About Us
Passionate, Empathetic, Driven and Focused: Just a few words to describe Rich and Pam. A husband and wife team whose personal life experiences drove them where they are today.
This is their life's purpose, their legacy project, and they are passionate to help guide you on your journey of knowledge and development.
About Richard Dimitri
Born in 1969, Richard Dimitri began his martial arts training in 1975. By the age of 21 he’d acquired instructor certifications and black belts in several forms of martial arts, combative, and self defense disciplines which lead him into various careers that spanned over 2 decades in the fields of private, public and corporate security, surveillance, counter surveillance, bodyguarding for high profile clients in Canada, the US, Europe and Mexico.
THE BIRTH OF SENSHIDO INTERNATIONAL
Backed by unswerving research into the psychology of violence along with his training and experience, in 1994 Rich formulated his own method of self-protection called Senshido International, a street-smart self defense system predicated on human behaviour in relation to the psychology of both social and anti-social violence.
By 1999 Richard secured himself as one of the top and most sought out violence prevention, personal protection and defense tactics experts in the world today.
WHO HE’S WORKED WITH
A list of some of his prestigious clients include the British Special Forces, the Finland Presidential Security Team, SWAT and Counter Terrorist Units, CTR High Risk Investigations & Security UK, the Mexico City Chapter of the Guardian Angels, The Montreal Royal Regiment as well as International Women’s movements Girls Gone Gorgeous (Los Angeles California), the Association for Women’s Total Advancement & Development and the Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women (ADEW, Cairo Egypt) along with men, women and children from all walks of life in over 22 countries.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Referred to as one of the top 20 toughest fighter’s on planet earth in the April 2006 issue of Black Belt magazine, and inducted into the National Registry of “Who’s Who” Business directory for outstanding business practice in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006; Richard was also a member of the former American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers, released over 40 instructional DVDs and self-published several books including a fictional piece loosely based on his past. His best seller ‘In Total Defense of the Self’ was dubbed as “One of the best books ever written on self defense” by Black Belt Magazine’s contributing editor, Mr. Lito Angeles.
TODAY
Richard is the Chief Architect of Study of Violence, focusing strictly on research, development and teaching a series of specialized Masterclasses detailing every aspects of violence prevention and defense tactics to bring a deeper understanding and awareness on the subject matter for:
- Those concerned or at risk or who simply want the confidence and insurance that the feelings of genuine safety and personal security bring.
- Anyone who has been previously victimized by another and wants to ensure the fact that they will never let it happen again, by anyone.
- Those who want to implement the information and training methods into their curriculums, courses, classes, workshops, lectures, seminars etc.
- Anyone who desires to make their immediate environment a safer, more communal one.
About Pamela Armitage
Born in 1979, Pamela Armitage grew up in the dance and modeling industry in Red Deer and Calgary, Alberta. She began teaching ballet and jazz at 16 years old as a teacher assistant first and on her own by the age of 18. Along with various dance and baton clubs, she was a long-time instructor with Chairtease Dance studios in Red Deer. In 1999, she was hired by Mode Models to lend her experience to the talent and new model development divisions, teaching new girls the ropes of the industry. This experience in both the dance and modeling world, provided Pam with deep insights on the victimization that sadly occurs in both industries and the aftermath of.
WHEN VIOLENCE HIT HOME
After her sister’s revelation of being sexually assaulted 3 times throughout her life starting at the age of 11, along with watching her being bullied from Jr. High to High school, Pam’s sister’s childhood and accumulated traumas lead her to an unfortunate early demise at 33, at the hands of heroin addiction.
Sadly, this was not the only family member or close friend who had experienced violence and abuse.
1 OF 3 FEMALES STATISTICALLY WILL BE SEXUALLY ASSAULTED IN THEIR LIFETIME
In 2012 violence unfortunately struck Pam’s backyard and after one of her close friends was brutally raped, she began searching for self defense courses as she didn’t want to become a statistic herself and to ensure that no other females she would and could reach from here on end would either.
MARTIAL ARTS? SELF DEFENSE? COMBATIVES?
Pam was overwhelmed by the sheer volume and vast differences in what proposed to be self defense programs out there. None of which covered any pre-contact aspects beyond the point of basic lip service nor had any made any attempts to understand the attacker’s mentality, a potential individual’s pre-existing trauma, what constitutes a victim in a predators eyes or anything remotely close within their programs.
All except for one she was referred to by online: Richard Dimitri’s self defense services, with no fancy names, no harsh dark logos of skulls or Spartans or fists with brass knuckles, no; Richard’s logo at the time was a dove and he was talking about human behaviour in relation to the psychology of both social and anti-social violence, predatorial mind sets, what sets apart good people having bad days and potential violent offenders.
TODAY
Pam is the Chief Impact Officer at Studio Violentiam and is certified by both Richard Dimitri’s Self Defense Services and Safe International, a company both Pam and Mr. Dimitri teach for on contract and is presently an internationally reputed violence prevention educator.
She is also a RYT200 Certified Yoga Teacher with a special focus on Trauma Sensitive Yoga continuing her research and development into trauma and its effects. Since 2015 she works with sufferers of Trauma, such as PTSD, CPTSD, victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and addicts.
In 2018, Pam took her training in Trauma Sensitive and Trauma Informed care and combined it with her experience in teaching to create a Trauma Informed and Trauma Sensitive Teaching Program for Self Defense and Martial Arts Teachers. This program is highly sought after, highly praised and is incorporated into our Master Class.
She has been referred to as a pioneer in the Self Defense industry for casting a bright light on the subject of trauma and the critical importance of trauma informed teaching.
“I witnessed firsthand through the hell my younger sister and many friends went through what Trauma can do to us. This became a passion and purpose; understanding Trauma, how to prevent it, how to acknowledge it and heal from it. I believe Trauma is a silent epidemic and is a root cause to many societal issues like addictions, abuse, domestic violence, anti-social behaviour and many mental illnesses and other diseases. To know that I am giving people the knowledge and tools to prevent and protect them from violence and to bring a sense of self awareness and healing is a beautiful feeling. Empowering young girls, women and others deemed vulnerable in society is important work and I am grateful I get to be a part of something so important!”