Mark Aiken
Mark Akin began studying martial arts at 18, mostly because that's what his friends were doing. But right away, he began to notice that his lifelong feelings of powerlessness and weakness were slowly being shed and replaced by confidence and strength. No longer plagued by fear, he continued studying Kali, which is a Filipino martial art, and eventually became a competitive kickboxer.

Certain choices and events in his life led Mark into drug and alcohol abuse, which began to consume him. The feelings of powerlessness and weakness returned. He credits his practice of martial arts with the strength to shake those feelings once again. He entered recovery over three years ago.

Now Mark is passionate about sharing his experiences and skills with others to help them find a way out of the victim mentality and onto a path of self-confidence and self-respect. His goal is to someday open a non-profit security center that will offer free self-defense lessons, security consultations and protective escorts for those in need in the community.