Professor Zahalea Anderson was in tears six years ago when her martial arts school in downtown Long Beach was destroyed by fire and vandalism stemming from violence and protests following the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.
But she didn’t lose her warrior spirit.
Anderson promised to “rise like a phoenix,” referring to the mythological bird that rises from ashes to be reborn.
Professor Zahalea Anderson. (Courtesy photo)
Zahalea Anderson and her martial arts school, Urban School of Self-Defense. (Courtesy photo)
Zahalea Anderson and her martial arts school, Urban School of Self-Defense. (Courtesy photo)
Zahalea Anderson observes the wreckage of her martial arts school, Urban School of Self-Defense, after it burned down along with the Men’s Suit Outlet, when an initially peaceful protest May 31 got out of hand. (Courtesy photo)
Zahalea Anderson and her martial arts school, Urban School of Self-Defense. (Courtesy photo)
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Professor Zahalea Anderson. (Courtesy photo)
She has done just that, rebuilding her school, not with bricks and mortar, but with determination and creativity, moving to different locations so she can teach her inspirational self-defense system.
She will continue with her mission and passion at her inaugural RA Life Defense Divine Warriors Alignment seminar at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 27, at Yogulution, Movement and Wellness, 244 Redondo Ave., in Long Beach. Martial arts teachers from other states will join and support her at the seminar.
When fire destroyed her business in 2020, she said she was in shock, in tears of disbelief at the destruction of the school started by her father in 1995.
Anderson was born in 1980 in Brooklyn, New York, where her father was a martial arts teacher. He moved her and his family – his wife, two sons and another daughter – to Long Beach, where he opened the Urban School of Self-Defense downtown, near the corner of Pine Avenue and Seventh Street.
Other businesses at that corner included a Men’s Suit Outlet, Legacy Salon and a job placement office.
Anderson graduated from Poly High School, started training at her father’s school when she was 15, and took over as sole proprietor when he left in 2010. Since then, she has built her dojo, a Japanese word for a place of learning or meditation, into a popular martial arts training center.
“Your dojo lies within yourself,” she said this week. “I don’t need a building to teach in. I’ve learned this from this situation. That’s the circle of life.”
The fire and vandalism on May 31, 2020, followed the murder of Floyd, a Black man, when a White police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest.
Since the fire, Anderson has held classes in Bluff Park near the ocean and many other locations in California. Students call her Professor Zahalea. She also has traveled nationally and internationally to teach — most recently traveling to Italy.
Anderson founded a self-defense system emphasizing practical, simplified techniques rooted in Ju-Jitsu.
Her system, described as “Survival by Simplicity,” focuses on techniques that are accessible and effective for real-world self-defense situations, including physical conditioning and mental preparedness.
A warrior’s journey begins with an alignment seminar, she said, “a sacred space of love, movement and community, a gathering where the warrior spirit is refined through breath, flow and presence.”
This alignment, Anderson said, harmonizes your mind, body and spirit “so your life reflects your true purpose and value.”
Anderson has received multiple awards for her teaching, including induction into the Martial Arts Masters Hall of Fame and the Harambee Legacy Freedom Fighter award at this year’s Juneteenth Festival in Long Beach.
The Harambee award “is bigger than me,” she said. “It represents every person who continues to stand for freedom. We prepare so we can live in peace.”