Having been in the self defense industry for 32 years and as someone who worked in very dangerous situations for 25 years, I can tell you many things: 90% of violence is committed by people the victim knows, martial arts are not self defense (there is no art in violence), trauma is the root cause of violence, prevention is the mother of self defense, most courses that teach “self defense” are causing more harm than good.

They focus on strangers, do not discuss prevention or trauma and are right to the physical skills which are based on sport/art and are things the most vulnerable in society could never use (a 13-year-old girl isn’t going to head butt or arm bar her pedophile uncle or neighbour, neither is the elderly man or disabled woman against an attacker).

As mentioned, I worked in very dangerous situations for a long time, I was also molested by a male doctor when I was 5 years old, my brother drowned when he was 4 and I was 12.

I have CPTSD because of all these traumas. My wife, Pamela, and I created www.studyofviolence.com a free site with courses on what we teach. We have seen the power of what we teach and wanted to make it accessible to all.

We must make positive changes and progress forward.