My Krav Life Logo

Profiles In Krav Maga: Neal Newman

Monday, August 02, 2021

Krav Maga and Self Defense Blog/Profiles/Profiles In Krav Maga: Neal Newman

Neal Newman is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Academy of Self Defense, but unlike many of those featured in Trained to Fight, Neal started his Krav Maga journey later in life.

When Neal was 21 years old, he became a bouncer at a night club in Boston. Eventually, he worked his way up through the industry and opened up a club of his own. He hosted well-known bands like the Rolling Stones, as well as popular acts such as Jay Leno.

Being in the nightclub industry, Neal was used to dealing with confrontations on a regular basis, be it someone having a little to much to drink to full on fights, requiring him to remove the individual from the club. However in 1995, after a particular confrontation that lead to him removing someone from his club, he was tricked and attacked by this person's brothers. At this point he decided it was important for him to take up martial arts. This is when He started studying Kempo Karate in Boston, training with Wally Jay, Steve White, Harry Graham, and Jimmy Dohan.

Eventually, he got married and sold his nightclub. He then moved to California with his wife.

California is where he discovered Krav Maga in 2003 with Krav Maga Worldwide. During this time Neal trained and attended seminars, learning from Krav experts such as John Whitman, Eyal Yanilov, Darren Lavigne, Amir Parets, Sam Sade and Bas Rutten.

​After a few years, Neal decided to branch out and opened the Academy of Self Defense in 2005 with his business partner, Everest Pepper. At the Academy they provide their students with the necessary tools to deal with any kind of potentially dangerous situation and offer an exceptional variety of reality-based authentic self defense training programs and fighting systems to choose from or that can be integrated together, which includes Vanguard Krav Maga for kids and adults.

customer1 png

Hi, I'm Paul Simoes

Co-Founder Of My Krav Life

I’ve been knee-deep in martial arts my whole life, and My Krav Life is where I spill the beans on how to keep yourself—and your loved ones—safe in this wild world.

When I’m not busy teaching or typing away, you’ll find me wrangling my five kids or juggling my various businesses.

​My mission? To turn everyday folks into the ultimate sheepdogs of their community. Plus, I might throw in a dad joke or two—consider yourself warned!