Real Life Experiences highlights the stories of operators and civilians who have had to use the skills they've learnt in self defence or combat.
If you have had to defend yourself as a civilian or in the execution of your duties as a service person, then don't hesitate to forward your story. These stories will not include the identities of any of the subjects involved, but will detail the situation and means used to overcome it.
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I once was involved in a volatile situation with some one I thought was a friend.
He had shown mood swings over the years but he knew I had trained most of my life in CQB at the Todd Group and never went beyond the threat stage.
Then the day come when he had a real episode that included pulling a knife on me when I was cornered against furniture.
When he lunged at me with an ice pick type attack I used what space was available to me to evade the knife.
It struck the piece of furniture with enough force to take a chunk out of it.
I could easily have taken him out of play but managed to instead take control of the situation and not have to do him any harm physically.
I was fearful when he first pulled the knife but as soon as I put my have no other choice principles in to place as taught there was no time for fear and fortunately everything went to plan.
I only wish I had taken action to break the friendship and get out of the environment much earlier when in hindsight the signs were loud and clear.
I was far less than proactive on early recognition but effective when it counted and I had only one option.
Reader’s I have learnt one thing from this and it is good advice to anyone in such a situation and that is early is better and definitely before it comes to more serious forms of threat.
Working internationally recently on a film set I along with another had to employ the Todd control and restraint skills to contain and remove a threatening individual.
The skills as always provided us with the best way to deal with the situation quickly and safely and even the subject’s associates thanked us for dealing with it in such a professional manner.
This is testament to the methods and training and our ability to employ them correctly.
In the Middle East some time back a US operator had to use hand-to-hand combat to deal with a threat.
Another non-US operator commented on how the skill utilized was the same skill he had been taught by the Todd Group.
The US operator replied it was taught to him by Larry Jordan and that Larry and Tank are close friends and both are CQB association members.
I once when in the city heard yelling followed by a large male running past me at full tack.
People were yelling stop him as he has robbed a shop.
I was fit being in the forces and chased after him preparing for the worst, when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and gasping for air said he gave up as he could not get away from me.
My fitness paid off and I didn't need to get down to close quarters on this occasion.
I guess twenty plus years ago the pub scene was very different and we had bouncers not door staff.
In Dunedin Geoff Todd had bouncers that were the best at their job.
These guys took care of some real rough stuff with ease and simply never failed in their duties to protect us.
They were highly trained and tough individuals that were feared by the troublemakers.
To the good guys and punters out to have a good time they were the saviours and protectors.
I remember reading in the local rag a father praising them for protecting his daughter.
These people were professionals and they trained in hand-to-hand combat together several times weekly.
They dealt with gangs and thugs and made punters feel safe and the wrong doers didn’t stand a chance.
Unfortunately many of the PC door staff of today don't do the training of those guys that took their job seriously.
We live in increasingly violent times and have less and less means of protection.
It would be nice to see such protectors out there once again ensuring our young socialites were safer.
Talk about professionalism.
In the late 90s in New Zealand on an exercise conducted by the Todd Group as part of an International Close Personal Protection Course a very unusual situation occurred that proved how important such training was.
The VIP for the exercise with one of the six details was a former Olympian.
The detail escorted him to a major public central city complex and immediately after he entered followed a couple one carrying a rifle bag at his side and this was in the city centre.
The Course Senior spotted the suspect and intercepted him containing him and relieving him of his rifle.
The head of security for the complex arrived on the scene and on inspecting the rifle bag found it was in fact a real firearm.
The suspect claimed the management were aware that they were going to be there for filming purposes and that the rifle was a prop.
The security manger had not been informed of this but was well fully aware and briefed on the CPP exercise.
On checking with management he found out that the suspect was in fact telling the truth and the situation was resolved.
Nonetheless the measures in place on the exercise had been very effective in foiling any perceived threat to the principle had their been a genuine threat.
In the eighties while studying martial arts I asked my instructor what CQB was and he said the Todd Group teach it and it was really dirty and deadly and he told me never to come up against such a style or practitioner.
That got me curious and I went along to the Todd Group for a look.
Well I was a brown belt at the time and the techniques I saw at the CQB training centre not even our black belts knew and this was in a beginner’s class.
I joined up and found out how useless my previous style self defence skills were.
Then my instructor told me that since I had been training there his members had complained how much more aggressive I was and how they didn't think I should be allowed to train at both styles as they could not counter my new techniques and I was knocking them around.
I was given an ultimatum and said goodbye to my martial arts for CQB not long before my time to grade to black belt.
The way I saw it was what was the use of training and getting a black belt in something that was so useless when really needed in a real self-defence encounter.
This was the best path for me.
During WW2 the late pioneer Harry Baldock's military unarmed combat services were stretched to the limit and the powers that be of the day decided he needed another instructor to deal with the duties.
The problem was they forgot to ask Sergeant Major Harry Baldock and when the instructor arrived from overseas Harry was not impressed.
He decide that diplomacy was not an option and took the new comer out in the centre of the concourse and gave him a lesson in close quarters combat that was not short in duration and didn't lack in painful manoeuvres.
The end result was no more assistant and Harry back in his sole and desired individual role.
He turned down a commission to keep his hands on role as that was where he was best needed and wanted to be.
Never sway from your standard operating procedures is a lesson I learnt on the job the hard way.
We were doing security for a beauty pageant when a contestant’s boy friend had to be removed.
The SOP under this condition was once they had been evicted they stayed out.
However this young fellow explained he was a country boy in town to see his girl friend win the contest and he had got a bit carried away.
Well after considerable consideration and a stern warning I allowed him back in.
When his girl friend did not win the contest he threw a bottle that could have seriously injured some innocent person and he had to be forcefully removed.
I learnt that if it someone warrants eviction then they should stay out and that the SOP's should never be broken no matter how hard or difficult it may be.
This is not a story of close combat or the like but one that still required cool calm situational control and prior training.
I was out in the back hill country in a 4WD as a passenger of a fellow hunter when the 4WD went out of control on a steep grassy hill and we not only did not have the power to make it over the top but also stalled and began to slide side ways down this steep hill.
The driver while I was starting to panic was calm and busy righting the dire situation as I saw it.
He managed to straighten and stop the vehicle and start it in reverse gear and under complete control back all the way to the bottom of the hill.
I knew he was a CQB instructor in the Todd Systems and also instructed and worked as a body guard but did not realize that his expertise included four wheel driving.
He told me 4WD and aggressive driving as well as evasive driving were all part of the CPP courses at the Todd Group including the ramming of other vehicles that he found a real fun time.
I was very impressed with the cool calm collected response to our situation and now can see there is a lot more to the Todd Group than just CQB.
This is not so much as a situation but more an evaluation.
Recently on my military tactical course the On Your Todd device was tested on selected determined candidates on the control and restraint phase of the course.
The candidates had not previously been exposed to this nifty little device and this was not a monkey say monkey do evaluation.
During the suspect secure put down and control phase the device was employed and it buddied well with the SWAT techniques being used.
From the initial approach and seizure to the ground control was less than 5 seconds and not a single candidate was able to prevent the application or escape its secure grasp.
One interesting point was that it could be used to the same effect on candidates of all physical sizes and all their thumbs and fingers could be housed and levered in the one size device.
The clenched fist was no match for the hard manufacture material of the device and when your digits were entrapped in its grasp and secured off with the holders grip on it the leverage and pain compliance was immediate and compliance instant.
We used it as a flail and striking device as well as a hold breaker search device for sharp objects and as a means of prisoner handling to easily position a prisoner for applying transport restraint devices.
This inexpensive little gem does so much as well as securing your keys and a lot of thought must have gone into its design to come up with some thing that can fit most if not all prisoners.
It just proves once again that simple is best.
A family friend who was a former US Spec Ops operator in Vietnam has a major scar on his left palm of his hand.
I being interested in unarmed combat asked him how he got it and I think readers will find his answer very interesting.
He was attacked from behind by the enemy armed with a knife that tried to cut his throat.
Fortunately he reacted not a fraction of a second to late by raising his guard as per his prior training.
He covered his throat etc and when attempting to secure the knife holding hand was cut but he managed to clear the knife, secure the knife hand and turn and face his enemy and the end result was he was the victor.
This shows how important it is to train in life saving techniques and not techniques that like the polish on polish off would leave the head and neck well exposed and unguarded.
A weapon in cities that may well never be given a single thought even when in the thick of a dire situation is the car aerial.
I have been told of one such situation where a car aerial broken off was used with deadly effect like a metal whip with the broken off jiggered edges causing very deep wounds.
I know a very pretty young lady that was once raped at weapon point.
The weapon was a box cutter and the circumstances were that she was somewhat intoxicated and made a less than safe decision to walk home via an unlit wooded area.
She had previously undertaken a self defence course that covered preventative measures such to avoid such locations under such conditions but clearly under the influence did not consider the possible dangers of such actions.
Once she found herself in this dire situation and realized she was not in any condition to combat the sexual assault reality quickly hit her and she remembered what she had been taught on her self defence course.
She went into risk reduction mode as instructed previously and remained ready for any opportunity to combat the threat if it presented itself or to escape.
She was also thinking that she would never quit and would live to win one way or the other.
She kept as calm as possible putting into action what she had been taught and taking control of her situation to the best of her ability.
She conversed with her attacker to present herself as not a threat and to leave a perceived way out if he chose to take it and when she realized she was going to be raped she remembered her mind was her primary weapon and what she had been told in regards to rape being violence using sex as a weapon and that it was not the worst threat any victim could face.
She got through the situation by prior preparation through training and then put her pal into action.
She went to the police and laid a complaint and then when nothing seemed to be happening tracked down her attacker by using the information she had remembered from that terrible night.
She had done as she had been taught and had a mental picture of her attacker and key bits of information in her mind that enabled her to locate him.
She then confronted him with support and got him arrested for his crime.
She never felt a helpless or useless victim because she had a plan and an objective that she achieved by risk reduction and taking every effort to ensure her attacker was caught.
My partner was stabbed in my own home because of a misunderstanding and died as a result of his wound.
Stabbed by a friend of a friend simply because he got it all wrong led to his death.
The authorities were called and while they were finding out who done what his life began slipping away from him.
The wound was in his side around his mid rib cage and when checked appeared to be a superficial puncture.
He was quiet and appeared calm but was most likely in shock.
There was very little blood and the would did not seem to have done any serious harm that is on the surface but internally as we were to later find out it had punctured a major organ and this led to his death.
Knife wounds must never be taken for granted or considered anything less than lethal as if they are not quickly checked out some once may die.
I knew a local lad who had trained in kung fu from a Chinese master for many years.
He was the master’s number one student and could do some amazing physical feats and was very fast and supple.
He got into a fight one night at a party and lost his life via a blow to the head.
There were medical circumstances that attributed to his death but the blow was still landed and caused the death at the time only showing that street attacks and fights are very different to training in martial arts.
I while working the door at a busy club had a group of judo people waiting to get in as the club was full.
One of them a heavy weight made a comment to the effect that if he sat me on my back side they should all be allowed in right away and free of charge.
I ignored him until he made a reach for me and at that point I put my CQB prior training into immediate action to prevent his attempt and incapacitate him.
The end result grab prevention followed by some dirty trick attention to the old eyes, ears and family jewels and he was not so keen or so capable of any further nonsense which shocked the rest of the team and put an end to any other attempts to make a reputation out of me.
It shows once again how the dirty tricks provide a real advantage when applied right away and with out any fuss.
While at the beach a psychopath with two large mastiff breed dogs decided to try and scare us all away by getting his dogs agitated and directing them at us.
Well all was going his way until we got to our vehicle and he pursued us at which point I opened my wagon and let my pride pet pitbull terrier out.
It immediately zeroed in on the aggressive large dogs and the owner realizing that they might just get more than they could handle headed in the other direction dragging his struggling dogs with him.
Very much a case of the right tool for the job.
Outside a hotel I once saw some dirt bags hassling a young footballer for no reason.
I called him over and asked him why he was letting them away with it when he was a very fit and strong young man that I had seen play some hard and fast aggressive footy.
He said they looked rough and tuff and I said nowhere near as tuff as some of the players you push around and tackle.
I told him I reckoned if he tackled the ring leader he would stop him in his tracks and I would take care of the others if required.
He said he had had enough of the shit they were giving him and with me watching his back would take the ringleader on.
He walked towards this thug and with out any warning launched himself at him with a massive tackle that flattened this thug spark out.
The impact with the ground was such that it ripped a patch of his hair out and replaced it with bloody gravel rash.
I told the rest to take care of their friend and get out of there or they would get some attention from me.
The problem was it some time for him to come around and the young fellow that dealt him got all worried that he had killed him and begun trembling and getting all remorseful.
This week there was a programme on Arirang TV in Korea on female bodyguards – how they train and work.
I just shook my head in amazement. 1st was their combat training: They did Tae Kwon Do and added some grappling skills (looked like stand-up Aikido), jumping kicks, and so on.
2nd was firearm training. Now Korea has strict laws on firearms (no carry except for certain circumstances). These people were wearing flack jackets in the indoor range!!! (in Korea it is more important to look impressive than practical…) Then, they were shooting .38 revolvers, which were hanging from a bicycle chain, which in turn was tied to the sides of the shooting cubicle. Thus the chain was stranded horizontally at chest height. The shooters were standing, holding the firearms in both hands, resting the firearms on the chain it is tied to, shooting at targets 20m away.
These students were talking at length about their confidence (haha) with handguns, shooting and being able to protect their clients and defend themselves.
Luckily there is virtually no crime in this country, or there would be a lot of dead bodyguards…..
