Caution: The contents of this article are for education purposes only. The principles described are extremely dangerous and are for military close combat training and operations only. Their application applies solely to the military.
I recently was lucky to have been shown some of the Todd System by a fellow American visiting our state.
I was very surprised and impressed and think that the New Zealanders are very lucky indeed to be able to learn such incredible military close quarter combat. My question is simply when will the Todd Group expand throughout the US, as I know the training will be sought after?
The Todd Group has a definite requirement for exponents to achieve to become basic level instructors and this only happens when the right calibre of exponent surpasses all the training and testing requirements and becomes eligible to operate a depot.
We never lower the standards or push individuals into the role, it must be a natural progression born out of commitment and competency. Many of the US citizens I train are current service personnel and have indicated they will set up Todd Group depots when they retire from the services.
Many civilians simply are not committed enough to travel down under and train and test or do not have the means to do so. We do have some applicants from the US on this years annual course that have indicated their interest in becoming instructors.
We certainly will give any individuals any assistance to achieve instructor status but it must be a natural not forced progression.
All thirty Todd Group depots have been the result of individuals putting themselves on the line and being prepared to surpass the requirements in skill and inner resolve.
I have read and heard that Tank was in the UK and the training was excellent. When will he be conducting more training as there are a lot of us interested in doing it? Also why was it not well publicized so we could find out before not after that the man with more instructor qualifications in military close combat than anyone else was in the UK?
Thanks for the compliments and the low key approach was simply because I was very busy with my international contract instructing and consulting commitments and did not want to or have the ability to conduct large scale civilian training.
I will be back in the UK soon but once again my downtime to conduct training will minimal if any. I will plan to next year be available to conduct a full phase one basic introductory course in the UK along with the UK chief instructor for the Todd Group, Ron Evans.
This may identify possible Todd Group instructors from various UK locations that have the desire to train, test, qualify and become depot instructors.
We have also had many UK based individuals on courses here in NZ over the past twenty five years but they tend to return and train as exponents rather than wanting to become instructors.
The big problem I face that most instructors don’t is simply that my military contracts and corporate and government work far exceed the manpower and man hours available.
Tell me more about the key holder on your web site that you invented?
I called it “On Your Todd”, meaning on your own, and it was a project that sat around for many years before time permitted me to go into the final design phase and manufacture. It is made from modified nylon and is very lightweight and robust.
It has many uses from a flail to a means to escape holds, through to an offensive knock out device and means of control and restraint targeting the small thumb and finger joints. It is proving very popular and we have a US distributor ready to distribute as soon as the paper is signed off.
What length of cord do you recommend for carry in your belt order for securing a prisoner?
Two times two metre lengths will be required to hog tie and one two metre length to lead tie per prisoner.
I am from Australia and after spending plenty on many courses that turned out to be true European military CQC only by name, I learned of the Todd Group and after seeing how good it was wanted to travel to New Zealand for the course but work commitments have ruled that out. I was hoping that you would have a second course this year either in New Zealand or Australia or could advise who to contact for your training.
Unfortunately through capacity commitments a second course is out of the question but if you contact Dave Stevens in NSW at 0412-154 927 I am sure he will be able to assist you.
Where do you get your ideas for when you invent things like your baton, knives and the fight man?
It’s very simple, I have a need for the equipment or weapon and the product has not been invented. The old kiwi ingenuity when it comes to making what you need. I came up with the tyre on the handle super stomper first in the late 1970s after my system required it and today many have copied it.
My knife needed to be NZ made for the specific dual roles and as the import laws regarding double edged knives imports have changed.
The baton was simple to address what I saw as short falls in defensive qualities in other batons and the fight man was to encourage heavy contact on the front foot not just from stationary and the list grows with designs and I have more on the drawing board.
Is your facility the Todd Group the oldest of its kind in the world?
It would appear that is true as it has been a private and military training provider of European systems since 1927 and has only had the two of us at the helm.
The 80th is coming up next year and we are now a HQ and over thirty depots and fifty instructors world wide. Can’t wait until 2027 and the 100th anniversary and catching up with all the faces and in some cases the generations of family members that have trained here.
When I trademarked the Todd Group name the only reason this was possible was because like my instructors before me of military close combat they all trained under their own name and that is why I could trade mark a family name.
Just a bit of miscellaneous information.
I was recently told that some military units around the globe are training in submission martial arts instead of military CQC what do you think of this?
Well without knowing exact details I cant really form a specific opinion but here are some general points of interest.
Grappling arts promote balance and stability but many of the practices are tactically flawed for real kill or get killed combat. For example turning your back on your enemy to execute a throw or going to the ground and spending time there with dangers all around you, grappling with a combatant that has lots of weapons on him in his webbing pouches and so on.
Military close quarter combat and ground combat are about lethal, quick and quiet killing not fighting for a submission.
The training in grappling however will enhance a soldiers natural ability to maintain balance and control one’s enemy in the unarmed clinch like wrestling has for thousands of years.
Wrestling being the ancient sporting version of the even more ancient military CQC and being derived from the true life or death gladiator competitions shares many sound combative basic principles with current military CQC. They have commonality and compatibility minus the combat flawed combat sports point scoring aspects like lying face down to prevent being turned over and pinned.
One just has to be careful that stalling and slow submissions are not instructed for ground combat or in the clinch where its shoot, stab, bludgeon your enemy for primary options and cripple, maim, and kill for unarmed options form the outset period.
I was recently taught a Krav Maga gun disarming technique where you hold the gun holding arm under your armpit but found you can still manipulate and fire the weapon?
Yes, I have seen this type of disarm instructed back in 1940s era in military CQC books and cringed, fortunately it has been replaced by current military chief instructors that know it is not safe.
Some very experienced people in years gone by were in fact taught this method and later found out that it had cost lives in combat. That is the need for military armed and unarmed combat to be a living developing practice to get rid of such dangerous practices and replace them with the best in battle proven.
The simple answer is to seize and secure and control the weapon not the weapon holding hand.
Why do you execute your low side kick with a cross over leg action?
Several reasons, the first being you can cover up to one metre more distance on entry than by the step and follow method.
Secondly the wide and deep cross over transition allows for a low centre of gravity and sliding forward momentum. It also allows for a kneel and weapon drawing component mid execution should the need arise and it is good for rolling and snatching or recovering dropped or improvised weapons or escape and evasion.
Finally it fits well with boots, webbing, rifles and packs where because of load bearing you need every added offensive entry distance advantage.
How would you get your dog off of another dog it had hold of it?
There are many options that are terminal or require considerable strength, courage and ability but the easiest option is as follows.
Use a breaking stick or similar implement to pry open the dogs jaws by pushing it right through from one side to the other behind the incisors and levering its jaws open.
Make sure you have someone to hold back the other dog or tie it first to a fence or the like so when you lever your dog off and pull it away the other dog does not bite you or grab hold of your dog.
A stick like a wooden tanto shape and size works well.
This is year ten for the NZ based close combat course that I attended in 1996. I have been to many other courses but none of them come close to those in NZ. The training was truly as the promotions said intensive and extensive and the testing second to none. I remember a US special forces master instructor on the course saying to us all this is as real as it gets out of real combat and that most countries simply would not be able to conduct such realistic and high risk testing. The law suits he said would be fast and furious and with the risk of injury and low percentage pass rates in testing it might not be that popular. But year after year Tank has capacity courses made up of the willing and able and not the excuse makers. As he said if you really want it time distance and personal sacrifice are minor considerations and if you are not there then that’s your D.
I read in Fight Times how Kobus from South Africa with his impressive military and fight careers held the Todd Systems in the highest regard and rated the members so highly and he was dead right. I doubt many of the so called CQC instructors out there could pass the beginners phase one test in NZ. On my course some tough and seasoned individuals failed because this was not a grading, it was a combative test. You meet so many real life champions and true military specialists on the NZ courses and tens of them have returned year after year and you don’t find that anywhere else.
The history of the close to eighty year old facility is amazing and as I read in the latest mail out they have just purchased a 280 acre training camp with accommodation for close to one hundred trainees.
Tank has done and is doing things that no other close combat instructor on the planet is and I commend him for that and only hope he never quits but knowing him I don’t think it’s in his nature.
If you ever want to learn real military close combat from the man with the qualifications and experience then you need to be on a course in NZ.
Does instinctive shooting apply to other firearms than pistols?
Yes it does and is even easier with a rifle and can be as effective with a shotgun or any submachine gun etc. I instruct all forms of point shooting and it is very easy to learn in quick time a vital part of overall combat shooting.
The chin jab, does it retract to a defensive position at close quarters in your system?
It certainly can but the most common continuation is to rake down the eyes with a bent fork hand formation and repeat the chin jab or another close quarter strike or kick as part of a combination to ravage your enemies exposed vital targets in combat.
What is the best type of fighting for self defense?
Dirty fighting that does not play to rules, traditions or knows no limits to winning not merely surviving.
What is the best way to practice low side kicks at home on your own?
The leg stamp can be practiced to the ground on soft to firm grassed grounds or you can bury a car tyre half way under the ground and stamp it.
Another good way is to lie a tackle bag or punch bag flat on the ground against a solid back drop, like a sausage, and stamp it.
What is your opinion on pressure points in combat?
Not worth the time and effort as most combatants are rugged, willing, able bodied and will not allow you the time to control or contain them.
It is difficult to seek less than instantly lethal targets on a formidable enemy especially when they are trying to kill you. Then there is the problem with webbing body armour helmets protectors and their arsenal. I have seen some rugged rugby league types not even flinch where others are cringing but these have all being part of willing demonstrations not ever under combat conditions.
The reality – it may be fun to play with if you are that way inclined or interested but it tends to only be easily applied to willing or submissive people and we don’t face such people in real life and death combat.
Ask yourself, would you be willing to break out into pressure points while some hunk of a thug is laying into you? Always remember a real properly trained military combatant will not lend you his hand or for that matter any part of his anatomy in combat. You will have to be able to overcome your adversary and control them before you can perform any fine motor skills that may have little or no effect and make you a static target for some lethal attention.
I saw all through your manual that you evade a knife and end up side on not in a fighter’s type stance and would like to know why?
When you are unarmed against a knife you want to expose the least of your anatomy possible and even less of major vitals. If you stand in a fighters stance your front leg and the inner thigh that houses the femoral artery, which is the body’s largest artery, is exposed to the knife and if it is severed your chances of winning are all but lost.
After evasion to a side on position you expose far less and what areas of your leg that are forward in relation to the knife are more major muscle rather major arterial or life support vitals.
In training when practicing strangles, if someone blacks out what is the procedure you follow?
They become your patient and you must carefully lower them to the ground and protect their head and nape of their neck from ground contact by placing your hand under their back of their head and neck. You must ensure if they are having a seizure that you keep them as still as possible and this can be achieved by keeping your cupped hand under their head and positioning your chest on their chest just to stop them injuring themselves until the seizure is over.
You must then ensure they are coming around quickly by talking to them and reassuring them and checking their airway and vitals and that the blood flow is restored, this can be achieved by raising their legs up in the air to let gravity take over but should not usually be necessary.
If they don’t come around quickly you need to get emergency medical assistance.
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
