A man with a tattoo on his arm practicing boxing with a trainer in a gym. The trainer holds a focus mitt while the man wears boxing gloves. The gym has industrial ceiling lighting and wooden elements.

Meet Nick W. 

Personal Safety & Self-Defence Specialist

Personal safety and self-defence specialist with extensive experience delivering training for individuals and organisations.

Nick Wood is a personal safety and self-defence specialist with over 20 years’ experience delivering practical, real-world training. His background in martial arts, defensive tactics, and applied personal safety shapes a calm, structured, and responsible approach.

He works with individuals, families, organisations, and professionals, focusing on awareness, decision-making, boundary management, and proportionate physical response when avoidance isn’t possible.

Alongside Nick Wood Martial Arts, he supports Tier 1 Protection (International) Ltd, training security professionals in threat awareness, conflict management, and unarmed defence. His teaching is clear, adaptable, and grounded in practicality, legality, and personal wellbeing.

WHO NICK WORKS WITH?

His work includes supporting:

• Individuals and families

• Professionals and public-facing roles

• Senior leaders and executive teams

• Organisations prioritising staff safety and wellbeing

• Security and protection professionals

• Actors preparing for physically demanding roles

• Young people transitioning into adult personal safety training

• Individuals with no prior training experience

This breadth of experience allows Nick to tailor training responsibly, ensuring it is appropriate, effective, and accessible across different contexts.

Areas of Specialism

Nick’s work draws on experience across multiple disciplines, applied within a responsible personal safety framework. Areas of focus include:

• Personal safety and self-defence training

• Conflict management, communication, and de-escalation

• Awareness, movement, and decision-making under pressure

• Unarmed self-defence principles informed by striking and grappling

• Weapon threat awareness and risk management

• Close-contact safety skills informed by professional security training

• Youth safety, confidence, and street awareness programmes

• Fight choreography and movement coaching for film and television

Training Philosophy

Practical. Adaptable. Real-World Informed.

Nick’s approach to training is grounded in responsibility, clarity, and real-world relevance. Sessions are designed to help individuals understand risk, remain composed under pressure, and respond appropriately when situations are uncertain or challenging.

Training is built around:

• Situational awareness and early risk recognition

• Understanding behaviour and decision-making under stress

• Simple, repeatable movements that prioritise safety

• Calm, structured progression rather than performance

• Building confidence, control, and clarity over time

• Personalised coaching adapted to individual needs and experience

The emphasis is always on judgement, proportionate response, and personal wellbeing — not bravado, force, or unnecessary risk.

A man with a beard and shaved head sitting on the floor against a padded wall, wearing a jiu-jitsu gi and a black rash guard, holding a black belt in his hand, in a martial arts training environment.
A man and woman engage in a confrontation at a gym, with the woman holding the man's collar and the man holding her arm.
A group of men participating in a boxing training session indoors, with one man throwing a punch while others watch.
A man with a beard and bald head practicing self-defense, blocking a strike with his arm while another person pushes his chest. Several onlookers observe in the background.
Two men in black shirts and shorts, barefoot, are in a martial arts gym. One is tying a red band to the other's arm, both are smiling and laughing.
Boxing trainers and fighters in a gym during a training session, with one trainer demonstrating a technique and others observing, some wearing boxing gloves.
A bald man with tattoos on his sleeves, wearing a black T-shirt with a geometric logo, practicing boxing or martial arts in a gym, with framed martial arts posters on the wall behind him.
Man practicing martial arts in a gym, wearing black shorts, red shin guards, a black t-shirt, and displaying a tattoo on his left arm, with martial arts posters on the wall behind him.

Professional Background & Credentials

Nick’s training background draws on extensive experience across martial arts, personal safety, and applied self-defence disciplines, alongside formal teaching, safeguarding, and compliance qualifications.

Training & Professional Experience

  • Nick holds multiple black belt qualifications across striking, grappling, and modern combatives disciplines

  • Accredited instructor in personal safety and self-defence training

  • MMA and grappling coaching experience

  • Level 3 Personal Trainer

  • Fight choreography and movement coaching for television and film

  • Training and advisory work supporting security professionals through Tier 1 Protection (International) Ltd

Safeguarding, Safety & Compliance

Nick holds or is working towards recognised qualifications relevant to safeguarding, education, and workplace safety, including:

  • ACT Awareness, ACT Security, and ACT Education (Counter Terrorism Policing – UK)

  • Level 3 Designated Safeguarding Lead (Children)

  • Enhanced DBS certificate (cleared to work with children, young people, and adults)

  • Diploma in Bullying & Harassment Awareness (Behavioural Intervention Training)

Additional professional development currently in progress includes:

  • Level 3 Award in Education & Training (AET)

  • Conflict Management & Physical Intervention Instructor (Level 3/4)

  • Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT)