No one likes to feel vulnerable, but when you experience life as a person with a spinal cord injury, that’s one of the number one feelings that overwhelms you. Erik Kondo however refused to feel this way. A T4-5 paraplegic from Lexington, Massachusetts, Erik decided to combat this feeling by learning self-defense skills through martial arts, and he is now one of the most talented martial artists with a disability in the world and is now a 3rd degree black belt.

From applying his self-defense knowledge to help to protect women with disabilities online to showing newly injured people how to be independent, read on to learn about the fearless SCI superstar who’s using his talents to help others, Erik Kondo.

Why he’s fearless

Around 27 years ago is when Erik became a member of the disability community.  He was 19 and on his motorcycle when it crashed, and broke his T4-5 vertebrae on impact. Getting injured at this age however is never easy, but Erik, now 48 years old with a wife and three kids, has harnessed his fighter personality like a pro.

When he was 30 years old, after working in real estate for a few years and business and doing a bit of handcycling and skiing, Erik decided to begin practicing martial arts, jujitsu to be specific, in which he now holds a third degree black belt. Erik may have full control of his upper body, but he still has balance problems since he is a T4 paraplegic, so watching him in action is really quite something.

He also has a great video channel on SPINALpedia where you can watch him practice jujitsu and perform a slew of other wheelchair tricks. To date he’s uploaded 40+ videos and they show either a self defense skill, a mobility skill or a workout skill.  Eric is passionate about empowering other people with spinal cord injuries in any way shape or form. Such a great guy! Check out his videos

After he became good at jujitsu, self-defense came naturally. He’s went on to create a site devoted to self-defense called NOT-ME, which shows at-risk individuals what they need to do to really defend themselves if they’re in an altercation, and wheeler-user tips are part of it.  He’s made several videos showing his moves while sitting down, it is really quite something to behold. Erik can totally take an able-bodied guy down to the ground; no questions asked. Watch him here

And his self-defense videos are just a smidge of what he offers via video.  Erik has also made several videos showing his awesome “mobility” skills in an inaccessible world.  From climbing up stairs to going down a hill by doing a wheelie to popping a curb, Erik has no fear and does his tricks seamlessly. Watch him show the best way to climb up stairs in a manual chair

And Erik’s amazing fighter personality has also found a new outlet – helping protect woman with disabilities online. Predators, devotees and lurkers have no chance against Erik, who made it his life’s mission to uncover these people who are known to prey on women with disabilities online. He even created a free online presentation instructing women how to prevent trolls/predators. Watch

What’s next?

Erik’s latest method to spread self-defense knowledge is by teaching self-defense classes whereevrr he can, from camps to seminars . This past spring he taught self-defense classes in Vermont VT. And he’s also a burgeoning writer. As a frequent flier a lot, he has a few travel tips a share and has been writing for wheelchairtraveling.com, penning the occasional wheelchair travel article. Read his article on luggage tips for wheelchair travel

And last but not least, he runs an incredibly cool stair climbing blog, which is as exactly as it sounds – tips galore on climbing stairs if you can’t walk. Check it out

After a spinal cord injury, it can be hard finding you’re niche in the world. What’s great about Erik is that he carved himself out a very specific niche, and has become an expert in his field. People with disabilities need their own personal superman, and Erik Kondo definitely comes close.

Has Erik Kondo helped you learn a life skill?

- Erik’s self-defense site NOT-ME

Watch the videos!

- Erik demonstrates training for basic chokes and holds

- Erik showing a new paraplegic how to get up a stairs in a manual chair

- 7 signs of a wheelchair pretender

- Erik shows the safe way to fall out of a wheelchair

Going back to work is one of the scariest things when you have a spinal cord injury. Everything seems impossibly more difficult, especially when it comes to getting your butt from Point A to Point B, i.e., from your house to work that is.

Maybe you can still drive yourself in your old car, but you have to use hand controls now, or maybe you live in a huge metro where there’s subways – how in the heck are you going to get to work now? From an amazing video profiling a vent-dependent quad kindergarten teacher to a paraplegic who commutes into NYC each day, here are three videos showing how they got back to work.

In our first video, we get to meet the amazing Johanna Johnson, a C1-2 vent-dependent quadriplegic, and kindergarten teacher from British Columbia, Canada. In the video she talks about how she landed her job, which was many years in the making. Johanna was injured when she was 12 and wasn’t sure what she wanted to get into career-wise when she first started college.

But after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Math, Johanna knew teaching was her calling and began her epic search of finding a job, and she *did* run into some hiring discrimination along the way. But she finally snagged a FT job, and teaches with an assistant who does what she can’t (passing out things, helping with set-up). Watch her video from the BC Paraplegic Association

Our second video proves it’s possible you can do it all boring morning routine-wise without needing to stand up. The video comes from a favorite of ours, Andrew Angulo, a paraplegic and father from Cali. In his video, he shows a typical morning in his life, from transferring into his car to driving the kids to school (and eventually making his way to work).

It’s a great 4 minute video, especially for anyone newly injured. He talks about how good it was for him to get back into his routine, even if it’s physically harder, and dealing with LA traffic. Ready to watch a get-back-to-work rockstar, along with some awful LA traffic? Watch his video

And our third video comes from aspiring actor/singer Joseph Genera, a paraplegic of 30 years from Gilford, Connecticut who refuses to be deterred by the long commute to NYC. In the video, he explains his route from CT to NYC, including catching the train to New Haven, then hopping on another train at Union Station, which finally brings him into NYC.

Once in NYC, this intrepid wheeler uses the awesome service, Accessible Dispatch, which are accessible cabs (they have a 233 van fleet). These cabs will pick you up anywhere in NYC. All you need to do is download the app to connect with them, and when you want a cab, just alert them and a cab will be there asap. Check out his video

And don’t forget, work doesn’t have to be mundane or something you can’t wait to get over with, especially if you’re a spinal cord injury survivor. Try to find something you love, and you will notice a huge uptick in your happiness.

How do you get to work each day?

Watch the videos!

- Paraplegic actor who lives in CT showing how he gets into NYC for jobs

- Paraplegic morning routine of bringing the kids to school/work/LA commute

- Vent-dependent quadriplegic kindergarten teacher