Training Process

It takes someone special to be an IMPACT instructor and yet our instructors are ordinary everyday people. Teachers, executives, salespeople, scientists and artists – all our instructors felt the need to give back.

How We Get Our Muggers

Many of our Male Instructors have martial arts backgrounds but not all of them. In almost every case, they had a female in their lives take the Basics course and they were hooked by the amazing transformation they saw at her graduation.

Our MIs go through a lengthy process to get kicked in the head for a living. First they are vetted by our senior staff to see if they have the temperament and heart for this work. No shifty or selfish characters allowed. They start by taking the Men’s Basics Course so they see what it feels like from outside the suit. Then they go through an extensive instructor training course where they learn how to wear the suit of extensive padding, absorb blows and react realistically, fight to different levels of different classes, and give constructive feedback to female students. During this time, they also develop their mugger persona – the bad guy they become when they put their helmets on, and shadow senior MIs in ongoing classes.

Our Female Instructors

Most of our female instructors came to take a class and fell in love with the work. They typically assist in various classes and learn the mechanics of the class behind the scenes while developing their fighting skills. Some express an interest in being an FI early on and some assistants stand out and are asked to join our training program.

Once an instructor is identified, she goes through an extensive instructor training program while shadowing a senior instructor in an ongoing class. In training, she learns how to convey all of our valuable information, demo the fights and techniques, and manage each student to success.

Graduates interested in becoming instructors should contact Lisa Gaeta or Instructor Development Chair Don Hart.

The Suit

One thing that makes IMPACT unique is “the suit.” Perhaps you’ve seen them on TV or at a local event.

Our male instructors wear specially designed, patented, protective armor so that our students can strike full-force and find out what it really takes to confront a larger person or to deliver a knockout blow to an aggressor. They are literally protected from head to toe, providing students with the unique opportunity to fight back using all of their strength and without hesitation.

The helmets were designed by a Volvo engineer and deflect the force of the blows to the head.
One instructor described wearing the suit like “being in a bumper car; you can feel the impact but not the force.”

Each male instructor’s suit is custom made for him.