Beyond Self-Defense

How to Say No, Set Boundaries, and Reclaim Your Agency—An Empowering Guide to Safety, Risk Assessment, and Personal Protection

By: Shihan Michelle CMA

Narrated by: Zelda Gay

A feminist-forward guide to setting boundaries, assessing safety, and defusing violence by a six-time karate world champion—tools and skills to build confidence, fight back, and live life on your own terms.

Disclaimer: this is not your average self-defense book. As educator, martial artist, movement analyst, somatic therapist, and rape crisis advocate Shihan Michelle explains, “Self-defense doesn’t work to prevent assault; it’s too late, you’re in a fight.” Instead, Michelle champions self-offense, a preventative personal protection strategy invested in defusing trouble before violence becomes necessary.

Beyond Self-Defense empowers you to prevent and de-escalate violence without resorting to physical contact. Including personal stories, interactive practices, and reflective prompts, this practical, accessible, and timely handbook teaches you how to craft your own unique protection protocols. Topics include how to:

• Use your body weight to fend off attacks
• Recognize the emotional triggers of others before they escalate
• Unlearn common biases about safety and vulnerability
• Use space and time to get the upper hand and control situations before they become unsafe
• Challenge patriarchal social standards and claim your voice—and your space

The founder and lead instructor of Self Offense Services, Michelle is a sixth degree black belt in Full Contact karate who gives workshops in assault prevention, boundaries, listening, de-escalation, and bullying prevention.

©2024 Shihan Michelle Gay (P)2024 North Atlantic Books

Critic reviews

"In my forty years of martial art experience, I have taken and taught countless self-defense courses. Shihan Michelle's Self Offense program is by far the best I've ever experienced. Its comprehensive and practical approach makes it very accessible for people from all walks of life no matter what their experience level. Plain and simple the woman knows what she's doing. Listen to her! (And buy this book!)"—SHIHAN GENE DUNN, founder of Gene Dunn's Shotokan Karate and Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu; 6th Dan, Shotokan; 4th Dan, Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu; Shodan Judo; author; and artist

"Shihan Michelle has a passion for helping people make positive changes.... She is offering suggestions about how to be safe in interactions with others, through embracing one's own power and controlling one's own awareness and actions, and that is the basis for freedom.... Read her words and understand that the practical and effective steps she describes are not only solid self-defense advice, but also a way to change yourself for the better, offered with love and compassion."—SHIHAN MARIA VAN DESSEL, 6th Dan and Chief Instructor of Eizan Ryu Jiu Jitsu and 4th Dan, World Oyama Karate

"Shihan Michelle enlists her unique experience, knowledge, and insights to offer simple and practical tools to navigate this complicated modern world. Beyond Self-Defense is a must-read for anyone who has ever felt that twinge of fear and uncertainty while riding a subway car late at night, or trying to size up a stranger or even a would-be friend."—GREG KOTIS, Tony Award-winning author, playwright, and lyricist