This is a subject that I have considered for over the last two decades has needed addressing with professional honesty and integrity for the sole purpose of stating the facts and with no hidden agendas or professional envy or jealousy influencing the facts.
First let’s begin with the instructors, or are they qualified self defence instructors. Many have never under gone the extensive and intensive training as an exponent let alone Instructor training.
Dealing with extreme violence as part of their work or instructing duties is a totally foreign reality to these individuals who often have such a removed perception of reality when it comes to violence they might as well be living on another planet.
I have observed courses for females where the instructors, male and female talk up their ability to annihilate male predators and then demonstrates methods that would never work against any determined attacker. What is even worse is that many of the skills are downright dangerous to the victim and could render them seriously injured or even killed.
They often deal with non-violent threats by escalating the situation verbally or get physical when the sound tactic of early recognition and avoidance would have been the best decision to make.
I have had upset ladies I have never previously met before stating they are self defence instructors approach me all puffed up, prancing and raving about how my opinions and methods are not appreciated or helpful to their cause.
On one occasion when I pointed out the serious dangers of her teachings to one such instructor, she replied, “but some of the techniques are good.”
I replied, “shouldn’t all of them be the best.”
I asked her if she would be confident to train combatants in combat or self defence whose lives may well depend on in times of war. She replied of course not.
I always offer to have them demonstrate the effectiveness of their methods under realistic conditions on practical handling exercises and they always decline.
Just because someone decides for whatever reason, male or female, to practise dangerous self-defence doesn’t make it right to instruct others under the pretext that the teachings are safe effective and really do work. They can easily be tested and proven.
Fortunately some students apply commonsense and go home and practise with their men folk and quickly realise just how ineffective the methods are.
Qualified instructors in proven systems whether male or female offer as far as I am concerned the only alternative for anyone’s personal protection.
Females only self defence, where practising with one’s responsible male family members, friends, partners or husbands is not recommended, for me would raise some questions to the effectiveness of the methods.
The first female self defence instructor that I trained and qualified had to put in five years full time as an exponent and as an assistant instructor nationally and internationally before qualifying as an instructor and only after rigorous testing.
The females I have qualified must train with their male counterparts and includes the first and only female to make it on a Combatives course.
When it comes to your own or your client’s personal safety there is no second best or short cuts or guesswork.
Instructors I have trained and qualified have the knowledge and experience to answer the hard questions asked of them in all areas of self defence no matter how complicated or extreme armed or unarmed. How can anyone claim to be an instructor if they simply do not have the knowledge qualifications and experience?
The training programmes and skills for women must not be any different than for men if you are offering all clients regardless of gender the best options. You should always consider that your attacker is bigger stronger fitter faster more skilled than your self and armed.
I have assessed hundreds of self-defence methods and instructors over the past twenty-five plus years and usually they never address the very serious and life threatening aspects of sexual violence. The practise positions and scenarios look more like drama scenes or traditional moves.
Most sexual predators are not going to break out in to ancient arts and you could never describe rape, robbery, mugging or murder as traditional sport.
I have interviewed hundreds of victims of violence over many years carefully developing a pattern of methods used by their attackers.
From my life time’s research and instructing as well as being a programme developer at the most elite level I have been adding to the basic self defence system the best means to combat serious sexual violence as part of my operation education programme continuation.
These methods exclusive to the Todd Systems I have never seen as part of any course or programme anywhere in the world. They involve clinical attention to detail and a high degree of duty of care of exponents during practise not only for safety reasons but also for moral, psychological and professional reasons.
The real life realities have to be addressed and exponents actually put in the position of a target of a real life situation of extreme sexual violence in a setting that is safe and beneficial to learning. They are professionally tutored phase by phase through the encounter with every attention to detail and change in situation as well as escalation in the level of violence. The mock up must be realistic, complete with a full array of required props and clothing.
The mock-ups include different environments and conditions as well as all the required considerations and concerns of the immediate situation. Threat assessment and individual personal methods of psychological and physical symptom control from exposure to violence are very important aspects of this specialist training.
Recognition of environmental aids or dangers, hard targeting and methods of immediate location escape are some of the aspects of the tactically correct standard personal protection procedures. Maintaining situational silence or controlled aggressor negotiation are aspects addressed in the introductory phase.
The programme has been developed with the assistance of the instructing team over the past five years and in 2003 was introduced to over ninety female exponents over five days with textbook results.
The only aspects that needed to be addressed were the allocated duration for training.
We found with numbers over twenty and the lost time involved with fitting and unfitting clothing components and changing from one set up to another we needed to extend the time frame or teach the sexual related violence module as an individual course separate of the basic self defence course.
There has to be an extensive introductory phase and educational component to ensure exponents have the mindset and material to recognise threats and dangers and to assess and decide on the safest and best option to combat the threat from their memory store.
I can remember the late Rangi Nicholls a former SAS soldier and later unarmed combat instructor in Sydney once telling me of how he came under attack for criticising the techniques taught for female self-defence by a female instructor in Australia who rated herself.
He invited her to partake in one of his practical handling exercises, not in some poncy gym or private club but in a derelict building in the dark and seedy back streets at night. The end result being a sobbing, hysterical individual that even under a controlled exercise found out she was not as tough or skilled as she had thought.
There is no point fooling yourself by training in anything but the best when it comes to your personal safety and good self-defence is the cheapest insurance you can get when there are no other options available to you.
You must be prepared for all forms of violence and able to deal with them, not just low risk non-violent threats that can be dealt with by sound tactics alone.
The included pictured situations are just a glimpse of some of the threats that need to be addressed when dealing with your personal self-protection.
Do you know how to combat these threats and many more like them?
You can’t predict how you may be attacked or where, so you need to be armed with knowledge prior to.
Are you confident in the self defence skills you have learnt and do they provide you with a comprehensive knowledge base to combat the all too common serious violence that is in the headlines all too often?
Self-protection is not an issue of gender, it’s all about highly trained and qualified professional instructors and motivated and committed exponents being taught nothing less than the best most proven and safe tactics and skills.
Above: When serious violence strikes its too late to wish you knew what to do and it can happen anywhere, anytime.
Hardly a sterile studio environment, it reeks with reality.
There’s no such thing as fair play or equal odds in serious violence.
Knowing only how to deal with low risk encounters won’t help you in situations like the above.
Interested in Close Combat Training? Todd Group Depots are located throughout New Zealand and at various overseas locations.
For more information on Todd System of Close Combat see the following books, dvds and cds:
- Close Combat Books
The Do's and Don'ts of Close Combat – Tactical C&R – Control and Restraint – No Nonsense Self Defence – Military Close Combat Systems Phase One – Combative Masters Of The 20th Century - Close Combat DVDs
Self Defence of the Elite – 80 Years of Combative Excellence – Primary Option Control & Restraint – Military Unarmed Combat – Phase 1 - Close Combat CDs
Technique To Command – Combative Code of Conduct
