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Having a busy professional life myself, I am aware that most people don’t have the patience or time to invest years of regular martial arts training just to learn how to be safer and protect yourself. I tried to create a concept that would work for normal, average people providing them with valuable knowledge in the shortest possible time, ideally walking away from their very first class with the comfort of having already learned something useful. My self-defence basics course gives you exactly that, an overview of what it really takes to successfully defend yourself. On top of that I offer a wide range of workshops that address specific subjects and problems and you can simply pick what you think suits your needs best. The workshops are intense and compact, 4 hours in length, usually held on weekends and always anounced in advance, so it should be possible for almost everyone to plan ahead to attend, even if you have to travel to the location. Many students then simply repeat certain courses as often as needed or do a refresher every now and then, depending on your personal circumstances.

The majority of my courses is for the general public, what we professionals like to call “civilians”. I also do offer courses aiming at professionals who have to deal with violence on a daily base, please check out “training for professionals” in this FAQ section. I also have a women’s only basic self-defence course, as women often feel more comfortable, especially in the beginning, without the presence of unknown men on a course. I encourage them to bring their partners or family members along for free instead, to assist them as training partners. In terms of age there is no real limitation on the high end, you are as young or old as you feel, however I do not recommend these general courses for teenager under the age of 16. The reason being is that the subjects and techniques covered are very serious and potentially dangerous and they therefore require a certain maturity of the course participants. Especially teenage boys under that age tend to be still fairly imature and would require a slightly different approach. If you want to register your child (under 18) for one of my courses I will need you to sign the registration form as guardian.

It certainly helps to be healthy and in good shape, but it is actually no prerequisite for defending yourself. Self-defence has to be something individual and the system has to provide you with solutions that work for you. In other words, out of the solutions and techniques being presented to you, you pick what works best for you and then apply that to your best ability. There is no expectation that everyone can do everything equally good, and there is also no testing, grading or other requirements you need to meet. The most important part is that you increase your personal safety based on the knowledge I will provide. This can clearly be achieved even if you are not fit, or also if you have any kind of disability. We will always find ways to make thinks work for you as well.

I do not teach martial arts, I teach self-defence. Martial arts are usually very complex and dogmatic, techniques have to be learned to perfection, many of them are with or against weapons that are not used anymore, there are often traditions and rituals involved, they have fixed grading systems, the need for a uniforms and colorful belts, and it usually takes years to really progress towards mastery. Modern self-defence on the other hand does not aim at perfection and disregards things like tradition, rules and other boundaries like fairness completely. The focus here is strictly on the ability to defend oneself and therefore a completely different approach is required.

I teach self-defence following my own concept that I have developed over the past years teaching countless self-defence courses to hundreds of course participants. Over a period of 30 years, I have trained in several martial arts, I have a black belt in Karate, Instructor certifications in Krav Maga and Security related subjects like control and restraint tactics. Adding almost 30 years of professional experience in the security field to the mix, I created a self-defence concept that I personally believe works for most people. In doing so I did not follow a single martial art or self-defence system curriculum, but have instead mixed and matched techniques from various styles combined with modern training methodes used in professional military, law-enforcement and security training. I continue to constantly pressure test and improve my concept, as you never stop learning.

Because based on my personal experience I believe that there is no perfect “one size fits all” system out there. For example currently Krav Maga is extremely popular and claims to be superior and more efficient compared to all the other martial arts and self-defence sytems out there. However being a certified Krav Maga instructor myself, I can say that it does have some excellent approaches to certain elements of self-defence training, but it also completely fails in many others. I have taken the freedom to mix and match what I find more efficient and useful and I decided not to teach what I believe does not really work in real situations for most people. Because of that I was asked not use the name Krav Maga or the organisation I was affilated with and that was a real eye opener for me, how in martial arts in general, the system always comes before the student. Self-defence has to work for you, not for the trainer or the organisation (franchise) behind it! Realistic self-defence has to be simple so it can be used in high stress situations, easy to learn for anyone without the abilities of a professional athlete, and highly effective even if you are smaller and weaker than the attacker. Otherwise you wouldn’t need self-defnec in the first place. If a system teaches you things like 20 deadly fists (*sarcasm) you are in the wrong place. Should you need to know more on how good self-defence training should look like, please read my blog first.

I am located in the South-West London area in Kingston upon Thames (KT1 3GQ) in the UK and most courses and workshops are currently held here. Allowing the time, the good will of amazing people who support and help me organizing events, and currently also Covid-19 restrictions not being in place, I am also holding seminars or courses in Germany and other countries. You can find details on the next upcoming course dates at the top section of this page or when you click on a specific workshop you will find links there as well to the event calendar. Nothing in your area? Depending on the interest I am open to suggestions for other locations throughout the UK or internationally. If you want to host a self-defence course or workshop in your area, please check out the “private group training” topic addressed in this FAQ section, you can find all details including pricing there.

Most courses and workshops are 4 hours, usually held on weekends (Sundays 10am-2pm is my favourite time). Is that intense? Somewhat, but after having held countless courses like that and having tried all different variations I found this is the best solution that works for most people. Will you be able to survive a 4 hour course? Absolutely! I can assure you that no one has died so far in my courses. Are there other variations available? Sometimes due to certain requests or circumstances I do courses that are let’s say 4×2 hrs or even more intense seminars or boot camps that are 8 hours, but those specil events and will be seperately anounced. If that doesn’t suit you, there is always an option for indivdual personal training, just look up “private training” in this FAQ section for more details including pricing.

It is my intention to make proper self-defence training available to anyone who is in need of this knowledge. Therefore is my online Personal Safety training completely free of charge and I also organize free self-defence courses for specific groups like women, several times a year. However, being a professional self-defence instructor requires proper equipment, licencsing, professional memberships, further education & training, insurance, renting solid locations, etc. In other words it gets costy and clearly I therefore need to generate some income otherwise I won’t be able to continue my work in the long term. The regular price for a 4 hour workshop is £39 during the winter period when we train indoors and £25 when the workshop is held outside in the Park. I hope these prices are fair and affordable for the most of you. Should anyone be in need of self-defence training but unable to afford one of my workshops, please do not hesitate to contact me, I will always be able to make space for one more student for free.

At the top of this page there is a section where the next upcoming course dates are listed, just click on your course of interest and it will take you to the event details and allow you to register there directly. You can also click on any course or workshop in the overview and you will find a link there for next course dates for the particular course or workshop. Should there currently be no course date scheduled, you can register your interest in a particular course by using the contact form on the course page and depending on the overall interest I might prioritise it when planning new courses.

Yes, I also offer individual personal training as some people either cannot commit to the dates for group workshops or have specific needs like discretion or subjects they want to have covered. Private training also works in small groups up to 4 people and you can share the cost. The hourly rate for private training is £50 if no travel (outside local zone) is involved and as long as you provide the location (outside is always acceptable for me). Depending on the location a minimum of 2-hr training blocks might be required due to travel times. A free consultation is required before any comitment is being made from both sides, as I first need to understand your specific needs and I will then create an individual lesson plan for you. Booking and payment of training sessions has to be done in advance and is not refundable. There is however no obligation on your end beyond the booked session, you can cancel further sessions any time. For more questions contact me directly.

Yes, I also offer self-defence training to private groups like members of clubs and fitness centers, schools, colleges and universities or businesses that would like to organize such a workshop for their employees. These can either be standard workshops I usually teach or an individual program adjusted to your specific needs and interests. In general the hourly rate for such an event hosted at your location is £100/hour regardless of the number of participants (*only groups larger then 20 people would usually require an assistant on my end and increase the price by 50%). Depending on the location, there might be additional travel and accomodation costs that need to be agreed on, but I am generally willing to travel nationwide and also internationally to deliver my knowledge to you. Contact me for a free consultation where we can discuss all the requirements and options upfront.

No, currently I do not. I am in the process of aquiring my license to officially provide security guard training under SIA regulations, but due to Covid the process has been long and slow. I do however provide training in control and restraint techniques and team work tactics for security personell and other professionals that are regularly confronted with violence and threats in the workplace, just without awarding recognised certification. Therefore the pricing is currently still very affordable. I can provide this training also to businesses or private groups, just look up that section in the FAQ for details.