Don't You Think
It's Time to Take Care
of YOU?

“I really enjoyed the class! I like the effectiveness & simplicity (and brutality) of the moves. I can’t wait to inform my friends; also, each reminder is helpful and refreshes my dedication to my personal safety and informing others.” - Amy Skretta

“Ms. Michelle, I enjoyed your entire self defense session, especially the demonstrations on B.O.B! (body opponent bag) I had taken another self defense class before…and I walked away feeling as though I didn’t learn anything. I was overwhelmed and intimidated. Your class was more simplified & relaxed. I wrote down your highlights with your examples…See, blonde has it!” - Heidi Manning

“Thank you for this wonderful information! I’ve never done anything like this before, but have always wanted to. I was not only informative, but fun as well. I wish my mother were with me. I will be sure to share this information with her.” - Cheri Kahrs

“It was wonderful Michelle! The safety information was easy to understand and showed us things that we really could do if threatened by someone. Thanks Michelle.” - Casey Ochs

“This was an excellent seminar with simple, available tips on how to keep yourself protected.   Thank you Michelle!”– Cynthia Mahan

 “This was a very eye-opening experience! Michelle enlightened me
on a lot of myths, as well as, informed me of the “tricks of the trade” used by criminals. I would recommend this to everyone.” - Cameron Krise

 “In testimony of the self defense seminar, it gave me a sense of security and great trust in the ways the self defense was taught. I feel I am able to defeat what may come against me… I have more self confidence. Thank You!” -Maryanna Cogor

“ We have learned so much in just a few classes. I really thought I knew a lot, but now I know more and I feel so empowered! I will show and share my DVD’s with all my friends. I also will tell all my friends to get more. Thanks for all that you do! From all of us” - Jill Stachowski and family

“This was very informative and fun. Thank you for taking the time and effort to help ensure our safety.” - Carmella Meadows

The best reason for starting is your own, but whatever motivation you have for getting started you'll find our instructors ready and willing to help you attain your goals.  

 My reply is this.  I think just a handful are on target with qualified information that really
and truly teach women something of value.  The ones I recommend I know the instructors personally.  They make a continuous effort to work on their craft and provide self defense that works for 99 percent of the women 99 percent of the time.

If I was just starting a quest to learn safety and self defense, those percentages would be very important to me.   I would want someone who has been attacked, or has the experience from practice and study.  Would you want a police officer protecting your neighborhood if they never shot a gun before?  Would you want a firefighter saving your home if they never worked a water hose?  

The others, especially the conventional and “safe” instructors out there give their expertise with recycled and reworded information.  Most, (and I’ve checked them out) are only repeating outdated self defense techniques.  They teach self defense for men by men using brute strength with punching and kicking techniques.  Some of them are still even selling books and tapes from the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s.   

We learned a heck-of-a-lot since then.  Criminal interviews, profiles, and actual events with women’s own testimonials on how and what they did to get out of an unsafe situation. 

Women are becoming more aware.  Women are becoming more independent.  It has been an ongoing and evolving revolution to protect ourselves ever since men thought they could overpower us, control us, and put us in fear. 

Let me share this with you.  A lot of self defense I learned in the beginning of my training just didn’t make sense.  Some of it was good, but some of it was not designed for a woman. It didn’t compensate for the lack of upper body strength most women have.

So I searched out the best instructors to find what really did work. Yes, I looked to get my butt kicked so to speak. 

I search out for the largest individuals during classes and seminars.  I would practice the techniques on them, make adaptations and took them down. 

I do believe there is good, valuable information and techniques from days past…hundreds of years ago, to be exact.  The moves and pressure points I have become proficient at are that old. 

These are the ‘secret ingredients’, the untold techniques other instructors are NOT teaching.  Why?  Only a handful of martial artists know they exist. And fewer even take the time to learn them or how they work.  The sad thing is, they could be giving their students, especially their female students an extreme advantage.

That’s why we not only teach these methods and techniques to our students in at Annese Martial Arts, but teach them to as many women out there, like you, at our seminars nationwide!    And did I happen to mention brute strength isn’t necessary for any of them. 

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I am not some advocate of the ‘men hater club’.  No way. 
I love my husband.  I have terrific guy friends.  I believe relationships, whether with friendship or love need to be based on respect for each other.  Violence should never be a happy side effect to any relationship.  It’s a sign of worst things to come.     

One of my instructors who is a mentor and long time family friend showed us a self defense technique at a seminar one day and said…”Got the technique?  Now, Go Get You Some!” 

We then would practice on each other. Yep, sometimes full force too.  But one thing he absolutely stressed was the finesse part.  Ah, finesse, that little detail that kept your partner from cursing and swearing at you.  It is also known in certain martial arts circles as ‘transitional flow’.

This is having the tools to protect you, without the need of over-powering the technique and knowing you can ‘flow’ from one technique to another. Put simply, if I need to go from a technique, then wrist lock, then to a kick, I am putting moves together to continue the pain on my attacker and to get the result I need to get away safely.  Without causing harm to myself, let’s say as a weapon could.

Being one out of the very few women in these men filled mega martial arts seminars, I always searched out for the ‘Hercules’ guy in the room to practice on.  And…well…I got them to go Splat!   This stuff, these strategies and techniques work.  And let me say again, with little effort.

Martial scientists like me wouldn’t have it any other way. Our lives and the lives of our students are at stake.  There is no room for ‘I guess…’ or ‘I think…’ or ‘In theory… It might work if...” 

You say you’ve got something good.  Okay, it has got to work nine out of ten times, on nine out of ten people or don’t waste my time.