Devi Protective Offense

Devi Protective Offense is a self defense system for women and Instructors of women, created by 25 year veteran Martial Artist, Personal Trainer, Edged Weapons Instructor, Emergency Medical Technician and Mom, Teja Van Wicklen.

The Workshops, DVDs and CDs cover physical and mental techniques specific to women's bodies, clothing and habits.

The Mommy & Me Self Defense program was created specifically for moms of children under 12.

Women require different answers, in fact, the questions are different altogether. The things women are in danger of and the ways women are attacked suggest the need for more insight into women's lives and the way they function rather than the grafting of men's self defense techniques onto classes for women.

Devi Protective Offense sees self defense as an excuse to learn crucial life skills.

Protective Offense is something young women could greatly benefit from were it taught in college or even high school; a way for a woman to learn to see danger coming and to hone her understanding of how a predator sees her.

Self Defense is an out-of-date term that should be relegated to legal terminology. Women need a stronger term to encourage a fiercer mental state.

The physical and mental techniques that work for men do not necessarily translate to women who haven't grown up playing football and other team sports in which opposing teams study strategy and pre-planning. Women are often not used to being hit, and if they are, there are also trust issues to deal with and flinch responses to retrain.

Women need a true to life, evolving system that answers questions specific to them. It's time they get it.

If you're interested in learning more about Devi Protective Offense and Mommy & Me Self Defense, check out our Workshops Page,  Buy a CD or DVD, read our Blog, find Devi on Facebook,  find Mommy & Me Self Defense on Facebook,  or  Contact Us.

Devi Protective Offense  was created by 25 year veteran martial artist, personal trainer and EMT, Teja Van Wicklen to dispel common myths about women's self d efense and bring it into the 21st Century.

"I created Devi Protective Offense out of frustration with the status quo," Teja says. "Safety begins with your individual outlook and how you position yourself in the world, not with a kick or punch."

The Devi system is a lifestyle that encourages women with busy lives to prepare, plan and be ready for anything. "All my life I was physically strong and very athletic, it wasn't until a difficult pregnancy and a series of illnesses and surgeries in my late 30s that I began to look at martial arts in a new way. Really, I like to say my infant son came up with the idea for the company. Holding him and feeling how fragile he was really scared me out of complacency. It caused me to rethink all my training."

Teja has trained in the martial arts for over 25 years and is skilled in a wide range of styles including Sayoc Kali, Taekwondo and Tai Chi.

Prior to creating Devi, Teja was hired as an instructor at Tactical Awareness to co-run their Woman Warrior camp alongside 24-year veteran Navy SEAL, Michael Jaco. The camp was created to empower women to learn self protection and wilderness survival. Teja was also the only woman certified as an instructor at Sayoc Tactical Group, a company which instructs military and law enforcement personnel in the correct use of edged weapons.

Teja is a certified personal trainer with over 15 years of experience and an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician).

Teja grew up in New York City's East Village with a passion for the arts. She attended the High School of Art and Design in Mid-Town for theater arts and graphic design and then the School of Visual Arts for filmmaking.

Teja was able to combine her visual and martial arts skills in a number of ways. She managed GO!, a martial arts production company that created and implemented staged stunt performances for major events and meetings worldwide. Over the course of seven years, GO! performed at the Star Wars: Attack of the Clones Premiere, The Matrix: Reloaded Premiere, the Tribeca Film Festival, Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks and the Japan Pavilion at Disney's Epcot Center. Teja has also trained actors for independent films and assisted in choreographing fight sequences for films like The Hunted (starring Benicio Del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones) and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (starring Sam Rockwell, Julia Roberts and George Clooney).

Early in her career she was a sports model for major magazines and TV commercials and was interviewed for by ESPN, Good Day New York and Mademoiselle magazine among others.

Teja hopes that Devi Protective Offense will help curtail the culture violence against women.

Teja's primarily studies Sayoc Kali a Filipino tribal art specializing in edged weapons, survival training and martial science.