The global rise of far-right extremism has taken increasingly insidious forms, evolving beyond traditional hate groups and manifesting in decentralized, networked movements that masquerade as benign cultural spaces. One of the most dangerous examples of this is the emergence of so-called “Active Clubs,” neo-Nazi formations that camouflage their white supremacist agenda behind a veneer of fitness, masculinity, and community empowerment.
These groups are a metastasis of fascism, parasitically feeding on social alienation and grooming young, predominantly white men into a culture of hate. From an anarchist, anti-fascist lens, Active Clubs are not merely an ideological threat, they are fascist recruitment engines disguised as gyms, offering nothing less than the radicalization of youth under the banner of deadlifts and racial purity.
Origins and Ideological Roots
Active Clubs were inspired by Robert Rundo, a founding member of the Rise Above Movement (RAM), a U.S.based neo-Nazi street-fighting gang. Rundo, who fled the United States to avoid prosecution and has since become a transnational fascist influencer, conceptualized Active Clubs as decentralized “fitness clubs” that could be replicated globally. Their structure mimics that of cells or affinity groups, drawing directly from fascist organizational models: tight-knit, insular, and covert.
The ideological framework behind Active Clubs is what fascists call “white nationalism 3.0”: a refined, rebranded version of earlier white supremacist movements that trades swastikas and sieg heils for barbells and buzzwords like “tradition,” “brotherhood,” and “resilience.”
But the purpose remains the same, racial purity, male supremacy, and violence as both initiation and expression of power.
The Recruitment Pipeline: From Isolation to Indoctrination
Active Clubs thrive in the wastelands of capitalist society, where alienation is the norm, community is commodified, and masculinity is in crisis. They prey on disaffected youth, especially young white men who feel lost, excluded, or powerless. The gym, in this context, becomes a sanctuary, a place of transformation, structure, and perceived empowerment. But what begins as a space for physical growth quickly mutates into an ideological echo chamber.
Fitness is the lure. Fascism is the destination.
Young recruits are introduced through fitness forums, Telegram channels, or Instagram pages that espouse “clean living,” “discipline,” and “traditional values.” But beneath the surface of these seemingly apolitical messages lies a network of coded language and dog whistles. Phrases like “defend your culture,” “warrior mindset,” or “return to tradition” are not neutral.
They are signals, tests for who will bite deeper. Once inside, the language intensifies: anti-immigrant rhetoric, Holocaust denial, open praise of authoritarian violence, and dreams of a white ethnostate.
The Fascist Myth of the “Healthy Body”
Central to fascist ideology is the obsession with physical strength and the body as a metaphor for the state. In this framework, weakness is moral degeneracy, and physical power becomes a stand-in for racial superiority. This is nothing new Hitler’s regime worshipped the Aryan physique while sending disabled people to the gas chambers.Active Clubs update this grotesque legacy.
They weaponize fitness to create an “in-group” identity based not only on strength, but on race and gender.
Black and brown bodies are absent, queer and trans bodies are demonized, and women are either fetishized as breeders or erased altogether. Their aesthetics, tactical gear, Spartan imagery, runes aren’t just for show. They are symbolic armor for a movement that sees itself at war with modernity, multiculturalism, and liberation.
Grooming Through Brotherhood
What makes Active Clubs uniquely dangerous is their insidious method of indoctrination. They don’t convert through debate,they convert through bonding. This is classic cult behavior. Members are taught to see themselves as warriors in a grand cosmic struggle. Shared workouts become rituals. Group chats become echo chambers. The longer one stays, the deeper the ideological hooks sink in.
This grooming extends to teenagers and children. Some Active Clubs have attempted to recruit teens through online fitness groups, “self-defense” classes, or survivalist youth programs. The model is clear: first isolate, then initiate, then radicalize.
Children are not just being taught to hate, they are being trained for violence, immersed in a fantasy of racial apocalypse and armed confrontation.
The Anti-Fascist ResponseThe threat posed by Active Clubs must be confronted on multiple fronts.
First, the myth of “free speech” as a defense for fascist organizing must be dismantled. Fascism is not a position in a debate, it is a death cult. Second, anti-fascists must expose and disrupt these networks wherever they form. This means deplatforming their content, doxxing key organizers, infiltrating their cells, and cutting off their recruitment pipelines.
We must also address the social rot that allows these groups to flourish. Capitalist alienation, patriarchal dominance, and the destruction of authentic community are the soil in which fascism grows. Our resistance must therefore be both direct and constructive: mutual aid, liberatory education, inclusive and trauma-informed community spaces, and alternative visions of strength rooted in care, not conquest.
.No Pasarán.