About Us

Violence against women is recognized today as a major
issue on the international human rights agenda. This
violence includes a wide range of violations - including
rape/sexual assault (every 2.5 minutes in the U.S.), intimate
partner abuse (every 15 seconds in the U.S.), and human
trafficking of women and girls as sex slaves.

The trauma of sexual coercion and assault at different
stages of women’s life-cycle leaves many women and girls
with severe loss of self-esteem, aliveness, health, and
autonomy. Rape is an act of brutality and is a degradation
of the soul.
.It is a VIOLATION of the most intimate soulful
core of the self.


OUR MISSION:

Our mission is to empower women, eradicate sexual assault
and even up the playing field!

OUR VISION:

Our Vision is for women to not feel physically threatened by
men.

Our Vision is for women to have the skills and capability to
be destructive to anyone attempting to violate them.

Our Vision is for SHIELD to be the standard self-defense
training system for women.


About SHIELD Women’s Self-Defense System

SHIELD is a close-range fighting system created specifically
to empower women against sexual assault. It is the ONLY
on-going self-defense training offered exclusively for
women.

Unlike most training that uses upper body strength, SHIELD
relies on one's CORE and LOWER BODY strength to
generate power. Based on a mixture of martial arts
principles, self-defense and street fighting experience, the
training focuses on the body mechanics, balance and speed.
It emphasizes on close-range fighting to be efficient to fight
in tight quarters using the core and lower body strength to
generate power. This is a
safe space for women to learn
practical and effective full-contact self-defense.

Survivors of sexual assault are encouraged to come to class.
We create supportive training environment, which makes
this a
safe space for women to learn practical and effective
full-contact self-defense. The training aims at taking control
of our own body. It is a healing experience for survivors of
sexual assault.  



About Nelson Nio (founder of SHIELD):

Nelson has been trained in various martial arts, self-defense
and street fighting since he was 7 years old. He now
teaches self-defense exclusively for women and girls, and
specifically against sexual assault. In the past 8 years, he
has provided self-defense training for various organizations,
including LA County Office of Women's Health, LA County
Dept of Public Health, UCLA Cheer Squad, USC sororities,
Peperdine University, LA Mayor's Office, FOX Studios,
Kaiser Permanente Educational Outreach, Southern
California Edison and various agencies, businesses, high
schools and colleges.

Awards and recognitions:

- "Best of LA People" 2011 by LA Weekly











-  Award from the Santa Monica Police Activities
League

-  Award from the Consulate General of Mexico

-  Honor from Amanecer Community Counseling

-  Selected as "Civic Pride" by Glendale News Press

Nelson has been featured on CBS, NBC, ABC, KCAL9,
MegaTV, Univision, Telemundo TV, and in various
newspaper articles. He has also been featured on E!
Entertainment teaching self-defense for Kim Kardashian and
her sisters on "Keeping up with the Kardashians" TV Show.

Nelson has served on the Board of Directors for the YWCA
Glendale, and the Executive Committee for the National
Organization for Women (NOW) Hollywood.


Message from Nelson:

I started this work in 2003 after a friend of my coworker's
was brutally attacked in Costa Mesa. I then began searching
for sexual assault data and facts. After learning that every
2.5 minutes a woman is sexually assaulted in this country,
and got present to the impact rape has on women, I
created SHIELD as a "way of fighting" exclusively for
women and specifically against sexual assault.

Since then, I have been teaching women of all ages from
celebrities to homeless women, got involved with many
organizations, and produced large-scale benefit events to
raise money for various battered women shelters and rape
crisis centers.

Annually, at least 170,000 women in the U.S. require
hospitalization, emergency room care or doctor’s attention
as a result of partner abuse. In 2004, California law
enforcement reported nearly 10,000 forcible rapes, and
186,439 domestic violence calls. According to a study
funded by the US Dept of Justice, roughly 1 in 4 women
who attend college will become victims of rape or
attempted rape. Over 95% will remain silent.  

One in three women in the world will be raped or beaten in
her lifetime according to the United Nations. People rarely
raise an eyebrow these days when they hear a woman got
raped or was beaten by intimate partner. It is happening at
epidemic proportions, and affects one in three families in
the U.S. –  yet, so little is being done to stop it!  

I encourage ALL women to make it a priority to learn self
defense. When violence can come from inside and outside
of a woman's bedroom, it would be wise to learn the skills
necessary to defend yourself physically. It's NOT difficult to
learn - all you need is the right information and some
efforts to practice. The class is a full workout that will
strengthened your core, and it's so much FUN!

It's not a LUXURY for women or even a good idea
anymore....learning to physically defend yourselves is a
necessity!


Respectfully,

Nelson Nio
Founder
SHIELD Women's Self-Defense System
© 2003-2012 SHIELD Women's Self Defense - Copyright Notice
SHIELD has provided
training for:

LA County Commission for Women

LA County Office of Women's Health

LA County Domestic Violence Council

LA County Department of Public Health

LA County Department of Social Services

FOX Studios

Office of LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

Santa Monica Police Activities League

Glendale Police

Kaiser Permanente

Southern California Edison

MURAD Skincare & Medical Spa

Ernst & Young

Deloite Touche

UCLA Spirit Squad

USC - Panhellenic Council, WSA, WYSE

Pepperdine University School of Law -
Women Lawyers Assoc.

California State University Northridge
(CSUN) - Kinesiology Dept.

California State University Fullerton (CSUF)
- Women's Center

Pasadena City College FEMINIST CLUB

East Los Angeles College - Violence
Intervention Team

Woodbury University

Los Angeles Southwest College

Los Angeles Kings

AAUW - American Association of University
Women (CA)

ARCHER School for Girls (All-girls school)

Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy (Catholic
all-girls HS)

Alverno High School  (Catholic all-girls HS)

Campbell Hall High School

Santa Monica High School

Glendale High School

Malibu Boys & Girls Club

Animo Jackie Robinson High School

Rosie Camp for teenage girls

LA City Commission on the Status of Women

Glendale Commission on the Status of
Women

Murray Bunim Production

E! Entertainment Network

PAVE: Promoting Awareness, Victim
Empowerment

Women Lawyers Assoc. of LA Co

Office of Assembly Member Paul Krekorian

Senator Carol Liu's Office

Webcor Builder

Spectrum Athletic Clubs

City of Beverly Hills

City of West Hollywood

City of Santa Monica

City of Glendale

NOW - National Organization for Women
(Hollywood)

Crime Survivors Inc.

YWCA Pasadena

YWCA Glendale

YWCA Santa Monica

Amanecer Community Counseling

All Saint Church
Winds of Hope Ministries

PATH Achieve - Transitional Living Shelter
for the Homeless

Para Los Ninos Youth Development Services

Los Angeles Youth Homeless Shelter