ABOUT COMBAT BODY MECHANICS
Practical martial arts for people who want to understand what works
Combat Body Mechanics is a practical martial arts and self-defense school in Newbury Park, serving Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Camarillo, Moorpark, and the surrounding Ventura County area.
We teach students how to understand the mechanics behind effective movement — how balance, structure, timing, pressure, and positioning change the outcome.
Our training includes striking, grappling, weapons awareness, falling, escapes, positioning, and partner training. The larger goal is to help students stay calm, make better decisions, and move with more control under pressure.
Why “body mechanics”?
Body mechanics means understanding how the human body moves, how it loses balance, how it creates force, and how it can be controlled or protected.
The body only moves in so many ways. Joints have limits. Balance has rules. Structure can be strengthened, disrupted, redirected, or collapsed. In practical martial arts, effective movement is not about force or flash. It is about moving efficiently, creating advantage, and using the body’s natural limits to solve the problem in front of you.
At Combat Body Mechanics, students learn how to use alignment, leverage, footwork, timing, distance, pressure, and positioning instead of relying only on size, strength, speed, or aggression. This gives smaller, older, newer, or less athletic students a meaningful way to train and improve.
A complete martial arts system
Combat Body Mechanics is rooted in Budo Taijutsu, a Japanese martial art with a broad curriculum that includes unarmed skills, weapons, movement, evasion, awareness, and strategy.
We do not train for tournaments, points, or sport fighting rules. We train for practical understanding and adaptability.
Students learn how to move between ranges, recognize danger, create distance, use the environment, and make better decisions when conditions are imperfect.
This video gives you a brief description and history of the art form Budo Taijutsu.
A big thank you to Sensei Jeff Christian of Muzosa Budo Taijutsu of NYC for allowing us to share his video.
Who we train:
Combat Body Mechanics offers training for adults, women, youth, beginners, experienced martial artists, private students, and professional groups.
Our adult classes are for students who want practical martial arts training that is deep, intelligent, and physically useful.
Our women’s self-defense workshops teach practical skills for awareness, positioning, escaping common grabs, using leverage, striking safely, recognizing improvised tools, and making better decisions under pressure.
Our youth students learn movement-based self-defense: body mechanics, balance, agility, coordination, awareness, evasive movement, and positioning. The goal is to help kids move better, avoid danger, create space, and put themselves in safer positions.
Private training is available for individuals, couples, families, and small groups who want more personalized instruction.
If you are not sure where to start, visit our Programs page to compare the options.
Our Teaching Philosophy
We believe good martial arts training should make people more capable, not more reckless.
Students are not encouraged to act tough, chase conflict, or rely on fantasy. They are taught to observe, think, move, adapt, and control themselves under pressure.
Self-defense is not just about fighting. It is about awareness, distance, timing, decision-making, body control, emotional regulation, and knowing when to leave.
Our goal is to help students become harder to intimidate, harder to control, and harder to hurt — without teaching them to become aggressive people.
Andrew Stringfellow is the head instructor of Combat Body Mechanics. He has trained in Budo Taijutsu since 1989, holds a 10th degree black belt, and received his instructor’s license through master instructors in Japan.
Andrew is also a veteran U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant and has more than 10 years of professional experience in executive protection in Los Angeles and Orange County, including work with high-profile clients, celebrities, and private families.
In addition to martial arts and security work, Andrew has spent more than 30 years coaching gymnastics. That background gives him a detailed understanding of movement, balance, body control, fear management, and how to teach students of different ages, abilities, and learning styles.
Andrew has taught military, law enforcement, security professionals, and civilians. His teaching emphasizes control, efficiency, adaptability, and the ability to stay calm when ego or panic would otherwise take over.
Head Instructor: andrew stringfellow
coach: Leslie Kim
Leslie Kim is a coach and program manager at Combat Body Mechanics. She has more than 25 years of martial arts experience and has trained in Budo Taijutsu since 2003.
Leslie began in martial arts through competition, but eventually realized that sport martial arts were not giving her the self-defense answers she was looking for. She wanted training that could address real-world uncertainty, size differences, fear, weapons, multiple directions of attack, and the need to adapt when a technique breaks down.
Her background also shapes the women’s self-defense program. As a frequent solo traveler who has lived and traveled internationally, Leslie understands the importance of awareness, intuition, confidence, and practical skills that do not depend on being the biggest or strongest person in the room.
Why we built Combat Body Mechanics
We created Combat Body Mechanics because many people want practical training, but they do not always know where they belong.
Some do not want sport fighting. Some are intimidated by traditional martial arts schools. Some are too old for the version of martial arts they imagine. Some are beginners who think they need to get in shape first. Some are women who want serious self-defense without fear-based marketing. Some are parents who want their kids to learn movement, awareness, and confidence without being taught aggression.
Combat Body Mechanics is for people who want to train intelligently.
We teach martial arts as a practical study of movement, awareness, structure, timing, leverage, and problem-solving. Combat Body Mechanics is for students who want useful training without ego, fear-based marketing, or sport-fighting pressure.