Owner Bio

Tanya Panizzo is the Owner and Director of Fighting Spirit Personal Safety Instruction. She is also a Certified Instructor for the radKIDS Personal Empowerment Safety Education Program and the Founder and Instructor of the Girls-R-Pearls Safety Workshop™, the Women’s Comprehensive Program, Boys Pre-teen Workshop and the Stay-Safe for Kids Program. She is committed to bringing safety training to as many women and children as possible. Tanya has been active in the martial arts since the age of 8 when her parents enrolled her in this physical activity to build confidence and esteem. She has studied Tae Kwon Do all that time and also practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under the Ribiero schools in Michigan. This experience in the martial arts over many years helped her marry two training methodologies together. The martial arts taught her physical skills, confidence and esteem, and the personal safety training outside of the martial arts gave her a realistic application of these skills. Speaking about personal safety and teaching women and children their value has been a passion of hers that grows with each program. Her beliefs about safety training and her enjoyment in this field led her to resign as an Engineer for the Automotive Industry to pursue it full time. After the birth of her daughter she realized that there was more she could do for her community, and this lead to the development of Fighting Spirit. Tanya continues her education in the area of safety training by participating in other safety instructor programs offered though community police agencies as well as national groups. Tanya is a certified RAD Women’s Instructor and assists the Eastern Michigan University Police Department with their endeavors to keep the women on their campus safe. Tanya also advocates education and services available to survivors of Domestic Violence and Intimate Partner Violence by establishing a relationship with local support groups such as First Step in Wayne County. She continues her relationship with these support agencies to keep information and services as current and accurate as possible. She is also a contributor to the University of Michigan’s 10 Point Promise to Sexual Assault Survivors which is distributed on their campus. Tanya’s ongoing goal is for Fighting Spirit to remain a leader in the education and prevention of abuse among women and children in her community. The drive behind her is to envision and eventually live in a world without violence against women and children: One child at a time-One woman at a time.

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Anne Jackson is an Assistant Instructor with Fighting Spirit and also holds a B.S in Nursing, where she is employed as an RN for the University of Michigan. She is certified in BLS and Cardiac arrest and AED use and has extensive experience in Pediatrics. Anne is a survivor of a sexual assault that occurred in 1981 at the age of 19. She never wanted this to happen to her again and after a while, she sought knowledge in how to overcome this experience and prepare her for anything else that she may have to face. She started training in Tae Kwon Do in 1984 and has also trained in Judo, and Krav Maga. She feels strongly about safety training for women and is continuing to learn and teach safety and self defense around her community.

Theresa Light is also an Assistant Instructor for Fighting Spirit for the Women’s Safety Programs. She began her career as a Police Officer, working as a State Trooper and Conservation Officer. She was a Firearms Instructor and also instructed Defensive Tactics. After adopting her two sons, she began her work as a Social Worker and is still employed in this field. She has trained in the martial arts and received her black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Theresa has a great deal of experience in working with women and children that have experienced abuse and this is her contribution to teaching at Fighting Spirit.