Jon Mills
They/THem
Valkyrie Western Martial Arts Assembly, Vancouver, Canada
Jon Mills is a queer, non-binary martial arts instructor based in Vancouver, Canada. They have been involved in martial arts for 20 years, and in HEMA for 8 years.
Jon’s martial arts practice is interdisciplinary. They draw from Filipino Martial Arts, medieval wrestling, self defense, and Tai Chi. They teach group classes at Valkyrie Western Martial Arts Assembly, and run a private coaching practice, Black Dog Strength and Nutrition.
Jon wants to help all martial artists learn to play well with the knowledge they already have. Training with them might involve spending hours talking about queer samurai love stories, or discovering how the key to deception is being really good at telling the truth.
They teach from a trauma aware, body liberation perspective. Jon believes that basically everyone is more capable than they have been led to believe.
They won’t teach you to “unleash the beast” at Dance Fight, but they will tell you—at length and with zero prompting—why caring for animals (especially rats) makes you a better martial artist.
Jon’s Class
Playful Communication and Deception
Saturday, September 24th
Discover the keys to deceiving and misdirecting your opponent. Jon will show you how to use your body, weapon, and movements to communicate in a fight. Through their accessible drills, you’ll understand why telling the truth well is the secret to telling dangerous lies. You’ll leave with a new perspective on deception and a simple flow framework that you can use to polish your communication skills with any weapon.