Category: Guest Contributor Profile Post

Peter Jones

Peter Jones has been training for over twenty-seven years, starting at aged eleven. He has amassed a number of grades including six dan grades and was instructor of the year for an international organisation in 2007.

He now heads the Kajuen Ryu, the Orchard School of Martial arts which is based in Worcestershire, England, and has a strong pragmatic focus.

Pete was able to continue training through university and finds his professional role as a specialist emergency nurse mutually complimentary with pragmatic martial arts (although not so much the shifts!)

 

Angela Meyer

Angela is a seasoned teacher of Yoga, Budokon and Self Defense. Her vision is to utilize movement as a modality for lasting change, healing and transformation. As a leader in the Women’s Self Defense Movement, she inspires women to be physically strong and safe, while also creating paradigm shifts in how we see ourselves in the world. She believes in pushing students out of their comfort zone in order to mirror back their resilience to rise.

She leads Yoga Teacher Trainings, Yoga classes, Women’s Self Defense workshops, corporate events, privates and kids training throughout the DMV area. Aside from her Movement background, she has a Masters of Divinity, is a certified End of Life Care Counselor, studied Buddhist chaplaincy through the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, and worked for 12 years at Joseph’s House AIDS hospice. She is a competitive Martial Artist in Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu and MMA. She also knows every 80s Monster Ballad and loves craft beer. ​​


Angela’s website

Bill Kipp

The Founder of the Best in Industry Award Winning FAST Defense System, Bill Kipp is one of the most experienced instructors on the planet in adrenal stress self defense training. A former US Marine Recon Team Leader, Bill has earned a 5th degree black belt in his 40 years of studying a wide array of martial arts. In 2012 he was voted the 2012 Black Belt Hall of Fame Self Defense Instructor of the Year, He has personally logged well over 50,000 adrenal stress scenarios including empty hand self defense, armed and multiple attacker defense, combat ground-fighting and defensive use of weapons. He and his International Team of Certified Instructors have conducted literally hundreds of thousands of live scenarios to people ranging from children and teens, soccer moms to law enforcement officers, military security forces operatives, martial arts masters and professional fighters.

Companies including Lucent Technology, Lockheed Martin, MCI, the US Department of Fish & Wildlife, US Air Force and many others have contracted with FAST Bill for the FAST Defense technologies for conflict resolution, team building, assertive communication, and personal protection.

https://fastdefenseglobal.org/

http://www.predatorarmour.com/

Malcolm Rivers

Malcolm Rivers began his self-defense journey early in life as the quiet son of a reformed gang banger in a violent neighborhood. Since then he’s spent years studying, formally and otherwise, the role of predatory violence in urban environments. He wrestled in high school, found Krav Maga in college and, upon moving to the Washington D.C. area, fell into an on again off again romance with Danzan Ryu Jujutsu.

Malcolm now teaches self protection skills with Nova Self Defense and District Combatives. He also manages rooms full of drunken belligerents for extra money. In his free time he enjoys cooking, video games, and doing what his girlfriend tells him.

You can reach Malcolm via malcolm.riversATgmail.com

Matt Beecroft

Matt Beecroft is the Director and Head Coach of Reality Self Defence and Conditioning with over 12 years experience working within both the self defence and fitness industries.

I have a list of current and previous clients including the world aerobics champion, government departments, members of Adelaide STAR group, Adelaide Remand Centre Correctional Services Officers and various personnel of SAPOL, the Army, Navy, Air Force and security, professional athletes, personal trainers, amateur fighters and everyday people wanting to reach their full potential in the areas of health, fitness and personal safety.

 

Mirav Tarkka

Israeli-born Mirav is a world-renowned self-defense expert, specializing in Krav Maga (Israeli Contact Combat).  With over seventeen years of  experience as a trainer, Mirav founded Defense Tactics™ (International Combat Training) and Recharge™ (Alternative Functional Fitness) and has now set a goal to inspire, train and help empower individuals and groups at all levels, focusing on the mindset and mental training (as well as the physical aspect) and creating  online courses especially for women all around the world, regardless of their physical abilities, age or culture.  

Mirav studied, trained and served with the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) at the Wingate Institute (Israel), then completed and instructed many international training courses.  She holds university degrees in Psychology and Criminology and a diploma in Physical Education.  With appearances on television, features in magazines and newspapers throughout Europe, Mirav is often invited to demonstrate her work at many international workshops and seminars covering self-defense related topics.

Recently Mirav became a mother of two and says:

“Having my daughters has emphasized even more, for me, how important my role in life is. I need to be able to protect them, at all times, I can’t trust anyone to do that ‘for me’. I need to be strong, extra-assertive, powerful, to be capable of defending them and myself, and to set an example of the independent women I want them both to be. The love of a mother for her children is the greatest force  that exists – that is my underlying drive and that will be what protects them, combined with my knowledge and experience. I would truly wish for all women in the world (and men) to realize their true power, whether they are mothers or not, their true responsibility to themselves and their loved ones, and to take full control of their lives. No one should have power over you.”

https://miravselfdefense.com/

Heidi MacDonald

Heidi MacDonald is a martial artist currently involved in the art of ninjitu. She is also a passionate writer and obstacle course racer.

Dave Wignall

Dave is the Chief Instructor and Director of Simply Krav Maga Ltd, and for over 30 years has built a long and credible background in Martial Arts and Self-Defence.

Dave continues to develop his school of Krav Maga, looking to make what he teaches the most direct and effective form of self protection it can be. He constantly analyses the effectiveness of whatever he teaches and during classes he advocates questioning by his students. Dave has a strong belief that by doing so, by being open, by encouraging students to have opinions and think for themselves, by teaching without ego, it nurtures truth and honesty within SKM.

Darren Friesen

Darren Friesen is a Canadian who runs a counter-violence and self-protection group under the title of Civilian Preservation Technologies, or CivTech, in Costa Rica. He has instructor credentials in 2 styles of Filipino martial arts (Burokil Alambra Arnis de Mano and Terra Firma FMA Concepts), shootwrestling and qi gong, is the Costa Rica representative for the grassroots organization Stay Bladed, and Argentinean Esgrima Criolla and has experience in fencing, boxing and Western Historical Martial Arts. He has been teaching and training for over 20 years and is also a professional coach in advanced communication/neurolinguistics.

He trains people in modern weapons instruction including the tactical folder, fixed blade, impact weapons, cane, machete, pocket stick and improvised weapons. He is not military, law enforcement or security (though has a lot of experience teaching all of them) but a civilian specializing in teaching civilians personal preservation skills and conflict management in and for the modern world, including spatial awareness, situational/environmental awareness, body language, car safety/defensive driving, communication and close-quarters combat. A perpetual student and work-forever-in-progress, his programs are constantly evolving to fit with modern concepts and changing criminal tactics.

http://www.mandirigmafma.com/