Laurent Mougeot was born in Lyon, France in 1971. His family moved to St-Etienne, a small former mining town in 1979 and he grew up in a tough neighbourhood, going to school with violence. Laurent was involved with violent environments and fights as a young teenager which is why at age 13 he decided to learn Karate Shotokan, in the hope of defend himself better. Unfortunately, even after he earned a black belt, he realized that Karate did very little to give him an edge in real fights. Laurent found Krav Maga in 1989 with the help of a former instructor of his, Jean-Marie Araez. Going back and forth between martial arts and Krav Maga earning another black belt in Chito-Kan Karate throughout the years, Laurent always found that traditional martial arts didn’t prepare students fully for the violence of street confrontations.
In 2006-2007, Laurent underwent intense instructor training in Vancouver and Montreal by Avi Moyal, Thierry Cimkauskas, Amnon Darsa and Gabi Noah. He obtained his Civilian Instructor Diploma in 2007 and Kids Instructor Diploma in 2010 (he is the only Canadian Instructor certified to teach children). Laurent is an Expert level 2 Certified Instructor for Civilians, Law Enforcement and Security Professionals in the IKMF and in March 2010 he was appointed National Director for IKMF Canada and now takes care of Eastern Canada.
IKMF Strong!! – Canada is in good hands…