2005 was a hectic year for the Todd Group and its National and International depots as well as with its online e-mag Fight Times.

The last part of 2005 saw Tank instructing in Australia, Auckland, South East Asia, the Middle East, and the United Kingdom.

The reality is with everyone of these instructing visits come more and more instructing invitations.

Shane Gordon, the Gold Coast primary instructor for the Todd Group, organised a full week long phase one and two course for Tank to instruct and Dave Stevens, the Australian Chief instructor, has a course planned for NSW in 2006 if an available slot in Tank's schedule can be found.

Gold Coast Training – Group photo, post phase 1 test

Lee Smith, the Auckland chief instructor, organised a one-day workshop in Auckland that was well attended and with Lee opening a full time facility in Auckland in March 2006 there will be a lot more courses and weekly training being conducted in Auckland.

Tank Todd (back row, second from left) and Lee Smith (back row, second from left) with course participants in Auckland.

Tank Todd and Barrie Rice, Middle East

Next it was off to the UK where Tank had to attend to consultancy work followed by some training with the UK chief instructor Ron Evans as well as spending an evening training a local Tai Jitsu class.

Ron Evans back row, second from left) and Tank Todd (back row, second from left) at UK Tai Jitsu class

It was then home for Christmas and New Years before leaving again for several countries consulting on close combat and instructing.

Tanks military instructing duties increased by considerable in 2005 and 2006 will see him operating a fulltime military instructing team made up of over fifty Todd Close Combat systems trained and qualified instructors.

There will also be the operating of a training camp in Dunedin that has been recently purchased that will provide accommodation for up to one hundred exponents and has over 280 acres of training land as part of the camp.

This camp will also be available for martial arts clubs to hire and will be fully equipped for such training.

This will enable the Todd Group to provide airport pickups, full accommodation and meals as well as all the required training facilities and equipment for resident and visiting exponents and instructors.

The Annual International Close Combat course the end of March will be the first such course to be conducted in the new camp.

Finally 2006 will see some more proactive recruiting to ensure our future instructor base can stay ahead of the demand for Todd Close Combat Systems training.

We will be recruiting, from phase one tested exponents on the annual course in March, exponents to receive continuation training and basic instructor training enabling them to become depot instructors in their country, city or town and preparing the selected basic level instructors for joining the Todd Group instructing team in the future.

This continuation phase is something that Harry Baldock, Tank’s instructor, began in 1927 and Tank has continued with for the last twenty-five years.

You simply can’t train the personnel overnight and from the rest come the best and the Todd Group has highly trained and qualified personnel that see them in constant international demand.

Fight Times free online e-mag after over ten years as New Zealand’s number one printed fighting arts magazine has become an international success that has broken everyone’s expectations.

Fight Times has had millions of hits and readers from all over the world who consider it to be the best of its type.

It is especially popular with military personnel and has many expert contributors and supporters that make it the great read that it is.

There are more and more people coming on board every week and more and more products and information being offered.

The server capabilities are close to capacity and new expanded provisions are on the horizon if the volumes of readers continue at this ever-increasing rate.

Unfortunately Tank has had to turn down many individual exponents and courses as his schedule is at capacity and he simply can’t be in several places at once. This is something he really does not like to do and he would always say in the past turn down a trip and you won’ get asked again. However on this one he fortunately got it wrong and we have courses and individual tuition visiting exponents willing to accept slots up to two years away even when Tank offers them other training alternatives they prefer to wait.
Many simply want to experience the history of the world’ longest running European close combat training facility or want to be trained by the chief instructor himself.

The Todd Group been awarded with every contract it has ever pursued and has some global joint venture training courses being organised for 2006 including specialist courses in South East Asia.

The Todd Group has a global network of leading instructors as part of its training and qualification commitment and member instructors of the international close combat instructors association.

They also now have training providers around the world that use the Todd Systems programs and instructors making them the leaders that they are in military close combat.

This has been just a glimpse of the Todd Group commitment to its trade and people.