Corporate Safety & Self Defence Workshops

at your workplace

Nicholas Polo runs Corporate Safety & Self-Defence Workshops for organisations across London, helping teams build confidence, manage stress, and develop essential personal safety skills. During these Team Building Workshops, the sessions go beyond just learning the basics on how to defend yourself—they focus on empowerment, awareness, and the ability to react effectively and without freeze in real-life situations.

Options:

• Standard: 1 hour One Instructor

• Bespoke: 2 hour Two Instructors (male & female) - Recommended

Your Instructors

Nicholas Polo | Krav Maga and Women’s Combat Self Defence

Nicholas is Advanced Krav Maga Practitioner certified by the Institute of Krav Maga UK, with more than 15 years' experience across self-defence, boxing and combat training. He is a member of the British Combat Association.

His background also includes coaching professional security and close-protection professionals, giving him a real-world, threat-focused approach to personal safety. His teaching covers situational awareness, avoidance, verbal de-escalation and practical physical responses to realistic threats.

Nicholas has also volunteered his time coaching survivors of sexual assault and stalking, helping them rebuild confidence and develop practical personal-safety skills.

Joanna Ziobronowicz | Women’s Self Defence and BJJ

Joanna is the founder of Women's Self Defence UK, the author of “She Fights Back” and she holds a second-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She specialises in ground defence, positional control and escape techniques, particularly in situations involving a larger or stronger attacker.

Her expertise enables participants to learn how to respond when grabbed, restrained, taken to the ground or otherwise unable simply to disengage - situations frequently overlooked in conventional corporate self-defence training.

How are we different

Both Nicholas and Joanna have a real self defence background and experience in security and coaching of close protection operatives. Your organisation’s workshop is not going to be led by juniors with experience in just martial arts like Aikido or Kung Fu. Street self defence is not a choreography!

Having both Nicholas and Joanna run the workshop participants enjoy the benefit of having both a male and a female instructor and get a better perspective of both the mental and physical aspects associated with safety and self defence.

• Standard Workshop Overview: 1 hour One Instructor (starting at £1,250 / max participants number applies)

Standard workshops are 1 hour long. The workshop includes a brief introduction to self defence and the importance of awareness, legal considerations and self defence tools (at home, workplace, during commute or when travelling). The workshop also includes demonstration and physical practice of basic techniques including stance, blocks, upper and lower body strikes, as well as basic escape techniques and closing with Q&A.

• Bespoke Workshop Overview: 2 hours Two Instructors (starting at £2,100)

Bespoke workshops are recommended as being tailored to the interests of the organisation and the participants (do employees travel frequently to foreign countries, do they commute late hours, etc.). A typical 2 hour sessions would combine a short interactive presentation with hands-on practical exercises, designed to give participants practical, usable skills — not just theory. Each workshop is tailored but generally the content includes:

Part A: Presentation

• Differences between Martial Arts and Self Defence

• Situational awareness and recognising potential danger

• Relevant UK legal self-defence considerations including tools

• Location based threats: home, commute, workplace, carparks, walking, restaurants, hotel room, etc.

• Managing distance, body language and verbal de-escalation

• The effects of stress and freezing during an incident

Part B: Practical

• Situational awareness, speed and coordination tag drills with 1 & 2 opponents

• Stance and movement

• Basic Blocks

• Simple, effective upper body strikes - punches, elbows, hammers and palm strikes

• Simple, effective lower body strikes - kicks and knee strikes

• Escape techniques - hair pulls, wrist grabs, shirt grabs, bear hugs, etc.

• Ground defence fundamentals (Bespoke Workshops only)

• Touch on weapon attacks including knife threats (Bespoke Workshops only)

• Practical partner and pad exercises

• Q & A

Women in Healthcare
Safety & Self-Defence Workshop for Cleveland Clinic

At London’s private Cleveland Clinic, 45 female doctors and practitioners came together for a specialized self-defence workshop focused on personal safety and empowerment.

The workshop kicked off with the fundamentals: situational awareness, de-escalation techniques, and how to react quickly under pressure. We talked about real safety threats women face today—stalking, hidden surveillance devices in gyms, random knife attacks, and encounters with people under the influence of drugs.

The Cleveland Clinic workshop is just one example of how self-defence training is empowering women in high-pressure professions, equipping them with the tools to stay safe and in control.

Women in M&A
Safety & Self-Defence Workshop for March Women

At Buzzacott’s London offices, Nicholas and Joanna delivered a recent safety and self-defence workshop for March Women.

The session was structured around three components: presentation, practical exercises, and Q&A. The presentation covered key topics including situational awareness, body language, de-escalation techniques, UK legal considerations around self-defence, and personal protection devices. The practical segment gave participants the opportunity to practise correct footwork, techniques, and strikes on pads, including knee and palm strikes, as well as using their voice with confidence.

Bring Self-Defence Training to Your Workplace