"Having attended numerous self defence programmes during my military career I found the course taught by Protect both practical and more importantly user friendly. There is no point in having any training that is not based in the real world and this training brings the real world into the class environment. Well done Protect!" 
*Name withheld* Ex NCO, 22 SAS

"I have done many self defence / combat courses over the years. None compare this this. "Get Real" is essential training for any martial artist who is serious and honest about being able to use their martial art to defend themselves. Meeting Phil and Athena Thompson has been a pleasure, a privilege and scary - all at the same time!" 
Master Paul McPhail - Seventh Degree Black Belt ITFNZ

"The seminar was both useful and extremely informative to both myself and my staff members. I cannot recommend the services of Protect self Defence highly enough. A serious subject taught well with just the right degree of humour" 
David Lloyd-Barker - General & Inspectorate Manager, SPCA Auckland 

"10 out of 10! Practical real world training. Keep it up!" 
K Crawford - NZ Police

"Fantastic!. I certainly enjoyed the event and working out with you. GREAT! 
10 out of 10" 
Mr Andrew Salton - Sixth Degree Black Belt ITFNZ

"Fantastic! Adding the realism dimension to years of martial arts training is invaluable! I need to learn more!" 
Mr Mark Banicevich - Fifth degree black belt ITFNZ

"Great! Real stuff compliments our art. Loved it!" 
Mrs Lena Walton - Fourth Degree Black Belt ITFNZ

"Thank you very much! Helped me to be more confident in self defence situations. I appreciate my Taekwon-do more than before and this has given me more direction in certain aspects of our training" 
Mr Laurence Mantjika - Fourth Degree Black Belt ITFNZ

"Awesome!. I would recommend this to anyone as a must, especially martial artists as it has opened my eyes a lot more! Very professionally done" 
Mr Ian Walton - Fourth Degree Black Belt ITFNZ

"10 out if 10. This seminar taught new self defence skills in real life situations - and it was invaluable!" 
Mr Mike Lowe - Fourth Degree Black Belt ITFNZ

"Get to one of these seminars! Realistic and valuable training. Instructors provide real life experiences with realistic defence strategies" 
M Onland

"The seminar was awesome and provided many, many more tools to my understanding of self defence. I would recommend to anyone! 
Ms Bernice Ng - Second degree black belt ITFNZ

"Totally awesome! Eye opener! Very good seminar!" 
Mr John Matsuoka - Third Degree Black belt ITFNZ

"The best self defence course I have attended after 15 years of studying martial arts! Great job! 
S Ryan - Whangarei

"Loved it! Real confidence booster, great to put some feral realism to the fray! Keep up the awesome work guys! 
Dr Cameron Snelling - Fourth Degree Black Belt ITFNZ

"Good to provide belief and to demonstrate real life situations that I have never experienced. Awesome people/instructors" 
Mr Vice Pygott - Fourth Degree Black Belt ITFNZ

"If this stuff doesn't work, nothing will! No macho BS, only stuff that works. And taught in a friendly and constructive environment" 
P Casale - Whangapaparoa

"Very real experience, totally different to anything experienced before and a real wake up call to how serious some situations can be" 
D Chambers

"Great seminar! Very well thought out. I learned a lot! GReat to bridge the gap between martial arts training and true self defence" 
Mr Francis Fong - Second degree black belt ITFNZ

"It was amazing! It really opened my eyes on how to defend myself properly. Keep up the good work!" 
A Smeele

"Very realistic, a little scary but of great benefit showing how to deal with situations, not just physically but psychologically as well. I learnt heaps and enjoyed it, definitely do it again!" 
C Davis - Whangarei

"I thought it was really good and full of great info. I know for a fact I would think differently in a confrontation. Totally awesome!" 
A MacDonald - Whangarei

"I found it very valuable and it taught me a lot! I am definitely coming to the next one!"
J Turner - Whangarei

"Fantastic, practical! I have confidence now that I would be able to handle a dangerous situation better than before!" 
N Tse - Auckland

"Great! Very interactive and helpful and well explained. Good stuff!" 
S Hokai - Whangarei 

"Awesome seminar! Definitely will do again!" 
Mr Gary Sawyer - Second degree black belt ITFNZ

"An excellent and informative seminar I would recommend to anyone interested in dealing with real world violence" 
Mr Breon Gravatt - Lawyer and second degree black belt ITFNZ

"Easy to apply after only the first two drills. Great realistic theory behind it. Great format, I would be happy to do more" 
M Alach

"Fantastic! The concepts were well explained in context and easy to understand. Thanks!" 
M Hoy

"This seminar was awesome! It taught me so much knowledge that will be very useful in a bad situations" 
S Motu

"I loved it! Keep doing what you are doing, you'll save lives" 
A Walker

"It was absolutely brilliant! I would do it again in a heartbeat! 
R Kernohan

"Awesome! Highly recommended! pened my eyes not only to the physical defence aspect but also to the diffusion of situations" 
M Andrews

"Best self defence course I've ever done. It was awesome!" 
E Buckland 

"The entire day was such an eye opener and a great experience. I feel more confident in being able to protect myself and others. Thanks" 
A Bullen 

"The seminar was very empowering. Great to see a self defence ideal that promotes that the best result is no violence. You are doing a great job" 
T Walker 

"An incredibly empowering seminar! Loved the real life aspect." 
D Mellsop - Instructor ITFNZ

"Reality at it's best! Excellent seminar and Trainers!" 
L Brunton

"Absolutely brilliant! The situations portrayed are so real - This is definitely reality based!" 
B Kraiger

"Absolutely awesome! I enjoyed it immensely" 
T Katene

"Really useful realistic information, plus really fun day. Thanks heaps!" 
R Proctor

"You've got to try it to know how little you know about how to protect yourself...even for the black belt martial artists!" 
A Wong

"The seminar was fantastic! It opened minds and introduced tools that were simple and extremely effective, especially when put together under stress situations. Great value for money. Thanks for everything you two do, bringing this out to people will save lives" 
B Inglis

"Out of this world! Really relevant and effective for real life situations. Well prepared and presented seminar. Keep spreading the word!" 
W Filiki

"I would attend every seminar you have in Wellington. Hard to put this into words...just awesome!" 
S Lukken 

"I found the seminar incredibly valuable. I now have a better idea of how it feels to be attacked and feel like I can deal with the situation much better and have a much better chance of saving my life!" Thank you soooooo much! 
A. Kerkuliet

"Great practical skills for the street and Phil and Athena do a great job of getting the message accross. Awesome!" 
N. Lee

"I learnt things I would have never thought about before. I hope you guys can come to Wellington again soon, or better yet move here - I want to learn more! I can't wait to do the next seminar" 
S Clarke

"Fantastic course! So real! Easy but very effective. You guys are just awesome, keep up the good work" 
A S Tang

"A real eye opener! Very helpful for me being a student who is up late and very likely to get into difficult situtions" 
B Gower

"I used to think I would have been able to defend myself against an attacker. This seminar has shown me that I would have been using all the wrong tools! 10 out of 10" 
S Adams

"Thank you. Bloody great!" 
R Avery 

"Very Practical and provided good skills to combat REAL life attacks" 
K Reddy 

"This was awesome! Real techniques for the real world!" Thanks and keep up the good work." 
Don

"Absolutely valuable! I would like to see it introduced to everyone" 
D Lo

"Extremely valuable, life saving and realistic!" 
R Kunz 

"Excellent, well run, real stuff!" 
N Lourantos

"It was awesome! I'd recommend it to anybody and everybody!" 
C Feehan 

The best source of real self defence anywhere in New Zealand! 
M Findly

Absolutely awesome! 
M Kopa

Only one word...Awesome! 
G Brown

I arrived feeling anxious and left feeling empowered by knowing my own capabilities. 
V Fleming

I would recommend this seminar to anyone and everyone. 
D Garnett

Probably one of the most useful days in my life. Enjoyable while dealing with very serious issues. 
S Linstone

Amazing! 
J Barker

Very useful. Completely different to what I would have done before this.
A Nayyar

A great course with practical, educational information and experiences. Best of all, highly entertaining and enjoyable.
A Lovell

The best, most REAL self defence scenarios. 
R Stevens

Emotional – Amazing – Enjoyable. Very well run and real life. Recommended to everyone. 
A Doel

It was definitely the most worthwhile experience. The fact that I stepped out of my comfort zone really boosted my confidence to an extent where I think I am able to defend myself in dangerous situations. 
T Chopra

I found it most useful to learn self defence in a real situation under pressure. 
J Brown

Excellent Course, took me from potential victim to survivor within the first half of the day. Highly recommended and great instructors. 
N Areora

The best, most real self defence course ever! 
J Phemister

Excellent! Something i see being very relevant to my occupation. 
S Martin

Very empowering. Huge boost to self confidence.
G Gorgner

Intense. Realistic. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone. 
J Le Grice

Extremely valuable course which has inspired me to explore further. 
L Hunn

Fantastic way of teaching a very valuable skill set. Outlined the essential aspects of avoidance and verbal de-escalation as integral, combined with very effective physical aspects as a last resort.
R Van Heerden

Great insight into some very real situations. Feeling better prepared and having the ‘tools’ you need. 
J Samuels

Very valuable, learnt a lot, thank you! 
A Rooke

Responsive instructors – generously sharing experience. 
K Mc donald

Excellent course. Very realistic! 
S Skedgewell

It dispelled a lot of common myths surrounding self defence and made me much more aware of the reality of a given situation. 
A Howitt

Set out really well. I now feel confident should a scenario happen where I need to defend myself. 
A Hutchings

I gained some valuable skills which will help me feel more confident if faced with a difficult situation. 
M Atkinson

It cannot get more realistic than this! The first relevant information about violent situations. I think it was excellent, a lot of info and really useful stuff. Thanks team! 
D Moussa

Very valuable – I feel far more resourced with “tools” that are both useful and effective.
S Xavier

Very realistic! It gave me a lot of new useful tools I could use if a situation ever occurred. Very enjoyable! 
J Mcphail

Invaluable day! I especially appreciated the emphasis on diffusing situations and avoidance as well as being able to do the ‘real’ thing with Phil. 
M Thomas

I have been fearful a few times in my life and this has really given me the skills to diffuse or avoid, but also to defend physically if required. 
J Clark

I thought this seminar was a real eye opener and so real. I thought Phil was exceptional. 
K Marshall

Very valuable – excellent course. Phil provided a safe learning environment. 
J Collins

Excellent value. Very real and not too complicated to implement. Awesome stuff!
K Makaea

Brilliant! I would recommend to anyone – everyone should do it. Very empowering knowing skills to handle different situations (not just physical skills). 
W Barry

An excellent, practical course. 
A Ritchie

Phil, it was a great experience! 
C Muir Butler

Excellent value and a great day! 
M Hannan

Excellent! Thank you! 
G Anson

This was a great day! Instilled confidence in my ability to defend myself. 
A Dennis

Fantastic course! I learnt some things I hope I will never have to use, and some things I will be pleased to. 
C Thompson

Fantastic. Realistic skills gained and increased confidence. 
A Brazier

This was a fun, informative and realistic day. I will take a lot of useful skills away. 
L French

Brilliant! Excellent skills, very valuable.
K Powell