In 2016, seeking to elevate my own capabilities, I reached out to Michael to ask if I could attend his rigorous instructor course. I won’t sugarcoat it: the program was a grueling physical and mental crucible. Having trained for years under a different Krav Maga organization, my muscle memory was deeply wired to different tactical approaches.

Zukunftsbau GmbH is a remarkable organization providing educational programs and support for school-distanced teenagers and young adults. In September 2016, we launched our first pilot project within their MOVEplus program. For two months, I stepped in to replace their standard physical education class with targeted resilience and self-defense training specifically designed for the young women in the program.

In 2015, my partner Rafael and I realized we shared a bold, unified vision: we wanted to make the core principles of self-protection and boundary-setting accessible to as many people as possible - regardless of their age, physical experience, or financial situation. Our goal was to prove that living a self-determined life, free from fear, is a universal right.

In 2012, two years into my own training journey, I had the opportunity to attend one of his seminars in Germany. What left the deepest impression on me wasn't just the physical mechanics, but his entire mindset. He didn't treat the system as a rigid set of rules, but as a diverse, practical, and continuously evolving framework. That agility resonated deeply with me. It pushed me to question the conventional techniques I had been taught and to integrate his dynamic, reality-based influence into my own skill set.