Our Mission
At A.C.T. Self Defence, our mission is to empower individuals of all ages with practical, effective self-defence skills. Rooted in over 60 years of combined real-world and martial arts experience, our system is designed to support everyday civilians in protecting themselves and their homes, while also helping young people build lasting confidence and self-esteem.
Our team
Our team of instructors offers you the opportunity to learn effective martial arts strategies from world-class martial artists who have applied the concepts effectively to sport and real-world situations.
Mike Lynch
Mike served as a frontline Police Officer for over twenty years, and has been a National Trainer in Public Order. He also taught personal safety to Police in the UK.
Outside of his career in law enforcement, Mike has a plethora of experience with a number of martial arts. This experience has translated to success in international tournaments. Most notably, Mike has won first places in the World Open Karate Championships in Italy, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu English and European Championships, and the 2017 (LA) and 2019 (China) World Police & Fire Games in Grappling and Karate.
Mike also holds an ABA Level 1 Boxing Coaching certificate and a Level 3 NVQ in Learning and Development.
TOM WATSON
Tom is a former mixed martial arts competitor, whose career began in 2006. He is the former BAMMA Middleweight Champion, the UCMMA Middleweight Champion, and has competed in the UFC, Cage Rage, and MFC promotions. In 2013, he was ranked inside the world's top 20 fighters for his division.
Tom has an extensive boxing background, winning three ABA Southern Counties Championships as well as becoming a Full Contact Unlicensed Boxing Champion. In 2005, he was ranked the 3rd Amateur boxer in Britain.
He transitioned into Muay Thai and Kickboxing, amassing a record of 11-0 (8 KO's). Once moving into MMA, Tom spent most of his career training under two coaches: Firas Zahabi and Greg Jackson (both multiple-time winners of the world's best MMA Coach award). Further to this, he moved to study in California and Miami in the sport of collegiate wrestling.
Since his retirement from competition in 2015, having achieved a Masters degree in Athletic Performance, Tom has set up his own facility, Analysis Gym, through which he has been striving to increase safety in martial arts performance. Tom has spent the last few years helping to design systems for self defence and establish training methods to mitigate the prevalence of CTE and other brain injuries experienced by combat athletes in later life.
LOUIS HORNE
With four decades dedicated to sports and self-defence, I bring a unique blend of discipline and real-world experience to help you thrive. My background includes 23 years in the police force, 7 years as a self-defence instructor for law enforcement, and service as an ex-soldier and dog handler with the ministry of defence .
Beyond these foundations, I've pushed personal limits through competing in Ironman triathlons, marathons, boxing competitively up to the age of 51, and competing in Jiu-Jitsu at the World Police and Fire Games at the age of 55. Here at ACT we offer a holistic approach to well-being, encompassing fitness, VAWG courses, traditional karate, and recovery through cold immersion and saunas, all designed to build your confidence and resilience.
Mike Emery
My names Mike and I am one of the directors at ACT.
I have been involved in the services world for the last 25 years.
I started off as a Royal Marine Commando where I served a number of operation tours and represented the Royal Marines in rugby.
I have also worked overseas in close protection.
I then served as a police officer and in recent years have been teaching personal safety to officers in Hampshire constabulary.
I have a passion for health and wellbeing and I am the lead for the wellbeing section of ACT.