RAVEN was founded on March 11, 2003 and was created out of what I perceived to be a sheer necessity. RAVEN by the way, stands for Rape and Violence Extinction Now.

Having attended a few female self defense courses myself and not liking what I experienced, I felt I had to do something about it so others wouldn't go through some of the nonsense I did. While I appreciated the fact that some admirable individuals were out there holding such important courses, I felt that most of the techniques they were showing were not realistic and nor could they be easily pulled off under stress; by the average everyday female.

In good conscience I could not turn a blind eye. There were experiences I myself had had early in my teenage life that definitely would have ended differently if I had some informative training available to me.

When I initially started my investigation into female self defense I was surprised at the lack of actual female instructors. Even the courses I had started with were all taught by males. I wanted to create a course that would encourage discussion and questions from women; a course that would be warm and conducive to conversation where queries would be answered and fears eased. How open to discussion would some women be if the person leading the course was of the same sex most likely to harm her?

Don't get me wrong, I know a lot of male instructors that are absolutely terrific. It's just that I ultimately felt that this was a course that needed a "female touch". Women love to open up to other women. Who better to teach females about emotional and physical responses to fear and stress than a woman?

When I decided it was time to get a move on and start something of my own, my first step to forming my own company was to join forces with the highly respected Association for Women's Self Defense Advancement (A.W.S.D.A.) out of Lindenhurst, NY. I obtained my instructor certification under A.W.S.D.A. and then began to help teach some of the co-ed self defense courses at a Mississauga based martial arts club.

While I believe that self defense is very important for both males and females, I made a choice and decided that the path I wanted to really focus on was teaching females, and thus RAVEN was born.

Why choose RAVEN for your self defense instruction?

Because you will be taught simple yet effective physical techniques that when practiced regularly, can readily be performed under stress. You will learn self defense concepts, rather than actual martial arts techniques that will enhance your ability to perform and apply the course content in a real life situation.