The Modern Day Lady Knight

Virginia Hankins

Legends Live.

Warrior. Siren. Archer. Woman. Knight.

Welcome to the official website of Virginia Hankins, the redheaded living legend famous for her extraordinary life and adventures as a modern day lady knight inspiring the spirit of imagination and adventure in all that she meets.

Virginia Hankins is descended from the ancient Celtic rulers, several European knights, an elusive American Civil War cavalry commander, and the legendary Lady Godiva herself. One of only a few handful of professional stunt women and female knights in the world, Virginia Hankins is proud to continue carrying the banner of women warriors in to the present day.

A passionate horseback rider who has been working with and training horses her entire life, her training and skills include both mounted and dismounted weapons, archery, crossbow, swords, quarterstaff, handguns, rifles, and many more.

Far from the typical Hollywood actress, Virginia Hankins carries an impressive dual major in engineering from the University of Southern California and has a hearty sense of civic duty.

Virginia actively volunteers in her community by serving on scholarship committees, volunteering on emergency service efforts, gathering donations for animal impacted by wildfires, speaking on ocean pollution prevention, and mentoring Women of Color in their development of vocational, resume, and career building skills.

As a Congressional Medal of Merit recipient, a third generation Girl Scout, and Girl Scout Gold Award Virginia Hankins has been featured in national women's spotlight programming, female entrepreneur news specials, and is devoted to helping youth of all backgrounds to achieve their dreams.

Some of Virginia Hankins' most well known performance appearances include portraying Joan of Arc on Spike TV's hit show Deadliest Warrior Season 3, being the first mermaid in the history of Château de Fontainebleau, a castle of the kings of France, representing L'Oreal La Mer's brand as their 50th Anniversary underwater actress, appearing at Paris Fashion Week, and being the first female knight in the 50 year history of the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire. She is also the author of the book Be a Real-Life Mermaid, available online.

Virginia Hankins is based near Los Angeles, California.

BUY HER BOOK ON AMAZON.COM AND BARNES AND NOBLE:

Archery Lessons

Gain the personal service and coaching that you need to become your best as you immerse yourself in the sport of archery! Lessons are coordinated through Archery and More, held in Simi Valley (Near the Moorpark and Thousand Oaks border of Ventura County, California) and include all equipment that you need to get started right during your lesson (or you can bring your own).

Beginning archery lesson students that do not own their own equipment are started on the recurve bow style. Compound bow lessons are available upon request and equipment availability.

If you have a charter school, home school, or other archery student that wishes to train before 5PM on a week day (Tu, Th, or Fr) please email us for scheduling assistance.

Reserve a Lesson

Please note - USA Archery Recreational Level Membership (only $15 / year) is required for all students after the first intro lesson for insurance reasons. Students must be aligned with “Sheroes Entertainment” as their club. To register with USA Archery for your Recreational Level (or above) membership please CLICK HERE.

Merida from Pixar in Real Life on Disney Plus

When Are Archery Lessons Offered?

Archery lessons are subject to availability and are booked through Archery and More.

Lessons with Coach Virginia:

Weeknights starting at 5PM and ending by 8:30PM in Simi Valley or for travel lessons.

Lessons with Coach Maura:

Tuesdays and Fridays between 1-5PM
Thursdays between 12-3PM.
Weeknights and travel lessons in the Valley are based on availability.

Lessons with Coach Upukua

Based on availability.
Available for travel lessons in the Westside and Long Beach areas for students that have their own equipment.

How Much Do Archery Lessons Cost?

Intro / No Prior Experience, 60-Minute Lesson: $100
- Choose this option for your first lesson if you do NOT already know how to fully set up your own bow from its parts AND have never taken a lesson with Virginia before.
- Up to 3 people can shoot under the same, flat-rate lesson price in Simi Valley.
- Additional people are $20 / person (limit 5 total) in Simi Valley.
One-time 45-Minute Lesson: $85
- Choose this option for your first lesson if you DO already know how to set up, select, and test archery equipment OR if you are a returning student of Virginia’s.
- Up to 3 people can shoot under the same, flat-rate lesson price in Simi Valley.
- Additional people are $20 / person (limit 5 total) in Simi Valley.
Monthly 4-Lesson 45-Minute Lesson Set: $80 each / $320 total (save $20 each month!)
- Up to 3 people can shoot under the same, flat-rate lesson price in Simi Valley.
- Additional people are $20 / person (limit 5 total) in Simi Valley.
Delivered, 60-Minute Lesson, within 30 miles of Simi Valley: $285+.
- Up to 5 people can shoot under the same, flat-rate, lesson price.
- Ideal for home school groups.
- Additional locations up to 30 miles from Simi Valley, CA are available at a rate of $2 per each additional round trip mile over 30 miles from the warehouse, ZIP Code 93065.

Reserve a Lesson

Where are Archery Lessons Offered?

Simi Valley, California at a private range location through Archery and More. The address is provided upon booking.

See Virginia Teach

Virginia Hankins Archery Coach Los Angeles

How Do I Start Learning?

Schedule an Intro to Archery Lesson!

An Introduction to Archery lesson is focused on gear selection, safety overview, equipment set up, technique / body alignment form, and mirror work with a small section of hands-on practice. Cash payment is due upon arrival at a lesson.

Join USA Archery!

USA Archery Membership (only $15 / year) is required for all students after the first intro lesson for insurance reasons. Students must be aligned with “Sheroes Entertainment” as their club. To register with USA Archery for your Recreational Level (or above) membership please CLICK HERE.

AGES & ABILITIES

Approximately 20% of all archery students are ages 10-18 and 80% are adults.
Senior citizens are welcome to learn archery! The oldest archery student to date was 87!
Formal archery training is best suited for ages 8+. Children 3+ in age may shoot archery with their parents as long as they possess enough manners, listening skills, and emotional maturity to do so for 45 MINUTES STRAIGHT.
Children 18 years of age or younger must be accompanied at all times by an adult during archery lessons.
Students with known physical restrictions (blindness, strength, back problems) can often be accommodated with specialized archery equipment or form modifications. Deaf and hard of hearing archery students are encouraged to have an interpreter present.
Archery is a weapons-based sport that can be fatal. Children and/or adults with significant mental health or behavior issues such as boundary respect issues, emotional or anger management issues, inability to focus, suicidal thoughts, thoughts of hurting animals or other people, or unregulated hyperactivity and focusing issues possess a serious risk to themselves and others and should not participate in archery.

What to Wear / Bring

Families Welcome! Photo Taken On Location in Sonoma, CA.

Archers attending any lessons are advised to wear close toe shoes such as sneakers or hiking boots, sunglasses, sunblock, compression fit shirt or other close fitting shirt (lose clothes get caught in the bowstring and ruin shots), and long pants. Bringing water to stay hydrated is encouraged.

If you have your own bow and know how to set it up please bring it with you. Otherwise all shooting equipment will be provided.

Proof of USA Archery Membership (CLICK HERE) - Required for archery lessons, but not for archery parties

What is It?
- USA Archery, the governing body of archery in the United States, requires that all students enrolled in its sanctioned archery programs, practices, and archery lessons become members of its organization for insurance coverage. Annual registration to USA Archery is fast, cheap, and easy.
Which Level of Membership Do You Need?
- If you plan on competing or being eligible for achievement programs (pins, rankings, tournaments, etc.) you will need the "Adult Membership" or "Youth Membership"
- If you do NOT plan on competing the low-cost "Recreational Membership" is satisfactory.
How Do You Sign Up?
- Go to https://www.usarchery.org/memberships/become-a-member
- Once you select your desired membership level click on "Join / Renew" to proceed to the next page. You’ll need to create an account.
- The top section is for "Club Affiliation." Select "California" as the State.
- A "Club" drop down list will appear. Select "Sheroes Entertainment" as the club and complete the remainder of the form.
- The website will display a confirmation screen with your new USA Archery number. Print out the screen and bring it with you.

ABOUT THE COACH

Archery Coordination and Coaching on set for Ellen

Virginia Hankins is a certified and insured USA Archery national level coach and Hollywood archery film advisor who helps archery students to "start right" in the extraordinary "Sport of Kings."

She specializes in starting new archers with proper international recurve bow foundational form, positive reinforcement, and focuses on a "slow and steady" and collaborative weight training approach to reduce the likelihood of injury in her archery students. She has been seen coaching celebrities on Ellen, working with the Tomb Raider video series, and was an archery consultant to Disney during the release of the movie “Brave.”

Widely known as being one of the best children's archery coaches in the archery industry, she has successfully trained over 10,000 people between 3 and 86 years of age to enjoy the sport of archery due to her unique and friendly precision coaching style. Her patient style serves this female archery coach well as a coach to foreign royalty, international sports celebrities, and stressed film production teams where she has a remarkable talent for helping actors and actresses to "look great and be safe" on camera in two hours or less.

Prior to finding her passion in coaching archery, Virginia trained as a recurve archer under two time world champion archery coach, competed nationally, was a member of the California State Archery Team, founded the University of Southern California (USC) Archery Team, assisted Disney-Pixar in its launch of the hit archery film Brave, and has performed live trick shots for up to 4,000 people. Virginia Hankins currently works in Hollywood as an on set archery coordinator, teaches as a national level USA Archery coach, serves as the resident archery expert and patch program creator for the Girl Scouts of California's Central Coast, and is the archery expert and archery stunt coordinator for the upcoming television show "Shoot to Thrill."

As a Level 3 USA archery coach certified in the National Training System (NTS) she is authorized to train Level 1 and Level 2 archery instructors for summer camps, recreational programs, and run full competitive, recreational, school, and camp programs in the USA Olympic Team Training Methods.

While most of her work is in coaching new recurve and longbow students, Virginia does assist with beginning compound bow and crossbow shooters (student must have their own compound or crossbow) too. Her attention to detail has enabled her to become certified for both Northern California and Southern California through the State of California Department of Fish & Wildlife (previously the Department of Fish and Game) for hunting safety... a specialty accreditation that merges both safety and performance in wilderness and high stress situations for archery and gun work.

PRIVATE ARCHERY LESSONS (DELIVERED)

Starting at $285/1 hour (up to 5 people) - subject to extra travel charges based on location. Lessons are scheduled through Archery and More.

Enjoy the privacy and security of your residence, set, ranch, estate, or compound when you choose to have a portable archery range brought to you for lessons. All archery loaner equipment and travel including a target, recurve bows, arrows, and related supplies are included in this rate.

NDA, background screening, and data privacy verification available at client's cost for high profile families who wish to have extra security. Personal bodyguards and/or nanny may remain present for lessons and/or participate based on Client's desire.

Traveling archery lessons are subject to availability.

Travel is included within a 30 mile drive from the warehouse in Simi Valley, CA (93065). Additional locations up to 45 miles from Simi Valley, CA are available at a rate of $2 per each additional round trip mile over 30 miles from the warehouse, ZIP Code 93065.

A photo of the practice space is required at time of booking to ensure that the correct layout is delivered. Please ensure that instructor's name has been provided to any guards should your location be located on a restricted access road.

Rent Archery Equipment For Film Productions

Are you interested in renting bows or other archery equipment? Please visit the online rental shop at Archery and More.

Learn to Ride a Horse! English, Western, and Sidesaddle Lessons for Beginners

Private Horseback Riding Lessons in Simi Valley, California

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A HORSEBACK RIDING LESSON RESERVATION

ENGLISH OR WESTERN HORSE RIDING: Learn how to communicate with or talk to a horse, care for a horse, how to ride, and what you need to know when choosing a horse for yourself. Adult beginners are welcome, children must be at least 4 years of age and, if a child is learning, must be accompanied by an adult at all times. The lesson horse can accommodate riders up to 145 pounds in weight. PE / Physical Education Credit is available with prior authorization of your home school or charter school, if applicable.

SIDESADDLE HISTORICAL WOMEN’S RIDING: For the ladies with style and flair! Live your Edwardian, Victorian, or Downtown Abbey dreams as you explore the allure, heritage, and mystique of this truly ladies’ equestrienne art.

New private sidesaddle horseback riding clients are being accepted in Simi Valley, California (in Ventura County, near Los Angeles). Lessons include the use of horse and tack. The delicate antique school horse tack fits persons between 5’4”-5”10” tall, and approximately 115 - 145 pounds in weight. No prior experience is necessary.

Sidesaddle students must wear English riding breeches or leggings (NO JEANS!!), bring a properly fitting equestrian riding helmet, wear riding gloves, and wear paddock boots. Tall boots may be used if the student does not own paddock boots but can interfere with the leg position.

Sidesaddle Horseback Riding Work for Film Productions

Virginia Hankins offers SAG-AFTRA riding stunt double work for commercial and film for sidesaddle (side-saddle) horse work available with period costuming and source documentation assistance to wardrobe teams in Hollywood film production and commercial advertising. Her stunning grey sidesaddle-trained stunt horse is also available for productions when she is booked as the stuntwoman riding.

The training of actresses already cast in productions to ride side saddle is available on location for an additional fee to film production companies.