About Us

We are dedicated to helping women and young girls build confidence and find their inner strength through defense and empowerment training.

Our focus is to equip women and young girls with the concepts and strategies to help avoid dangerous situations before they occur, and the tools they'll need to survive if they encounter an assailant.

We are also dedicated to helping parents/guardians educate their daughters on how to protect themselves from the potential dangers they could face in today's society.
What We offer:
- Empowered Kickboxing and Defence Classes at the Empowered Headquarters ( Cobourg Taekwondo )
- Women's Empowerment and Defense Workshops
- Lectures
- Virtual Events
- more...

Empowered Kickboxing and Defence System

Ma'am Cheryl and GM Jonathan founded the Empowered Kickboxing and Defence System to equipped women and teen girls with the self defence tools, concepts, and strategies to give them the ability to physically defend fhemselves if the situation ever occured, as well as to spot and avoid potentially dangerous situations before they occur. Empowered is also designed to improve overall confidence through learning self defence techniques, kickboxing combinations, combative strikes, as well as improving overall fitness.

The Empowered Kickboxing and Defence System is recognized by the DeSantos Martial Arts System, the Blue Dragon Ming Ch'aun, the American Breaking and Combative Taekwondo Federation, and Kempo Goju as its' own Martial Arte Style/System.

In the Empowered system, a student can work through four colour belt ranks and eventually earn their Empowered Black Belt and beyond. Students start at white belt and will progress through Pink, Red, and Purple Belts before earning their Black Belt. The curriculum is broken down into modules lasting three months each before progressing to the next module after they successfully past their rank test associated with that module. Each module consists of 4 self defence scenarios and various defences per scenario, 4 kickboxing combinations, combative strikes, fitness conditioning, and pressure testing, as well as defence concepts, principles, and strategies.

Empowered Kickboxing and Defence Classes are taught by Ma'am Cheryl and GM Jonathan at the Empowered headquarters at Cobourg Taekwondo. CLICK HERE TO TRY OUT THE EMPOWERED CLASSES

Ma'am Cheryl Sanders

My name is Cheryl Sanders. I am a Taekwondo Instructor who holds a 3rd Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo with Grandmaster Field, a 2nd Degree Kukkiwon Black Belt from Korea, and a 1st Dan Black Belt in Hapkido. I have been an active member of Cobourg Tae Kwon Do for over 14 years. I have had the opportunity to lead a variety of classes ranging from Fitness Kickboxing, Taekwondo (Juniors, Teens/Adults & Black Belt Rank Promotions) and Self-Defence. I am a multiple time WBA Ontario/International Champion and have been fortunate enough to train alongside some world class martial artists.

My journey began many years ago. After taking time to settle down and start my family I had decided it was time to invest time in myself. I quickly joined Cobourg Tae Kwon Do’s Fitness Kickboxing classes. I began rebuilding strength while at the same time learning basic techniques to defend myself. At the same time an opportunity arose to take part in a one-time self defense seminar for women. This was the moment my eyes truly widened. It was a sobering experience and reminder of the dangers women face and often encounter. From that moment I became motivated to equip myself and others with the knowledge to defend and recognize dangerous situations and if nothing else, encourage one another to speak out. All three of my daughters have been a part of Taekwondo classes and Empowered classes. As a martial artist, mother of 3 girls, and advocate for women’s empowerment, I encourage all women to take this training. 

Grandmaster Jonathan Field

My name is Jonathan Field. I am a 7th Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo, 3rd Dan Black Belt in the Superfoot Kickboxing System, a 1st Dan Black Belt in Hapkido, and a Taekwondo Grandmaster Instructor. Over my 29+ years Martial Arts career, I have been fortunate enough to have competed across North America and Europe winning numerous championships such as 12 World Championships, multiple North American Championships, European Championship, Irish Championship, and multiple Canadian Championships, to name a few. In my competitive career, I have also have held 13 World Records and coached 25 World Champions. 

I started helping and teaching Taekwondo classes very early on in my martial arts career as well as conducting self defense seminars and lectures for various ladies' groups, private businesses, mother/daughter groups, and individuals. When I taught a defense workshop with one of my female Black Belts Cheryl Sanders, I saw the bigger picture. Cheryl inspired me to really focus on educating and empowering women through self defense training in a more impactful way than what we had previously done. The idea of EMPOWERED was born as well as the motivation to write and publish my first book, EMPOWERED Essential Concepts and Strategies Every Woman Should Know About Self Defense.
COBOURG TAE KWON DO LTD. 975 ELGIN ST. WEST, COBOURG ON CANADA K9A 5J3 ( EMPOWERED HEADQUARTERS )

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY EMPOWERED IS MEANT TO SUPPLEMENT, NOT REPLACE, PROPER SELF-DEFENSE OR MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING. LIKE ANY OTHER PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, SELF-DEFENSE POSES SOME INHERENT RISK. THE CO-FOUNDERS AND ANYONE ELSE DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE CREATION OF THIS CONTENT ADVISE THE CONSUMER OF THIS SITE AND ALL ITS' CONTENT TO TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR SAFETY AND KNOW THEIR LIMITS BEFORE PRACTICING THE SKILLS OR USING THE CONCEPTS AND STRATEGIES DESCRIBED ON THIS SITE. THE CONSUMER ASSUMES ALL RISKS AND LIABILITY FOR THEMSELVES AND OTHERS. WE DO NOT ADVISE OR ADVOCATE VIOLENCE TOWARDS OTEHRS UNLESS YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.