Survival Is About Minimizing Damage, Not Winning When people sign up for a swimming course, they don't expect to win medals at national championships. They don't compare themselves to professional swimmers, but to ordinary people in their circle. Expectations are realistically calibrated. But when it comes to a self-defense course — that is, ...   Read more  

Your Dojo Isn't Preparing You for Real Violence — And Here's What You Should Do About It I hear it from time to time: "I train or have trained in martial arts. I'm ready for real violence." This belief is, in most cases, an illusion. A comfortable one — but a dangerous one. Regardless of which martial art or combat sport we're talking a...   Read more  

The Wise Man's Lesson and the Chessboard: Your Progress Is More Powerful Than You Think About 1,500 years ago, somewhere in India, a wise man brought before a king a new game — a game of military strategy that mimicked, on a small wooden board, the real dynamics of a battlefield. The game that evolved into what we know today as chess. The kin...   Read more  

This article was inspired by feedback received from one of the participants in the last Women's Assault Survival course I taught in March: "I think it's important to become aware of what would motivate us to defend ourselves vigorously, especially if we are women with a calm and gentle temperament. I thought about this right after the course and co...   Read more