TRAINING
FIGHTING FOR YOU
NEVER SURRENDER
CLASSES & SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING
Are you ready to fight back? Real self-defense isn’t luck — it’s trained instinct. When the threat is real, you need a response that’s automatic, not improvised. With the right equipment and the right training, you become your own first line of defense.
We run hands-on pepper spray training in Orange County, California, tailored to your experience level and specific safety concerns.
Whether you’re a seasoned martial artist or picking up your first tool for personal defense, Staying Alive Survival will help you build real, usable strength.
Personal Safety Workshops
Violent crime is on the rise — we’re here to help reverse that trend, one trained group at a time. We work with churches, colleges, local organizations, and employers ready to invest in real preparedness and build safer communities from the inside out.
Our self-defense workshops give you the tools to respond fast, and respond with confidence, when it matters.
Pepper Spray Certification
Staying Alive Survival is a proud partner of SABRE — the #1 pepper spray brand trusted by police and civilians worldwide. SABRE’s Civilian Safety Awareness Class includes a full training manual, three practice sprays, a full-size pepper spray unit, and a quick-release key ring.
Complete the course, and you’re certified to carry and deploy pepper spray as a self-defense tool.
Custom Tailored Emergency Action Plans for your Organization:
Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) are mission-critical — they safeguard lives, protect property, and keep operations running when everything else breaks down. A strong EAP gives your organization a structured framework across every phase: Plan, Prepare, Protect, Respond, and Recover.
We build and revise your EAP as circumstances change, so your response strategy stays sharp — adapting to new threats and every lesson learned along the way.
Staying Alive Survival – Cancellation Policy (Events and Classes)
Meet Your Instructor: Marisa Schaffer
“I don’t just teach safety; I live it.”
Raised with a deep respect for service and discipline inspired by her father, a World War II veteran, Marisa Schaffer approaches safety, security, and defense as both a lifelong commitment and an absolute duty.
For more than two decades, Marisa has served as a dedicated Office Manager and Human Resources professional, combining administrative leadership with 15 years of specialized corporate Safety and Risk Management coordination. With over 20 years of real estate experience analyzing property structures alongside 15 years as a trusted, state-commissioned Notary Public, her career is built on security, compliance, meticulous detail, and institutional trust. She knows exactly how to audit physical environments, navigate legal standards, mitigate hazards, and implement practical safety protocols that work in the real world.
Her corporate expertise is matched by 28 years of martial arts training—a discipline that dictates everything she teaches. As founder of Staying Alive Survival, an active CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) trained by the Fire Department, a licensed CCW holder, and an elite certified instructor in Active Shooter Response, Martial Arts, Stop the Bleed, and SABRE Pepper Spray defense, Marisa bridges the gap between classroom theory and real-world survival.
She teaches with a simple, unyielding truth: Your mind is the most powerful weapon you possess. Sharp situational awareness is the ultimate edge that keeps you out of harm’s way before a physical fight ever begins. Preparedness isn’t optional in today’s world, it’s the difference between reacting in panic and responding with purpose.
In the words of Bruce Lee: “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks one time, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” Mastery isn’t about knowing everything; it’s about executing essential, life-saving tactics flawlessly and without hesitation.
Marisa is dedicated to standing with active-duty military, veterans, corporate teams, and local families—giving you the exact tools, confidence, and unyielding mindset needed to protect what matters most.
Fierce. Vigilant. Prepared.
Let’s make you a hard target. NEVER SURRENDER.