'Hi my name is Mike and my youngest daughter is in the same class as our DL instructor's daughter. After 3 years boot camp style training in a nearby park I was looking for something a little closer to home that had the same level of intensity but also provided the same sense of community I found in the park. Being in my 40's I was quite prepared to be the oldest at the class, but that certainly hasn't been the case. My class has a really broad range of ages starting with teenagers and moving up to quite senior students. Everyone is really friendly, Tahir and the other teachers convey confidence and encouragement. I have also been really impressed with the more experienced students who are really supportive of the novices as well and adapt their style to whoever they are teamed up against. I haven't been coming long but I have noticed an increased flexibility in my own fitness. Since quitting boot camp I had been focussing mainly on jogging and spin classes, so the same muscle groups got all the attention. The DL drills give you a wide range of movement and make you think about the form and the shape of your body. At present none of my kids join me but I have a teenage Daughter who has a long term condition preventing any exercise, but when she gets better she is very keen to join DL. Thankfully, I have not been in a fight since high school however, there are odd occasions in my work where I feel the skills learned in DL will help me have more confidence in the face of potential conflict. A lot of my work involves leadership where people are often looking to me for guidance. Strangely, I relish the opportunity just to be told what to do, no questions asked. The DL community is also mutually supportive and encouraging and it's a great chance to get to know new people. The skills I will pick up on the way are actually a bonus but, rest assured, I won't be looking for opportunities to demonstrate them in my daily life'.

Mike Jackson

My name is Ibrahem shamlakh, I am 15 years old and I’m from Palestine but I was born in London. Ever since I was young I would participate in some sort of Martial Arts this includes boxing and karate. It started turning into a regular hobby and I slowly became more interested to learn more defensive and fighting skills / techniques. After I lived here for 6 years my family decided to go to Palestine for 3 years and there I learnt karate. However I always used to think if this would really help me if it comes to the worst and I end up in a street fight. 3 years after we moved back to London I started researching very good and useful types of martial arts. I came across Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu jitsu and krav maga. I liked the idea of all of them but all of the locations were far from where I lived. As I kept on researching I also came across Defence Lab and I was very curious of what it was because I’d never heard of it before. So I decided to go to a taster session and get a brief idea of what it is about. Honestly, I was amazed by how simple techniques could protect all the places of knockout around the face and neck and this was one of the reasons I decided to join. Another reason was to not only learn useful and new techniques but also to improve my fitness, as fitness is a very important factor in a person’s lifestyle. At the start I thought that the things I was learning were very simple and I did not know if there was more to it. However everything started to add up and simple dangerous movements can easily turn into complex very useful techniques, which were not hard to perform. At this point co-ordination was important because Defence Lab doesn’t only teach you to protect yourself they also teach you to attack and defend. The students at defence lab are very friendly and as a group it feels like its one big family. Our instructors are very helpful, patient and kind and they try their best to make sure that every individual at Defence Lab understands what they have been taught. Defence Lab improved my life in many ways – it boosted my confidence, improved my fitness, it prepared me for when things go bad and it motivated me to become more active. In my opinion I highly recommend that you go for a taster session and then from there you can decide if you would like to continue as I’m sure you will enjoy it.

Ibrahem Shamlakh