks me…
Standing in front of the Rangers – all messy bun, yoga pants, infectious energy and with the word ‘FEMINIST’ emblazoned across her T-shirt – Becca brought a significantly forgotten part of the Suffragette Movement back to life. The Suffrajitsus, Becca tells us, were founded by a Suffragette called Edith Garrud, who cut a diminutive figure standing at 4ft 11. To a Metropolitan policeman 100 years ago however, Edith was one of the most intimidating women to meet at a Suffragette rally. Edith and her husband ran a martial arts school in London and after Edith witnessed the brutality that the Suffragettes often suffered at the hands of policeman and male bystanders, she knew she had to help. Jiu-jitsu uses ingenuity and an opponent’s force against them and so is a good self-defence method to use against a larger opponent. Soon, the Suffragettes were armed with a knowledge of this ancient method of fighting, and would stuff their corsets with cardboard, and hide rolling pins up their skirts to use when necessary against the Metropolitan police became violent. Edith also formed the thirty-strong army of trained women used to protect the movements’ leaders and speakers (prime targets for the Met): the group were called the Bodyguard.
We are all captivated by what we are learning about these remarkable fierce women, and then Becca invites us to stand up and learn a few stage combat moves as a way of enacting some of the scenes the Suffrajitsus may have faced. Soon the Rangers are learning the art of stage combat and cleverly appearing to punch, kick, grab one another; and, although this is all playacting, there’s a real sense of how frightening a real altercation with an armed Metropolitan policeman might have been.
Inspired by what we learnt and experienced with Becca, the Suffrajitsus continue on with our Libertea Project journey as they have made it into our new regional Libertea Badge (LaSER): see the section called ‘Herstory’ to find out more.
Thank you Becca!
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