Our story matters
Martial Arts for Justice began with a simple belief: survivors of trauma deserve a path to healing that honors their strength. We built Enhanced Resilience Training to create that path.
Foundation
Built on resilience rooted in action
Martial Arts for Justice emerged from the conviction that trauma survivors need more than words. We created Enhanced Resilience Training as a bridge between body and mind, where movement becomes medicine and strength returns from within.
Orgin
From the mat to the mission
A Taekwondo master saw what others missed: survivors needed their bodies back. The answer came through movement, not lectures or talk therapy.
Decades of martial arts experience
Recognition of trauma’s debilitating weight
Deep understanding of our bodies nervous systems and what it desires
- Creation of Enhanced Resilience Training
Orgin
Methodology of ERT
“The work you’re doing is remarkable because you take individuals who, in our terminology we would say are deeply injured, but you’re not responding to the injury, you’re in a sense, triggering strength.”
Dr Stephen Porges
Reclaiming what trauma took away
Movement, skills and knowledge that rebuild self efficiency
Self-defence skills that regains safety
Healing happens when our nervous system “believes” it is safe.
Healing happens alongside others who share experiences
Isolation deepens wounds. Connection begins the mending.
People
Board Of Directors
The ones who do this work understand it deeply
Dean Siminoff
Founder
Master Dean has been studying martial arts for more than 30 years and is a 7th Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo, Master Instructor and Grandmaster Candidate.
He is the founder and senior instructor of Kootenay Christian Martial Arts. During the past
25 years KMA has positively impacted thousands of students and families in the Nelson and West Kootenay’s with 200+ students promoted to first degree black belt. Master Dean has extensive management & project experience in the BC mining and forest industries and for the past 28 years has been a professional financial planner.
He is the founder & president of Martial Arts for Justice, a registered Canadian Charity. He is passionate about bringing justice to the poor and vulnerable in our world and has travelled to different parts of Africa. His commitment to helping those facing injustice and gender-based violence, led to the creation of Enhanced Resilience Training(tm). MAJ is now transforming lives in Rwanda through Enhanced Resilience Training ™ empowering women and girls, giving them new hope as their PTSD symtoms fade away and their self-efficacy returns. MAJ has also worked with women in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Canada and planning a first time pilot training in Tanzania in 2026.
For more info go to www.enhancedresilience.com
In Canada, Master Dean is focused on educating other martial artists about why they need to be more than just champions in their dojang but how they can be champions in their communities and globally as well. This is done primarily through MAJ’s annual fundraising campaign called “Breaking Boards Breaking Chains.”
Abby Silva
Board Member
Born in South Africa under the Apartheid regime, Dr. Abigail Silva brings a deeply informed understanding of systemic injustice and a lifelong commitment to advancing human dignity, restoration, and resilience.
With over three decades of experience, Dr. Silva is a seasoned clinician, workplace mediator, leadership strategist, and humanitarian who has served in complex, high-impact environments worldwide. Her work includes advocacy for vulnerable communities in South Africa, frontline support to Sri Lankan communities following the 2004 tsunami, and trauma response as an on-the-ground counsellor for families affected by the Swiss Air 111 tragedy. In Canada, she has served in leadership roles within Community Restorative Justice Forums and has supported victims of crime through Victim Services in British Columbia.
Dr. Silva holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology and was recently conferred her doctorate for her work, Be Made Whole—a specialized training program designed to equip Christian helpers as skilled, spiritually grounded first-line responders to individuals experiencing emotional and mental distress in their communities. Her work reflects a rigorous integration of clinical practice, trauma care, and spiritual formation.
She is the founder and developer of Corporate Attachment®, an evidence-based framework that applies attachment psychology within workplace systems to strengthen leadership capacity, stabilize relational dynamics, and build resilient organizational cultures. Through her clinical and consulting work, she equips leaders across sectors to navigate stress, conflict, and responsibility with greater integration and effectiveness.
Dr. Silva is also the founder of CAAS Workplace Solutions Inc. and currently leads The Integrated Leader Project, a leadership formation initiative focused on leaders’ internal and relational health. This work is designed to support the “soul healing” of leaders—enabling them to sustain their call, lead from wholeness, and guard against the patterns that often lead to leadership failure.
As Chair of Martial Arts for Justice, Dr. Silva brings both strategic leadership and trauma-informed expertise to the organization’s global mission. She is a strong advocate for the expansion of the Enhanced Resilience Training™ (ERT) program, designed to support the recovery of individuals who have been traumatized by a wide range of lived atrocities. Her vision is to see individuals not only recover from trauma but reclaim their voice, restore their sense of agency, and step into lives marked by strength, purpose, and hope.
Through her leadership with Martial Arts for Justice, Dr. Silva advances the mission to protect vulnerable people from violence and oppression through the platform of martial arts, championing initiatives such as Breaking Boards, Breaking Chains to mobilize resources, raise awareness, and restore freedom to those impacted by trauma and injustice.
Tony Kook
Board Member
Master Tony is the current owner of North Shore Taekwondo, West Vancouver Taekwondo, and Tri-City Taekwondo. Under his direct supervision and his wonderful staff of instructors, they have helped thousands of Lower Mainland residents enjoy the many benefits that come with training at our schools.
Master Tony Kook has 32 years of experience in Taekwondo and 20 years of teaching experience with adults and children.
Master Tony says,
“It is a pleasure to be serving with a group of dedicated like-minded individuals using the platform of martial arts to empower the oppressed.”
He is a Certified Master Instructor with WTF, BCWTF, and WTF Canada.
- 9 time BC Provincial Lightweight Champion (1994 – 2002)
- 2 time Canadian National Lightweight Champion (2000, 2001)
- Certified 6th Degree Black Belt with the WTF (World Taekwondo Federation)
- BC Taekwondo Federation Board of Director
- Taekwondo Canada Governance Committee member
- Former Secretary General for the BC Taekwondo Federation
- Current Vice President of the BC Taekwondo Federation
- Current Vice President of Taekwondo Canada
Grace Wilson
Treasurer
Grace was born in Alberta, Canada but spent her first 16 years in the United States before returning to BC to attend Trinity Junior College.
Grace was born in Alberta, Canada but spent her first 16 years in the United States before returning to BC to attend Trinity Junior College. Following attendance at UBC, she spent 33 years in the public-school system working with children from kindergarten to grade six.
In addition to teaching she spent nine years as president of the Nelson District Teachers Association negotiating contracts and advocating for teachers and students. During her time at the BC Teachers’ Federation she was part of the team that negotiated joint trusteeship of the teachers’ pension plan with the provincial government. She is presently treasurer and first vice president of the BC Retired Teachers’ Association, a non-profit organization that speaks with one voice about the interests, concerns and wellbeing of retired educators in BC.
Being a person of faith, a commitment was made to use her training and abilities for service in a church setting. That involved working with children, youth and eventually led into leadership positions and many years as treasurer. As church chair she recognized the potential for community outreach through use of the church basement as a facility for Kootenay Christian Martial Arts (KCMA). Children, youth and adults had a safe place to go and an opportunity to learn and practice Taekwondo tenets. It gave them goals to strive for and built self- esteem. She became the second treasurer of KCMA and watched it grow, thrive and change lives.
As treasurer, Grace considers being on the board of Martial Arts for Justice a privilege and opportunity to be part of an organization that brings hope and new life to individuals that have experienced debilitating trauma. It is her practical way of being a Good Samaritan from a distance, a chance to make a di erence.
Patricia Jeanotte
Board Member
Patricia was born in Vancouver and has lived in many locations throughout the Province of BC, including Haida Gwaii, Vancouver Island, Prince Rupert, and Prince George, as her father was a bush pilot.
Having been on the move as a child, she then turned her interest south to live in California for a year, followed by a nine-month journey around the world with her partner. Her other moves took her to Fort St. John, Kelowna, and finally back to the Lower Mainland.
Having witnessed firsthand the many forms of trauma, whether accidental or perpetrated around the world, she turned her focus to those in need of support by embarking on a twenty-one-year career in RCMP Victim Services as a crisis responder and then Manager.
Having spent a number of years in management and earning her master’s degree in forensic psychology, she yearned to return to frontline work. In 2019, she became a Crisis Intervention Specialist for the BC Provincial Health Services Authority/Health Emergency Management BC to provide crisis intervention and psycho-social support to first responders and frontline workers during the dual public health emergencies of poisoned drugs (Opioid Crisis) and COVID-19.
As part of the Mobile Response Team, Patricia is still on the move when tragedy (fires, floods, landslides, etc.) strikes throughout the province.
Patricia is embracing the privilege of being on the MAJ Board and witnessing Enhanced Resilience Training™ come to fruition for the benefit of those in need. With the success of ERT in Africa, she is excited to see it eventually extended to victims of trauma in Canada.
Phil Bshouty
Board Member
Phillip’s career started at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he worked in the Audit & Assurance Group and the Private Company Services Group, providing assurance, advisory, and tax-related services across multiple industries. In addition to his professional work, Phillip has
served as a Sessional Instructor with the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba, where he brought his industry experience into the classroom.
Phillip is a designated Chartered Professional Accountant and holds a Master of Professional Accounting Degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) Degree from the University of Manitoba.
Outside his professional life, Phillip demonstrates his passion for community service through his local and international volunteer work, as well as board memberships. Living in Nelson, BC with his wife and three sons, Phillip enjoys an active and outdoor lifestyle.
Recently, the work of Dr. Stephen Porges and Master Dean Simino , particularly the Polyvagal Informed Enhanced Resilience TrainingTM, has been a great source of inspiration, says Phillip. Witnessing the positive impact this training has had on trauma healing, there is a strong desire to see its continued growth and influence, both at a local and international levels.
Join the movement today
Register for Break-a-thon or support survivors of trauma through your donation now.
