In this study we discuss how gender relations are influenced by a âgirls onlyâ martial arts-basedsport, gender and development (SGD) programme that aims to improve young women's discipline,leadership skills and self-defence capabilities in a rural Ugandan community with widespreaddomestic and gender-based violence (GBV). The results of our qualitative research with a Ugandannon-governmental organization (NGO) staff members and martial arts instructors demonstratethat the young women's participation in the martial arts programme challenged gender norms andimproved their confidence. However, the exclusion of boys and men from the programming,combined with the cultural inaptness of girls practicing martial arts, may have contributed to thegirls' subordination. Our data also revealed that young men were also the targets of GBV. Overall,we argue that an exploration of the relational impact of gender in the context of SGD, and sport fordevelopment and peace terrain more broadly is necessary in order to: (1) understand how socialrelations shift and change in the face of variable and fluid gender dynamics; and (2) challengegendered assumptions about prescribed/predetermined gender relations by acknowledging thatyoung women may not be the only targets of violence.