Teaching the Teacher 2021: Instructors, Classes, and Panel Discussion

AWMAI is proud to announce our very highly qualified teaching staff, and the timely and useful topics that will be presented at Teaching the Teacher 2021. Read below, and register now to ensure you don't miss any of this event!

Grandmaster Laura Armstrong has been training and teaching in the martial arts for over 30 years, primarily in Arnis/Kali/Escrima and Aikido. She is head instructor and owner of Combat Science – Martial Arts of Asia, and in addition to martial arts, teaches self-defense and empowerment seminars to groups and corporations. She has served on the boards of directors of AWMAI, the Ontario Aikido Federation, and WEKAF International (the World Escrima Kali Arnis Federation).  Having been an internationally ranked competitor and three-time world champion, as well as a Team Canada Coach for WEKAF full-contact stick fighting competition, Grandmaster Armstrong knows what it takes to get to the pinnacle of success and help lead others there. She has devoted herself and her communications skills to modeling leadership, and teaching others how to “step into their greatness.” If you’re a head instructor – or anyone concerned about leadership – you won’t want to miss her class at this year’s conference:

Sensei Deb Cupples discovered martial arts in her teens – and rediscovered it in her 30’s. She opened her own martial arts school in 2006 in Colorado Springs; earned her 4^th degree black belt in 2015; and in 2020, graduated her 50^th black belt student. Sensei Cupples is an energetic, dynamic, and principled instructor who welcomes students of all ages and abilities, and demands the best from them. She loves creating, learning, and sharing what she has learned. She taught at AWMAI’s Teaching the Teacher 2020; her class on managing behavior in children’s classes was a favorite, and we are delighted to have her back teaching something school owners will appreciate during these difficult times:

A native of Harlem, Shihan Darlene DeFour graduated from Fisk University and received her doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Hunter College of the City University of New York, where her academic research has focused on the ways violence in the form of racism, sexism, as well as physical violence, affect health and everyday life experiences.  In addition to her work as a Social and Community psychologist, Professor DeFour has trained in martial arts for 39 years and was inducted into the AWMAI Hall of Fame in 2012. She is a 9th degree Black Belt in San Yama Bushi Ryu Ju-jutsu, the first woman in the system to hold this rank and the Shihan title. She also holds a 6th degree black belt in Kushinda Ryu Shotokan karate. She was a founding co-chair (with Lauren Wheeler) of the National Women’s Martial Arts Federation Anti-Racism Council in 2008. In 2010 she introduced a course on Applied Microaggressions Defense to the martial arts and self-defense instructors communities, designed to address the subtle forms of racism that often permeate classroom settings. This class, as well as others she has given over the last decade, were designed to highlight the need for anti-oppression training as a core competency for all self-defense teachers and other professionals committed to social justice. We are honored to have Professor DeFour serving on our panel discussion (read more below), as well as teaching a timely and much-needed class in her area of expertise; and we’re glad this year’s schedule makes it possible for everyone to attend:

Senpai Kyren Epperson holds a Ph.D. in South Asian Studies, and a second degree black belt in Jin Sei Ryu Karate-do. They are co-head instructor, with their partner Amy Jones, LSW, of Jin Sei Ryu Karate-Do Chicago. The two are also co-founders of Culture of Safety, LLC, a woman and queer-owned business dedicated to creating cultures of safety through martial arts, empowerment self-defense, assertiveness, and mindfulness trainings for kids and adults throughout Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Dr. Epperson has practiced meditation off and on since childhood, and formally began studying a Thai Theravada Buddhist-based samatha tradition in 2012. They are now a certified meditation instructor through the Samatha Foundation of North America, teaching weekly community classes in Chicago. We look forward to benefitting from Senpai Epperson’s perspective on the meditative aspects of traditional martial arts training in a class entitled:

Sensei Delina Fuchs, Rokudan (sixth degree) in Danzan Ryu Jujitsu, is Head Instructor and CEO at Chico Kodenkan martial and healing arts academy, one of the oldest dojos in the Danzan Ryu system. She began training there as a student in 1978. In addition to her 44 years’ training in Danzan Ryu, Fuchs Sensei has more than 30 years’ training in Aikido, Iaido and Jojitsu; and holds certifications in massage and healing arts. She is on the English Department faculty of Butte College in Chico, CA. In 2018, she was inducted into the AWMAI Hall of Fame for the second time, recognizing her more than 40 years of dedication to martial arts. Sensei Fuchs’s classes and demonstrations are always energetic and inspiring. This year she will be sharing some COVID-era instructional and jujitsu techniques using a quarantine training partner anyone can build at home:

Kimberly Ivy is the founder of Embrace The Moon Taijiquan and Qigong in Seattle, Washington. She has 44 years of experience in the Martial Arts, and is ranked 6th Duan Wei in Chen Taijiquan. Kim is ranked Shodan in both Judo & Aikido, and also has thirty years of study and teaching in multiple forms of Qigong, most notably Luohan Gong Qigong, where she is one of the few people in the United States who is certified to teach the historic system. Kim has been hosting international workshops and teaching events for over 30 years. She continues to travel internationally for study and enjoys rich and ongoing relationships with her teachers and colleagues all over the world. Kim is successfully navigating the unexpected during 2020, maintaining both her robust personal and teaching practices during our unprecedented times. Her class offering at this year’s conference is an opportunity for much-needed healing, energizing and self-care: