Teach What Saves Lives - Even in a Single 4–5 Hour Class
Most people won’t train for months or years —
but they still deserve skills that hold up under pressure.
SAFE Certification shows instructors how to teach what real people remember when fear hits.
SAFE Certification is designed for instructors who teach people that may only attend once — often anxious, inexperienced, or vulnerable.
If that responsibility matters to you, book a short Zoom conversation below.
Built for the People Who Will Only Train Once
Most Programs Assume Your Students Will Come Back. SAFE Assumes They Might Not.
Traditional self-defence programs are built for repeat students. SAFE Certification is built for the responsibility of teaching those who may only train once.
SAFE Is for You If…
You want to keep people safe — not overwhelm them with drills they’ll forget.
- Your students often attend a single workshop, and you feel the responsibility to get it right the first time.
- You’ve taken multiple certifications, but still wonder if you’re building real confidence — or confidence that collapses under stress.
- You want prevention and conflict skills to be more than a quick warm-up before techniques.
- You teach women, teens, survivors, or other vulnerable groups — and want a trauma-aware way to teach self-defence responsibly.
How SAFE Certification Helps
SAFE gives you a proven framework you can use immediately — in your very next workshop.
- Teach with a simple Prevention → Conflict → Physical structure that keeps training practical and memorable.
- Build 4–5 hour workshops around real-life needs, daily habits, and the environments your students actually move through.
- Simplify physical skills into principle-based responses even anxious or inexperienced students can perform under pressure.
- Teach in a trauma-aware way that supports survivors without overwhelming or re-triggering them.
This Certification Isn’t for Everyone
- You prefer teaching complex technique chains to advanced students who train weekly.
- You’re looking for a certificate more than a teachable framework you can deliver immediately.
You don’t have to abandon what you already teach. SAFE fits into your current system — and strengthens it for the people who only train with you once.
Inside SAFE Certification
Prevention, Conflict, Physical — A Framework You Can Teach in Your Very Next Workshop
Built to deliver in a single 4–5 hour workshop — and repeat consistently.
SAFE doesn’t give you more techniques — it gives you a clear structure for teaching real-world skills to one-class learners: what to lead with, what to leave out, and how to make the essentials stick under pressure.
Prevention: Stop Problems Before They Start
Teach awareness, intuition, and everyday boundaries in a way everyday students instantly “get”.
- Build classes around students’ daily environments — not idealized dojo scenarios.
- Make red flags unforgettable using scenarios and stories.
- Help people make safer decisions long before danger turns physical.
Conflict: Options Between Freezing and Fighting
Simple, real-world verbal and exit strategies that reduce escalation — not add to it.
- Teach what to say, how to say it, and when silence is safer.
- Help students manage adrenaline so they don’t freeze or panic.
- Easy-to-teach exit strategies for crowded areas, workplaces, parking lots, and public spaces.
Physical: Simple Responses That Work Under Pressure
A minimal set of principle-based actions anyone can perform — even scared, shaky beginners.
- Replace technique overload with a small set of high-percentage actions.
- Build confidence without creating unrealistic “fight your way out” expectations.
- Integrate physical skills with prevention & conflict so students get the full picture, not just the fight.
Certified Instructors Worldwide
What SAFE Certified Instructors Around the World Are Saying
Instructors and graduates from multiple countries share how SAFE Certification has changed the way they teach — and how their students respond.
Richard Dimitri on SAFE Certification
Why Craig Chose SAFE Certification
Malissa’s Certification Experience
More From SAFE Certified Instructors
These are just a few messages from SAFE Certified Instructors reflecting on how the program changed their teaching and their students’ results.
SAFE International offers simple, easy-to-implement self-defence for every woman and every man. In just four hours, people leave with practical tools they can actually use. As one of only two SAFE Instructors in Germany, I love teaching women at eye level — from woman to woman — and helping them move through the world more safely.
Petra Zalfen-Harzheim
SAFE Certified Instructor (Germany)
Chris has a unique training style — detailed, practical, and delivered with a hilarious sense of humour that makes the days fly by. Being certified by SAFE has made me feel safe, strong, and smart when defending myself, and I’m honoured to teach this program to school children abroad. I’m so grateful for the knowledge and confidence SAFE has given me.
K
SAFE Certified Instructor
Great experience. Chris is a wealth of knowledge. I was challenged to think about situations I had never considered before, and I learned something new about people and about myself. Thank you, Chris.
Leanne Erickson Huvenaars
SAFE Certified Instructor
I’ve been in the self-defence industry for years and this program has had the biggest impact on my professional outlook. Before, I focused mostly on techniques. SAFE shifted my attention to conflict resolution, de-escalation, awareness, and mental preparedness — the real core of self-defence. It’s changed how I teach and how I handle high-stress situations, both on the mat and in everyday life.
Markus Andersson
SAFE Certified Instructor
SAFE opened my eyes to how overwhelming too many techniques can be — not just for beginners but for instructors too. Learning about Hick’s Law and option overload really resonated. The material on mindset, trauma, and why people come to learn self-defence changed how I see my students. The pre-confrontation content alone was worth the investment. I’m very appreciative of Chris sharing his knowledge to help us save lives.
Alex
SAFE Certified Instructor
The instructor training at SAFE is more than an enrichment — it’s a fundamental new perspective on self-defence. In Krav Maga and combatives, violence prevention often plays too small a role. SAFE finally fills that gap. Chris helps you put the person, their experiences, and their needs at the centre of training, instead of just imposing a concept on everyone. For me as a trainer, it was a benefit in every way.
Emanuel Socher-Jukic
SAFE Certified Instructor
If this is the approach you want to teach, take the next step and start your SAFE Certification application.
📅 See If SAFE Is the Right FitSee If SAFE Is the Right Fit
Tell me a bit about your background and who you’d like to help.
Most applicants choose to book a short Zoom conversation after submitting the form so we can quickly confirm fit and answer questions.
If scheduling a call isn’t ideal right now, you can still submit the form and continue the conversation by email.
Next step (recommended): Book a short Zoom conversation on the next page so we can confirm alignment and save time on both sides.
Please submit the form first so I have context about your background and goals.
If scheduling a call isn’t ideal, you’re welcome to email me directly at
[email protected]
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SAFE offers multiple certification paths — we’ll help you choose the best fit during the conversation.