Underground Self-Defense (formerly Villari’s Martial Arts Cooperative) has been empowering the Madison, WI and UW-Madison campus community through martial arts and self-defense instruction for women, kids and adults since 1989.
Help our community grow safer, stronger, together.
Master Mary Murphy Edwards owned her first martial arts studio in 1984 in Montreal, Canada where she taught Fred Villari’s Shaolin Kempo Karate. In 1989, she opened our current studio on State Street. During her career she operated several schools, trained exceptional instructors who continue to teach in Madison and beyond, and launched one of the first local kickboxing programs in the 90’s.
A pioneer for women in the martial arts, she passed her legacy to her daughter Ali Treviño-Murphy in 2007, who soon after initiated the transition to cooperative ownership while pursuing her masters degree in social work. We officially became Villari’s Martial Arts Cooperative in 2013. Since then, we’ve deepened our expertise in Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD), an evidence-based violence prevention strategy.
During the pandemic pause, we were forced to close our doors for over a year, but we made it through with the support of our incredible community. Now, with the addition of online courses and increasingly customized private self-defense workshops, we reemerged as Underground Self-Defense. While martial arts instruction will always be our foundation, we wanted to highlight our continued focus on self-defense at a time when competition and sport fighting have become the trend in the industry. Underground is a nod to our location, but also speaks to the power that lies below the surface in each of us, waiting to be unleashed.
We are a hybrid cooperative, meaning all our workers are owners and customers can choose to become owners as well.
Do you have skills in business, marketing, finance, HR or legal? Are you passionate about empowering people to resist violence? We have empty seats on our board of directors. Accepting applications through Dec 9, 2024.
Support your favorite cooperatively-owned martial arts studio and delight your loved ones, your friends or yourself with the gift of becoming safer, stronger, together. Gift cards can be used for any classes and do not expire.
While things may look back to “normal”, our cooperatively-owned business was severely impacted by the pandemic and is still in recovery. If you are able, we deeply appreciate contributions in any amount.
Office Manager
Customer Service, Operations & Sales
Program Manager
Programs & Marketing
Financial Manager
Accounting
3rd Degree Black Belt Instructor
Shaolin Kempo Karate, Self-Defense Workshops
Master Instructor
Shaolin Kempo Karate, Kickboxing, Kids Kung Fu, Self-Defense Workshops
4th Degree Black Belt Instructor
Shaolin Kempo Karate, SAFE Men for Women’s Self-Defense, Sparring
Black Belt Instructor
Kickboxing
Black Belt Instructor
Kickboxing, Self-Defense Workshops
2nd Degree Black Belt Instructor
Shaolin Kempo Karate
Instructor
Kickboxing Fundamentals
President
Vice President & Business Founder
Treasurer
Secretary
Board Member
