Our Founder
John L. Terry, III
John has a passion for family safety, having served as a law enforcement chaplain and seeing the aftermath of victimization, and founded the Fighting Back Institute in 2009 after serving 3 years as a regional director for the National Security Alliance. An accomplished martial arts/self-defense instructor, John was inducted into the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame for his “kid-safe” and “women-safe” advocacy work across the nation in August, 2008 and the Master's Hall of Fame in 2016. John has conducted hundreds of workshops in school, camp, church, civic and community settings, focusing on danger awareness education, victimization avoidance, and practical self-defense techniques. He has also taken this message to Central America, the Caribbean and Africa.
Jessie Terry
International leadership speaker, trainer, and coach, Jessie has been training in the martial arts since the age of 7. As a Kid-Safe and Women-Safe certified self-defense instructor, Jessie's had the privilege of teaching in Guatemala, Cameroon, and Costa Rica, as well as multiple events in the U.S. Jessie is also a member of The John Maxwell Team, with an emphasis on youth and young adult leadership development. She is also the emcee for the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame, a presitigious black tie event honoring martial arts school owners and instructors.
