Rencounter Self Defence

Rencounter Self Defence Inclusive self defence school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Reality-based self-defence, fitness, and really great people. Everyone was a beginner at some point.

At Rencounter Self Defence we specialize in highly effective self-defence and reality-based training. In our classes you will be learning in a safe and supportive environment. We strive to give you fun and challenging training sessions that rapidly bring your self-defence skills to a good level, and develop your fitness and confidence at the same time. Our training is made to be fast to learn and

effective for people of all ages, shapes, and sizes. New beginners are very welcome, you don't need to have done anything like it before. We adapt our teaching to the individual, not the other way around. You'll learn how to defend yourself, get fit, and have a great time, so come along to a class and join in! All our instructors hold a BTEC level 3 in self defence, and 180 hour instructor course, certified by Krav maga Global. This guarantees that you get the most highly qualified instructors, who are fully insured, and continuously keep their qualifications up to date. We have self defence classes 4 days a week - for adults, kids, and teens. With a membership you can train at all our 3 locations in Edinburgh:
South-west: North Merchiston Club, 48 Watson Crescent, Edinburgh, EH11 1EP. Central: The Crags Centre, 10 Bowmont Place, EH8 9RY. Our practical, no-nonsense self defence training is made to work for everyone, whether you're short or tall, young or old, couch potato or trained athlete; this class is suitable for you and you are suitable for this class. We also provide private tuition, corporate training, and self-defence workshops. For more information, go to: http://rencounter.co.uk

Or get in touch on [email protected]

This week's classes have focused on standing grappling - and how we integrate it into our other skills. Getting in close...
11/09/2026

This week's classes have focused on standing grappling - and how we integrate it into our other skills.

Getting in close, clinching, and dealing with being grabbed - humans are naturally quite grabby creatures and we need to manage how we can move someone at this close range until we can break away.

This week we also had our monthly women's sparring class, building confidence and skills for our female members - these are always fun and enjoyable sessions!

Great work team!

This week we've been focusing on defending strikes in classes. When we understand the basic principles we can problem so...
04/09/2026

This week we've been focusing on defending strikes in classes.

When we understand the basic principles we can problem solve more complex and dynamic problems.

Lots of good work from our students this week, and a big welcome to the students starting our intro course this week, getting started is always the hardest part. Looking forward to seeing everyone next week for more!

Big achievement Alert! 🚨A huge well done to acting head instructor Sarah who has been awarded the distinction of Associa...
03/09/2026

Big achievement Alert! 🚨

A huge well done to acting head instructor Sarah who has been awarded the distinction of Associate Training director with 500Rising!

This is following 2 years of apprenticeship, involving observation, teaching, feedback, debriefs, and lots of personal development, and travelling across Europe and to Canada to do so, learning from the fountain of knowledge and experience, Dr. Tammy McCracken, as well as European training directors Dan Trailescu and Linn Haraldsvik.

There's also a lot of knowledge gained from all the amazing participants in the 500rising courses that Sarah has taken part in teaching, who bring such a depth and range of both training and teaching experience and lived experience.

The amount of work involved in this is massive, and there's A LOT of living outside your comfort zone. Leading by example!

This certification is hard earned, and is a reflection of the depth of knowledge and understanding Sarah has developed over the years in teaching self defence, and particularly self defence for women.

One of the benefits of being part of a larger organisation is that you have a ready made community wherever you go! Our ...
03/09/2026

One of the benefits of being part of a larger organisation is that you have a ready made community wherever you go! Our student Phil has been down in Birmingham this week and had a great time training with Al Natrins - Resilience - thanks for the warm welcome!

Always developing and learning💪Instructors Susi and Judy, and RKM member Claire, were in Manchester this weekend at the ...
31/08/2026

Always developing and learning💪
Instructors Susi and Judy, and RKM member Claire, were in Manchester this weekend at the 500Rising level 2 instructor course in Women's self defence.

Acting Head instructor Sarah was also there as part of the teaching team alongside 500 Rising founder Tammy Yard McCracken, and training director Dan Philipp Trailescu (more on that later!)

An amazing weekend, with fantastic people and so much information to process!

500Rising are changing how Women's self defence is taught, better reflecting the reality of the situations in which women face violence, with the aim of educating and empowering women, to reduce the statistics of violence against women.

Big well done to Susi; Judy and Claire for completing the level 2 course!

We have been having some issues with our email in the last few days. It's now resolved If you emailed us and haven't got...
30/08/2026

We have been having some issues with our email in the last few days. It's now resolved If you emailed us and haven't got a response, we may not have got it, please get in touch again!

This week the team have been working on tactics and multiple attackers.Tactical movement can be managing how to move thr...
21/08/2026

This week the team have been working on tactics and multiple attackers.

Tactical movement can be managing how to move through a busy space and locate an exit, or we also looked at how we manage multiple threats. Dealing with more than one aggressor is a compounding problem, if we can we only want to deal with one person at a time, then find an exit sharpish.

Really good work and dynamic problem solving and decision making from the crew this week!

Back at it next week 💪

Articulation is a key skill for self-defence, that allows us to draw the information we have gathered from our awareness...
17/08/2026

Articulation is a key skill for self-defence, that allows us to draw the information we have gathered from our awareness and gut instincts together into a narrative.
This can help us decide whether or not we need to take action, and if we need to, allows us explain to others why we took that action.

So there's the ability to articulate to ourselves which is of first importance, and then the ability to articulate to others.
If we ever have to act in self-defence, we may have to explain our actions to law enforcement.
"He looked at me funny" isn't going to be enough!

We covered some key points looking at pre-emptive striking in class last week.

Practising talking through what we saw, what they did and what our reasoning is, helps us make better decisions, and make clearer statements afterwards.

Interested in learning more? Join one of our classes!

This week we've been working through the timeline of situations in self-defence. Looking at what we can do to avoid in t...
14/08/2026

This week we've been working through the timeline of situations in self-defence.

Looking at what we can do to avoid in the initial stages, then taking early preventative action, the combatives actions during an event. Then working on what happens afterwards including articulating why we acted, and checking ourselves for injury.

The earlier we recognise a problem the more options we have, and although it may seem obvious, the best self-defence solution is to not be there, if that's something we can achieve.

Great work from the team this week!

Address

48 Watson Crescent
Edinburgh
EH111EP

Opening Hours

Monday 6pm - 7:30pm
Tuesday 5pm - 8:30pm
Wednesday 10:10am - 11:10am
Thursday 5pm - 9:15pm

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