Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the mastery of conflict - Stefan Forsman

I offer you a system of survival for all environments

All of the different skills and practices that I have developed over the years converge in my overall methodology in self defense, which at the core develops stronger levels of self-belief in people and prepares them to meet challenging situations, particularly in a world that is changing environmentally and socially. Provoking fights is something that is totally against my philosophy, as is bullying and preying on helpless victims. I sincerely want to show people what they can do - preventative measures to avoid or diffuse dangerous situations; but also how to rapidly and effectively protect themselves, if all else fails and they do have to physically defend themselves. I have gathered experiences and techniques and shaped these into a training system that I trust will help people be winners in all aspects of their lives.

From my early years in training to become a boxer I learned quickly from a teacher of the old school the power of full body contact combat. I learned how to stand my ground, I competed and quite successfully, but I soon learned that using your bare fists in real life threatening situations is actually quite stupid, something I discovered as a youngster when pushed to defend myself in scrapes outside of the ring. That’s because you stand a good chance of breaking a few of the 27 bones in your hand with one hit - which is what happened to me. Fact is, the bare human fist is actually quite delicate and connecting with the bones of an attacker at full force is like ramming your fist into concrete.

I also explored the martial arts for a while but like boxing, I discovered it is basically a sport with rules - such as to stand and wait for your attacker to attack, and even rehearsed moves - like I do this, you do that - which, of course, if you have trained properly for real self defense, you realise that a sport-centred approach is most definitely not a solution to protect yourself within the context of a real life situation because there are no parameters. I am talking about protecting yourself against someone who wants to take your life; someone who may also be armed. Imagine being in a subway and waiting for some attacker to use your head as a punching bag before you do something about it? I was not interested in training for a sporting event, or a series of stunts for a movie. I wanted to find a training system for the unpredictability and violence of a real life attack. I wanted to know how to prepare myself for the best chance of survival.

About this time, I joined the Swedish Army and from the beginning had the good fortune to train with Tamas Weber - one of Europe’s foremost body combat teachers who became my first signifiant hand-to-hand teacher. I learned how important it is to respond to violence with violence, to apply very simple yet effective techniques that finish an altercation quickly so that all threat to your life is eliminated. My commando training also included becoming specialised in surviving and defending behind enemy lines in arctic conditions. With the forces, I served in various war zones, including around the mediterranean and on peace keeping initiatives with the UN. During service and afterwards, I continued developing my skills in self-defense training with more techniques learnt from military personnel serving with the UK, Israeli, Canadian, American, Norwegian and French Foreign Legion armies.

I have researched and uncovered over the years a very good body of literature written by people with real life experiences, which have added to my understanding of self defense systems - detailed books by experts who have converted their experiences and analysis of thousands of years of body combat science. Some of these works include historical documents penned by William E. Fairbairn, Rex Applegate, Anthony J. Drexel, Colonel Biddle and ‘Pat’ Dermot O’Neill - overall, I have found a theoretical body of collected works that make sense. Written by guys who have all had real life experiences in dangerous situations and techniques that are time proven.

Ideas I have formed of developing self-awareness and human capacity are also drawn from my years of experience since childhood in learning how to live and survive in wilderness locations for weeks at a time in diverse climates and locations. On-going training with the Forsman Self Defense system also involves wilderness experiences to learn more about yourself and also survival. Nature is an amazing teacher, especially when you are faced with only yourself. So too is when you are traveling in the wilderness with a group of people. Taking responsibility for knowing who you are and what you bring to a wilderness experience is critical for your survival and that of others.

I also bring my knowledge of many years in animal behavioural development to my overall philosophy and training techniques in self defense. I have been developing a training system since the 1970s to improve the humane care and behavioural development of working animals. This part of my training provides a powerful insight for people to quickly understand how they are using their personal energy - to communicate and lead animals - and consequently, how they are using their personal energy with humans too. This aspect of training is critical to help people to become more self-aware and then to implement practices to use their personal energy in a more focused and powerful way to either avoid and or to diffuse potentially explosive situations.

In all of these areas of interest, I have learned to develop my own mindset for self-worth and mental clarity. I have embraced a physical fitness regime to stay healthy, I am prepared for survival, I have developed methods to use personal energy more effectively and, I am experienced with a system of training for hand to hand combat that surpasses any other system of fighting on the planet, if I am forced to defend myself from a brutal attack. The fact is, no other physical defense techniques have the documented, statistical record of the number of combat kills as the system that I integrate as part of my training program. Hopefully, you will never have to face such a situation but my system will prepare you. It is reality-based and will take you on a personal journey that is positive and strengthening for mind, body and spirit, and useful for any number of challenging situations.

Read more about the practices and philosophy behind Forsman Self Defense > > >
Self Defense Brochure 2011

''Hopefully, you will never have to face a dangerous situation .. but I just want to ensure that people are trained properly. First so they can avoid a conflict, second to diffuse a situation with confidence, or if worse comes to worse, be ready to fight back and survive an attack.''

Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the mastery of conflict - Stefan Forsman

I offer you a system of survival for all environments

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