TEJA VAN WICKLEN has been involved with every conceivable aspect of martial arts since she was 15 years old. She has trained with some of the world's top instuctors, worked with military and law enforcement personnel and even trained stunt performers and famous actors for stage and film.

Teja has studied martial arts for over 25 years. She has trained in Taekwondo, Tai Chi, Arnise, Kali and many other martial styles, winning numerous competitions over the last two decades.

She now studies Sayoc Kali, a highly specialized Filipino tribal art specializing in edged weapons, survival training and martial science.

Early on, due to numerous martial arts-related injuries and a fascination with biomechanics and sports training, Teja became a certified personal trainer and exercise specialist, assisting people with post-operative injuries and preparing athletes for competition.

Until the Iraq war borrowed the head of the company, Teja was one of the instructors at Tactical Awareness where she co-ran their Woman Warrior camp alongside 24-year veteran Navy SEAL, Michael Jaco, and veteran personal trainer Tracy Butler. The camp was created to empower women and teach them wilderness survival (currently in hiatus).

Teja (far right) with some Tactical Awareness students and Head Instructors Tom Kier
(far left), Bong and Carl Atienza, and Rafael Kayanan (center in all black).

Previous to beginning Devi Protective Offense, Teja was the only woman certified as an instructor at Sayoc Tactical Group, a company which instructs military and law enforcement personnel in the correct use of edged weapons.

On the lighter side of martial arts, Teja has trained actors and choreographed fight sequences for film -- most notably she was part of the team designing fight scenes in the movies The Hunted (starring Benicio Del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones) and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (starring Sam Rockwell, Julia Roberts and George Clooney).

Teja was also a sports model for major magazines and TV commercials and has been interviewed for TV and print by ESPN, Good Day New York, Mademoiselle magazine, and others.

Teja also managed GO!, a martial arts production company that created and implemented staged stunt performances for major company events and meetings around the world. Over the course of 5 years, GO! performed at the Star Wars: Attack of the Clones Premiere, The Matrix: Reloaded Premiere, the Tribeca Film Festival, Madison Square Garden for The New York Knicks and the Japan Pavilion at Disney's Epcot Center.

Now Teja hopes to help save the world through Devi Protective Offense by working to end all manners of violence against women.