Krav Maga & Self Defense

“So one may walk in peace.” ~Imi Lichtenfeld, Founder of Krav Maga

My self defense workshops and seminars integrate practical self defense techniques with intuitive awareness, emotional self care and self healing tools. My intention is to go beyond just self defense by bringing consciousness to our actions and better understanding the dynamics which can help us heal from trauma, transform our fears and empower our lives with the tools and techniques to live healthy, safe and peaceful lives.

If you are interested in the work I have done as the Founder of the Luminous Warrior Self Defense and Healing Center in Washington DC, please click here (it is luminouswarrior.net) or visit my instructional videos on Vimeo.

What makes my self defense training different?

I teach self defense techniques that are effective and reality-based, and pair them with awareness, mindfulness, and energy medicine techniques to release psychosomatic imprints from past events ~or from training itself~ so that we can train in a way where we do not accumulate more stress or traumatic imprints in our body and brains.

My focus is on step out of ego and fear, even in self defense situations, and instead act authentically and from intention-alignment instead. Knowing when to defend oneself and what is worth fighting for are as important as understanding how to defend oneself if the need arises.

My intention is to increase mental preparedness, emotional stamina and the capacity to deal with stressful situations in life that include ~and extend beyond~ self defense scenarios. Therefore, self awareness and self care are essential components of my self defense programs.

I focus on avoidance, escape and de-escalation techniques as much as on self defense techniques, and I include ways in which individuals can transform lingering emotions and adrenaline created by training or former events.

As a Brown Belt and Expert Instructor in Krav Maga, a certified Fit to Fight Coach, a former rape crisis counselor and senior trainer for hostile environments, a change agent and shamanic healer, I have the know-how and experience to assist you, your school or organization bring a balanced, healthy and effective approach to self defense training.

A note on prevention:

There is no prevention in self defense. There is only risk reduction.

The only person who can prevent a crime is the person committing the crime. So there is nothing you can do to “prevent” a crime, no matter how much you learn about self defense. That’s been my experience as an expert Krav Maga instructor and rape crisis counselor.

Krav Maga and self defense are, however, helpful for reducing your risks of an attack and surviving an attack (not being uninjured!), if you ever have to face one.

Intuition, on the other hand, is indeed preventative.

Research has shown that we can sense danger before it happens. In the body. Through our senses, before our brain interprets those senses. By the time we label the senses as “danger” or “fear,” it is often too late in life threatening situations to prevent the circumstance altogether.

We must be aware and awake beforehand, all the time, without becoming hypervigilant and fear-based.

So how do we do that?!!

In some of my seminars, I teach about intuition, how it is different from an untrained and rudimentary “gut feeling.” I also teach ways to heal “triggers” (memories coded in the nervous system) we may have due to past experiences that now show up as warning signal yet interfere with accurate intuition in the moment. I help you identify what you can do to reduce your risks of an attack in the transition period, between healing the triggers and learning to accurately receive sensory information in the present moment.

This is the reason Shamanic training and energy medicine are so essential in self defense training, especially Krav Maga. Shamanic healing and intuitive training not only heal emotional and mental trauma in trauma-inherent training, it can also help you prevent walking into or staying a situation that is or may become life threatening, respectively. Shamanic healing techniques can also assist you with healing trauma you may have experienced in training or after an attack.

Of course, intuitive training takes time and practice just as any skill does, and in the meantime it is helpful to have self defense tools available to defend yourself if you ever are attacked. And of course, for those who work in professions that purposefully run into danger to help others, self defense is an essential tool to have in your toolbox …as is self healing.

For School Owners & Instructors

Shamanic healing and intuitive training keeps those students in your schools that truly need self defense skills (the less confident ones), and it prevents others from becoming hardened, traumatized or bullies.

From my days as a rape crisis counselor, I know that many survivors look to self defense to heal their trauma and prevent future incidents from happening; however, Krav Maga and self defense training often leaves them open to further traumatization and instructors are frequently ill-equipped to deal with flashbacks and other PTSD symptoms that can occur during training as a result of their trauma.

There is a way to train in self defense for those who have experienced trauma, without compromising technique, and without creating re-traumatization. It requires a different approach, an understanding of the mind-body connection, and a focused effort to serve those populations by experienced practitioners.

I love helping instructors and schools to bring trauma healing exercises efficiently and effectively into their personal repertoire and lesson plan. Email me if you want to hear more.

Please note: My approach is not a psychological or clinical approach. It is an approach based in crisis management, sensory awareness, self empowerment, and personal healing.

If you are interested in the work I have done as the Founder of the Luminous Warrior Self Defense and Healing Center in Washington DC, please click here.

Self Defense Workshop topics I have offered in the past:

Introduction to self defense
Avoidance and risk reduction techniques
Women’s self defense seminars
Technique refinement and effectiveness for advanced Krav Maga students
Trauma-informed instruction for self defense instructors and school owners
Defending against the bully/angry person
Defending against the mugger/thief
Defending against the murderer/rapist
Developing attacker and scenario recognition skills
In-home preparedness and self defense scenarios
Introduction to defenses against attacks with weapons
Defenses on the ground and sexual assault scenarios
Healing past trauma through self defense
Emotional self care and preparedness for hostile environments
Intuitive training for self defense scenarios
Path of Power for self defense (series of 9 customizable workshops)