Chris Benson has been studying combatives for most of his life. He was an experienced fighter when he was introduced to Jun Fan & Jeet Kune Do concepts, the Filipino martial arts, Muay Thai, Wing Chun, and Western Boxing by Lorne Coleman of ESCAPE Self Defense Programs in the 1980s. He went gone on to pursue other interests such as grappling methods and tactical weapons training.
Chris began teaching others how to fight in 1989. For several years during the 1990s, he owned a self-defense school in Atlanta called Essential Self-Defense Inc., and occasionally appeared on local TV as an authority on self-defense. He served as a volunteer rape crisis counselor from 1991 to 1993 at the Grady Memorial Hospital Rape Crisis Center in downtown Atlanta.
In 1994, he earned the designation of Certified Health/Fitness Instructor from the American College of Sports Medicine. The following year, he completed his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from Georgia State University.
While self-defense remains a life-long passion, Chris has long since abandoned it as a profession. After college, he pursued a career in technology, and is currently Vice President of Technology for Studiocom, a full-service interactive agency that creates engaging brand experiences. He provides overall leadership for the technology teams, and is responsible for crafting and implementing technology strategy.