Growing up in a house riddled with abuse and lies, I grew up to be an unsure adult full of fear and anxiety. I kept everything to myself but found ways to cope, and I managed to live a productive and semi-happy life.

When I met Chris and started my Safe certification, I was not sure what exactly I was going to do with it. I knew I wanted to empower other girls and people being abused to stand up for them self and speak their truth. I wanted to help make it ok for people who lost their voice to speak up. I gravitated to Safe because they believe violence should only be used as a last resort. I respected this because most people, including myself, are not comfortable with violence. This course empowers people to feel safe and confident by educating them in knowing their surrounds, using communication as our greatest tool and removing risk factors in our daily activities.

Chris has a unique training style that includes both attention to detail and a hilarious sense of humour that makes the training days so fly by!

Being certified by Safe International has made me feel safe, strong, and most of all, smart when it comes to defending myself. I am so excited and honoured to now be teaching this program abroad to local school children of all ages. I am so grateful for the knowledge and confidence Safe has given me.

I hope to continue to teach this amazing course for many years to come! Thank you for giving me my voice back and allowing me to live without fear.

As someone who has been seeking to find instructors who tech purely self defence, I made my match.

From understanding violence, pre-emptive behaviour, psychological aspects to stress level drills plus OBVIOUSLY outstanding methods that work for everyone (yes, 99%) this is it!

Epic Self Defence Workshops and teachers!
Knowledgeable teachers, warm and real human beings with a vision, dedicated and humble, this is what you have to choose to get your self defence and mindset toolbox filled with supreme stuff!

Learned a mountain of stuff, details that are game changers, confirmation of what I feel self defence is, awesome methods and elements I wouldn’t want to miss out on – and I know many women training with me and Beyond Defence will benefit from it big time.

Richard & Chris, thank you for making this world a safer place and for spreading your beautiful selves!

Love you both – from now on forever,

Great experience. Chris is a wealth of knowledge. I was challenged to think about situations that I never thought about. I learned something new about people and myself.
Thank you, Chris.

More than 35 years I’ve trained a lot of different martial arts. The last decade I searched for a concept, that covers a realistic approach to self-defence. Well, to make a long story short, after this decade of searching I booked a seminar with Rich and Chris in Vienna! Their knowledge, experience, humor and above all, their honesty are hard to beat!
I can highly recommend these two guys, and I’m looking forward to train with them, when they visit Europe next year.
Stay safe…

Our students have enjoyed the dynamic nature of SAFE International instructors.  They easily engage students through active discussion with many real-life applications of how to detect and defuse potentially dangerous situations.  They create a stimulating learning environment that motivates students to stay focused during lessons, allows their personalities to remain intact and encourages greater participation.

I recently had the privilege and honor of attending the Rich ‘N Roberts Three Day Self Defense Seminar and could not be more eager to share my testimonial. 

Coming into the class, I was a bit apprehensive that I would be dealing with another typical hard-charging, technique oriented and style driven learning experience.  With a couple of nagging injuries and a busy family life I no longer have the time to memorize fine motor skill-based techniques or stand legs shaking in a specific stance for long periods of time.  I was searching for a no-nonsense approach to self defense, something extremely effective that I would be able to apply in my own life.  Boy did I find it with Chris Roberts and Richard Dimitri.  This weekend was so much more than a self defense seminar; it was a life changing event.

The seminar started with some of the basic concepts we would be learning throughout the next three days, covering in depth the 5 principles of physical retaliation, aka the “Shredder”.  The application of these principles is nothing short of absolutely devastating to your attacker.  I had the pleasure of witnessing a petite woman successfully defend herself from a male attacker twice her size attempting to force himself upon her with aggression…over and over again.  The best part of the Shredder is the fact that it does not require any memorized technique, fine motor skill under stress, or brute strength.  If you naturally blink and flinch when somebody makes any sudden moves toward you, then you are able to successfully defend yourself no matter your size, gender or age.

Chris and Rich not only covered the physical retaliation side of defending oneself but delved very deeply into the psychological aspect of self defense as well.  Fighting isn’t just about strikes and kicks, in fact this class has taught me that human psychology plays an overwhelming role in the outcome of a violent encounter.  Once a potentially violent situation ensues, how the potential victim reacts through his/her words and body language absolutely determines whether or not the situation will turn physical.  Practicing these social De-escalation techniques was actually more difficult for me than the physical retaliation aspect.  True self defense is 100% about self preservation. If a situation can be verbally diffused before trading punches with someone, we have an obligation to do our best to try.  Otherwise you might just be fighting, instead of attempting to defend yourself.  Day three treated us to force on force training with Marc Joseph and the crew from Spartan Training Gear.  These guys were top notch as well and provided us an opportunity to really put the lessons we had learned to the test in true to life, customized scenarios.

The past three days have opened my eyes to the world of real violence.  No labels, styles or brands were attached here; only true, raw and unadulterated self defense.  Everything I have learned about defending myself throughout my entire life pales in comparison to the knowledge and self awareness I learned from these two guys in three days.  The wealth of knowledge and experience Chris and Rich possess is incredible, the presentation is humorous, and the results are real.

In closing, I have gained great confidence from the physical concepts that I have been taught, and through the verbal diffusion techniques I have acquired have also learned unbelievable humility and a newfound respect for my fellow man.  I highly recommend seeking out Chris and Rich and attending one of their classes if you are in search of a self defense regime that really works.

I am really excited to share my highest recommendation for this seminar for anyone who wants to increase their chance of survival and escape from serious harm.

As a survivor of many instances of sexual violence and rape over a long period in my life, I have spent the last eight years developing the emotional, psychological, and physical skills from a point where I could not stand the thought of any physical confrontation to teaching women and vulnerable groups as a qualified advanced instructor. 

I have trained with some excellent industry professionals over the years, who have really transformed and empowered me, beyond what I ever thought possible. They have been systems developed with a behavioural and physical component, using natural responses and behaviours that can be adapted to people of different age and physical ability, and have served me well.

Throughout my contact with Chris Roberts over the years and with a shared passion for the safety of women and young girls, I was interested to learn his approach and experience, and learn whatever I could soak up over three days. Richard Dimitri’s “Shredder” and close quarter focus, coupled with considerable expertise, colourful and vast life experience was invaluable.   The shredder concept and mind-set destroyed the bad guy role players who gave excellent resistance, appropriate levels of force and for me the rape factor. Of key importance was the overall ethos of the seminar of situational and human awareness, the distinction between the good guy having a bad day, and the individuals who mean you harm from the outset. Personally, I really appreciated Richard’s skills and understanding of training with students with trauma and PTSD, and the insurance of a safe but challenging training environment.

Both Chris and Rich share a passion for rape prevention and their understanding of the nuances and complexities that victims/survivors navigate to keep themselves safe was second to none, and in my view went further than I have experienced on a course. They complement each other very well as a team.  The customisation, and care, research and interest into the individual needs was in my opinion exceptional. The number of attendees on the course was kept at a minimum to ensure this was possible, and for me personally got me to a level of understanding and practice that was a big leap ahead, particularly in the reality based scenarios with the Marc Joseph Spartan team that attended on day three.  The build-up over the first two days, saw everyone use their new skills exceptionally well.  I would like to thank both Chris and Richard for organising this excellent seminar, whether you attend it for your personal safety or as an instructor, I would highly recommend it.

Pam has been absolutely amazing this week with both of my grade 9 classes! Pam did wonderful work both in the gym and in the classroom for the talk day. She had lots of stories to share to reinforce the students’ learning and the girls really seemed to absorb a lot of the information. Pam really encouraged the girls to be supportive of each other and they really took that to heart.