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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe far right's obsession with fitness is going digital
It appears the far right has taken advantage of pandemic at-home fitness trends to expand its decade-plus radicalization of physical mixed martial arts (MMA) and combat sports spaces.
Earlier this month, researchers reported that a network of online fascist fitness chat groups on the encrypted platform Telegram are recruiting and radicalizing young men with neo-Nazi and white supremacist extremist ideologies. Initially lured with health tips and strategies for positive physical changes, new recruits are later invited to closed chat groups where far-right content is shared.
Physical fitness has always been central to the far right. In Mein Kampf, Hitler fixated on boxing and jujitsu, believing they could help him create an army of millions whose aggressive spirit and impeccably trained bodies, combined with fanatical love of the fatherland, would do more for the German nation than any mediocre tactical weapons training.
In more modern times, far-right groups have launched mixed martial arts and boxing gyms in Ukraine, Canada and France, among other places, focused on training far-right nationalists in violent hand-to-hand combat and street-fighting techniques. Its caught the attention of intelligence authorities, especially in Europe, where various reports have noted the role of combat sports and MMA in radicalizing and promoting far-right violence. A series of collaborative efforts between governments, national sports associations, and local gyms in places such as Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom have introduced intervention and prevention programs.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/pandemic-fitness-trends-have-gone-extreme-literally-n1292463?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ma
Sneederbunk
(14,275 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)These two are pretty representative of most of them.
ecstatic
(32,648 posts)I'm glad someone is keeping track of these nuts... hopefully the Biden administration will follow what other countries are doing in that regard.
KentuckyWoman
(6,679 posts)Outside of the Q Shaman you'd be hard pressed to find many who make any effort to be fit, let alone combat ready. Maybe it is different in Europe?