Sensai Stacey Knight Mejia – Women’s Safety Awareness Begins with Confidence

Our guest is Stacey Knight Mejia, an attorney by training but better known throughout Acadiana as “Sensei Stacey,” co-owner and chief instructor of Acadiana Karate.

A ten-time national forms and weapons champion, Stacey has spent decades teaching martial arts, confidence, and practical self-defense to children and adults. Her message is simple but powerful: “The goal isn’t to live in fear. The goal is to live with awareness, confidence, and the ability to trust yourself.”

As Stacey explains, avoiding violence begins long before physical self-defense becomes necessary.

“Ninety to ninety-five percent of all self-defense scenarios can be avoided by pre-planning.”

That single statement frames our entire discussion.

Stacey explains that every attack begins with three elements: a predator, a victim, and an opportunity. Predators are looking for easy targets and easy opportunities, which is why awareness matters so much.

“You are what you look like. How you stand, how you walk. Eye contact is huge because remember, the predator doesn’t want to get caught.”

She encourages women to walk with purpose, maintain awareness of their surroundings, know where exits are located within seconds of entering a building, lock vehicle doors immediately, and always have a response plan before something happens.

“Have a plan. What am I going to do? Where are the exits? How am I going to get out of here?”

Throughout the interview, Stacey returns repeatedly to the importance of using your voice.

“When I teach women physical self-defense classes, I sometimes have issues getting them to use their voice. They feel, ‘I’m silly,’ or they’re shy. I need you to become a tiger or a lion because the guy that’s coming at you has a criminal mindset.”

One of the strongest themes of our discussion is learning to trust intuition. Gavin de Becker’s landmark book The Gift of Fear, was discussed and he argues that our instincts often recognize danger before our conscious minds do. “Trust your instinct. Trust your gut. It’s so important.”

She tells parents to teach their children the same lesson. “No is a one-word sentence. No means no. Say no and run.”

Rather than encouraging people to become fearful, Stacey wants them to become intentional. “I don’t want you to live in fear. But you need to be aware.”

We discuss numerous real-world situations that women encounter every day, including shopping centers, grocery stores, parking lots, gas stations, DoorDash deliveries, ride-share services, parks, jogging alone, and even sitting in your own driveway scrolling through your phone. Stacey points out that today’s criminals are increasingly sophisticated, posing as delivery drivers, utility workers, or even leaving seemingly harmless items such as money dropped on the ground, windshield wipers moved out of place, or objects on door handles to create distractions.

Her advice remains remarkably practical: “Verify, verify. Do not open the front door of your house for a delivery person or a utility worker until you verify.”

She also recommends limiting distractions. “The cell phone can be very helpful but it’s a huge distraction.” Instead, she encourages using technology wisely by sharing locations with friends and family, calling 911 immediately if something feels wrong, and trusting that internal warning system. Another phone trick is to put your camera on if someone is stalking you. “Turn around and say, ‘Do I know you? Do you need anything? and take a picture. If they hurry away, you know they weren’t up to any good.”

One of Stacey’s most moving stories involves a woman who survived a brutal sexual assault and eventually found her way to Acadiana Karate. Initially unable to speak about what had happened, she slowly rebuilt both her confidence and her life through training. “She came out victorious. She got her life back.”

Stacey also offers reassurance to anyone who has survived an attack. “You survived. You shouldn’t feel shame about that.”

Although Stacey has earned national championships in martial arts competition and even performed stunt work on the television series Mortal Kombat: Conquest after being recruited from the national karate circuit, she emphasizes that most people will never need advanced martial arts techniques if they develop strong situational awareness.

Stacey recommends simple, easy-to-use personal safety devices such as Birdie or Hootie personal alarms that emit a piercing sound to attract attention and create an opportunity to escape. She is less enthusiastic about pepper spray, guns or knives. “I’m not an expert on those tools. I don’t advocate for it. I’ve heard so many horror stories about the attacker grabbing it and turning it on you.”

She also recommends an inexpensive glass breaker/seatbelt cutter device that can be used both in vehicle emergencies and, if necessary, to escape from a locked vehicle.

Her philosophy focuses on escape rather than confrontation. “The goal is to escape.”

Stacey also explains why a single two-hour self-defense seminar cannot replace consistent training. “Don’t think that you’re an expert after one seminar.”

Karate develops something much deeper than physical techniques. Through repetition, students build muscle memory so that, under the stress of an actual attack, simple defensive movements become automatic. “We just drill it, drill it, drill it.”

Every August I get calls about teaching safety classes to daughters right before they go iff to college. ‘Please, can you teach self-defense in a week?’ The best thing I tell my parents is to buy this book: Confidence in Conflict for Campus Life, by Jill Weisensel . It goes through all things addressing personal safety awareness like theft in the dorm, sorority parties, how to address hazing and sexual assault, just really great tips on how to address high-risk behaviors.”

Stacey also follows Dannah Eve who recently wrote a book called Street Smarts.

Introduced to karate by her future husband, Pablo Mejia, while attending college, she earned her first-degree black belt before entering law school. She credits martial arts with helping her persevere through one of the most demanding periods of her life. “There are times in law school where we all just want to quit. Karate really helped me.” The discipline she learned on the mat carried directly into her legal career.

Today, Stacey continues serving the community through Acadiana Karate while also sharing health and wellness advice through her “Stacey’s Optimal Health” platform.

Whether discussing nutrition, exercise, parenting teenagers, or personal safety, her underlying message never changes: preparation creates confidence.

This episode is for every woman, every parent, every college student, and every family member who wants practical, thoughtful guidance on staying safe while living life with confidence instead of fear. “Don’t live in fear. Just be aware.”

For more information about Stacey Knight Mejia and Acadiana Karate, visit https://acadianakarate.com/