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How Germany’s Extreme Right Seized on the Martial Arts Scene How Germany’s Extreme Right Seized on the Martial Arts Scene
(about 7 hours later)
A professional mixed martial arts fighter based in Berlin, Niko Samsonidse, has added a ritual to his tournament prep in recent years: vetting the event to ensure it is not organized by far-right extremists.A professional mixed martial arts fighter based in Berlin, Niko Samsonidse, has added a ritual to his tournament prep in recent years: vetting the event to ensure it is not organized by far-right extremists.
Urging other fighters and trainers to do the same, Mr. Samsonidse has become outspoken in his efforts to call out attempts to exploit the growing martial arts scene to advance extremist ideologies.Urging other fighters and trainers to do the same, Mr. Samsonidse has become outspoken in his efforts to call out attempts to exploit the growing martial arts scene to advance extremist ideologies.
Mixed martial arts, or MMA, “is getting way more popular in Germany, and mostly they’ve got nothing to do with extremism,” said Mr. Samsonidse, a social worker who wrote his thesis on fighting extremism in combat sports.Mixed martial arts, or MMA, “is getting way more popular in Germany, and mostly they’ve got nothing to do with extremism,” said Mr. Samsonidse, a social worker who wrote his thesis on fighting extremism in combat sports.
“But most of the people, they are not aware what’s happening beside of them,” he added.“But most of the people, they are not aware what’s happening beside of them,” he added.
Neo-Nazi groups in Germany and across Europe have worked to co-opt martial arts as a training and recruiting tool — hosting high-profile combat sports festivals and offering local opportunities to practice the sport — to try to broaden the groups’ appeal, experts say.Neo-Nazi groups in Germany and across Europe have worked to co-opt martial arts as a training and recruiting tool — hosting high-profile combat sports festivals and offering local opportunities to practice the sport — to try to broaden the groups’ appeal, experts say.
It is part of a larger strategy to make the face of extremism more mainstream. Festivals or tournament organizers market their events in a way that makes them hard to distinguish from normal combat sports tournaments. They then use the events as a gateway to soften up potential recruits to their ideology.
The festivals — which are often declared political events, making them harder to ban and ensuring that any profit will be tax-exempt — typically feature a right-wing extremist speaker or seminar, according to Hans-Jakob Schindler, the Berlin-based senior director of the Counter Extremism Project. And while mixed martial arts tournaments in Europe typically feature fighters from different racial groups, these events allow only white fighters to take part.