Richard Grode


Richard has spent most of his life studying the body, on both the physical and mental levels. As a hypnotherapist, transpersonal body therapist, bodyworker, personal trainer and athlete, Richard has learned a great deal about the body. He has spent over 30 years as a martial artist, martial arts instructor, ring fighter, protection specialist, and high-risk adventure guide traveling all over the world. He developed his own reality-based fighting/self-defense system and created the highly respected 4-DVD self-defense training series, 'The Science of Street Fighting'  which has sold thousands of sets worldwide. Working with people as a reality-based self-defense instructor has given Richard a unique opportunity to understand body mechanics and what it takes for people to work through injuries, limited movement, pain, and trauma held in the body.

Richard has spent over 30 years as a mountain, rock, and ice climber and guide. Having climbed all over the world and scaled many of the highest mountains in the western hemisphere, Richard has had the chance to understand the body on many levels. He knows what it takes to recover from injuries and to go beyond your ideas about what you can accomplish physically and mentally. Having spent years as a skier (water and snow), mountain biker, scuba diver, and tennis player, Richard has lived through the impacts of extreme sports on the body. His experiences led him to learn many different forms of bodywork and healing.

Richard’s first experience with body trauma and injury – and almost his last – happened when he was 25 years old. In a boating accident while barefoot waterskiing on the Delta, Richard’s left arm was almost completely severed off.  After being helicoptered to a trauma ward, spending six hours in microsurgery and almost losing his arm and his life, Richard learned that he would probably have limited or no use of his left hand because of all the nerve, tissue, and muscle damage. Unwilling to accept a handicapped left arm, Richard started on a path of healing as a student, practitioner, and recipient. Having healed and rehabilitated himself and others from more injuries and traumas that he can count has given Richard an appreciation and compassion for what it takes to have a functional body in this world.