John Titchen

My focus as a writer and trainer is on the provision of safe effective training that enables people to avoid, deter, negate and escape aggressive and violent situations. In addition to practical experience I hold a broad range of professional qualifications which underpin my approach to teaching.

With a background as a co-curricular education specialist, I used to focus on taking my experience and over two decades of research on personal safety to deliver self defence courses for older teenagers - one of the most affected groups in society. In 2008 I decided to start running my own Self Defence Scenario Simulation Training. In addition to my blog articles I continue to deliver seminars on personal safety and practical karate for self defence both in the UK, Europe and North America.

I was awarded my first black belt in Shotokan Karate in 1995 by Shihan Roger Hall. Early cross-training in Steelwire Mantis and almost a decade of Aikido whet my appetite for exploring self protection, karate and kata application in greater depth. I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to cross-train and be influenced by a wide range of great martial artists and subject matter specialists in diverse fields in different countries.

My teaching and writing draws together personal and professional experience of aggressive and violent situations alongside concepts drawn from the written works of some of the other leading authorities in the field, insights from law enforcement and close protection, as well as research of the regular reports produced by agencies such as the UK Home Office, Cardiff University's Violence in Society Research Group, and the FBI.

I have been humbled by the popularity of my books across North and South America, the UK, Europe, India and Japan. In the past I shared my ideas as a regular columnist for Traditional Karate Magazine (2005-8) and the ezine Jissen, and in interviews with Combat Magazine (2005) and Martial Arts Planet. With over twenty years experience of teaching in the field of martial arts and self protection I’ve had the privilege of teaching seminars in the UK, the USA, Canada and Europe.

Written in 2004, I published my first book Heian Flow System: effective karate kata bunkai in 2007. In 2014 and 2015 I published my best-selling four-book series Pinan Flow System: karate kata application for beginner to black belt. In 2016 I published Karate and Self Defence - Selected Articles which contains a mix of my earlier and current work. In 2018 I featured as one of the guest writer in The Problem of Practical Karate. I currently have further books under development.