Women in the Martial Arts Panelists

Mestra Paulinha, Grupo Nzinga Capoeira Angola, Salvador
Paula Barreto, known as Paulinha, is from Bahia, Brazil. She started her trajectory in capoeira in Salvador in the beginning of 1980’s. She has been invited to several Capoeira Angola encounters both in Brazil and in other countries. She has also published articles and given lectures on women and capoeira and is one of the Nzinga Capoeira Angola Group leaders. She teaches Sociology at the Federal University of Bahia and she is currently a post-doctoral Capes Fellow at Vanderbilt University, in the United States.

Sensei Carol Middleton, 7th degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do
Sensei Carol Middleton has studied various martial arts and self defense systems since 1968. Her main school, the D.C. Self Defense Karate Association, celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2006. She has run a full-contact padded assailant self defense program, D.C.
IMPACT, since 1989, and was the first President of IMPACT International. Her
most recent program, Krav Maga D.C., started in 2001 and now has over 400
students. She is also a tactical master in CDT (low force compliance and
control techniques), and a certified KIDPOWER instructor. Carol was a
founding member of the National Women's Martial Arts Federation, and has
been a member of the American Women's Self Defense Association (recently
renamed Association for Women's Self Defense Advancement) since its
inception in 2001.

Dr. Germon “Mama G” Miller, Ph.D, founder and director of the AKERU Afrikan Discipline Sciences System
Dr. Germon “Mama G” Miller maintains a reputation as an expert in weaponry and hand to hand combat legacy in the martial arts world as a renown Afrikan Martial Artist, capturing over 1700 trophies, 2 world titles, 4 gold medals and a Grand Championship Diamond Ring at the 2006 Battle of Baltimore against a field of men half her age. As the Founder and Director of the AKERU Afrikan Discipline Sciences system, Dr. Miller has provided countless seminars on Afrikan military warriorship. “Mama G” is an international icon in the struggle against youth violence and is known in juvenile service departments as a cultural storyteller and a crisis math educator. She has written many programs for agencies nation wide especially to help dissolve the ever growing epidemic of HIV/AIDS, gun violence & gang involvement among youth through critical thinking, problem solving methods and stressing personal empowerment for achievement in daily life curriculums.

Lauren Wheeler, 3rd degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do
Lauren Wheeler began training in Shotokan Karate in 1984 after a fellow student dared her to go to a “karate class”. She is the founder and director of The Peaceful Warriors, an anti-violence martial arts youth group. She believes working with teens is a life-affirming experience where the teacher receives more than she gives. She is grateful to her teacher, Sensei Carol Middleton of DC Self Defense Karate Association. Ms. Wheeler also holds Shodan ranking in Kobayashi Shorin Ryu from Nakozato Sensei in Okinawa. She has taught martial arts at the National Women Martial Arts Federation and Suigetsu camps as well as in Indonesia, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic.