I just got back from a wonderful weekend training in Americus Georgia with Dennis Martin of CQB Services. As far as I could tell, this course was a short format of a longer 1 week or 2 week course for getting people used to the concepts and tactics associated with protection of another person, whether in a team format or alone (not preferred).
Saturday morning began with a power point presentation on some of the considerations that a body guard (BG) would have to make on his job. Mindset, skills, tactics and kit all play an important role in this job. The two day format course would concentrate primarily on some hard skillsets (unarmed combatives and some shooting) but was primarily about tactics.
I didn't attend the previous two day module on NLP (neuro linguistic programming) and how it ties in to counter ambush and self defense situations. But Dennis made mention of it a few times over the course. How to have an anchor word and something that called forth a strong emotion or state of mind to let you carry out a task. The "GO BUTTON".
We drove to a nearby warehouse and laid out mats for the gym day. We started by doing a short anaerobic 'sprint' warmup. The importance of physical fitness is clearly not lost on me. Dennis made the argument that all combatives training should start with intense anaerobic exercise to get the person used to the "10 second fight" feeling. Also it tires out the person so they must focus on technique instead of outright power. This is exactly as it's done in MT and BJJ training. Intense heart-rate spiking warmup to tire you out, then onto the technique.
One thing Dennis said that I forgot to clarify with him is "you will gas out in 10-20 seconds if you're fighting with the right intensity". I didn't know if he meant you should always fight with the intention of gassing in 20 seconds despite conditioning, or you should train your anaerobic system to lengthen that time so you can fight longer. He did make the point that when it was a real encounter, how tired and winded people report getting, despite a possibly very short fight time or relatively non physical encounter.
We started with just a refresher of the basic combative strikes. We did Elbow strikes, Tiger Claw (heel-palm strikes), knees to groin, hammer fists, an open web hand throat tear, and chin jabs when the distance was face to face. We drilled these on kick pads, focus mitts, and thai pads. The techniques are too dangerous to work on live opponents, so we hit pads. That is where I have to mock combatives a little bit...
I understand that the premise of combatives (WWII style) was to train up a large group of people in a compressed period of time with easy to learn and effective strikes. However, the lack of application against resisting opponents intent on doing the same to you cheapens it a bit to me. I won't beat that point into the ground but I felt I had to mention it. For a seminar format though, it makes sense and I give it credit.
I will say that I (and Jeff Bloovman) were complimented on our body mechanics when throwing the strikes. Well, the 'tiger claw' is an open palmed cross. The knee, well that is simply a Thai knee targeted at the groin. Elbows... same thing. I have practice these things hundreds of times and have good body mechanics because of practicing against resisting opponents and for many hours. There is no substitution for doing the work and having the flight time.
The rest of the time was spent on tactics. The BG would yell "ATTACK!" and point to alert his team, and then work the strikes. This was done from behind, the front, etc.
Then impact weapon defense was covered. The technique was to entangle on the weapon bearing arm using some overhook/underhook or whatever, and using chin jabs or knees to neutralize while your team mate evacuated the VIP.
Knife defense was next. The acronym was G.U.N. The method was to Grab the knife hand with the hands in a 2 on 1. Then bring the knife to your workspace with elbows locked into your body. Then Neutralize with knees. The knife defense was only done in arcing attacks high or lowline. For what it's worth though, it seemed to come out pretty well when some pressure was added.
I think that the curriculum could be streamlined by combining knife and impact tool defense. Having to diagnose whether the attacker has a blade or bottle seems like wasted time. Just an idea.
Then gun defense was taught. The gun was held in the traditional foot away, elbow bent way. Not the 'testicle hold' or 'jaw screw' method. The premise was to strike the pistol off line while moving your body out of the way, then grabbing it and pulling it into your workspace, then using your entire torso to wrench the pistol away. I like Craig's gun defense much more, but this one also seemed pretty workable. I did not like how it had a slap THEN Grab, instead of just a grab. I have seen a slapped get quickly reoriented in ECQC.
The gym day ended with the students gathered in the warehouse, and the VIP and 2 BG's walking through, having to deal with whatever problems might arise during the walk through. It was a good drill.
Sunday was Range day. The day started with a powerpoint on the aspects of using a gun in a BG role. The largest consideration was that you are no longer in the business of looking after yourself, but rather must make it a point to become a human shield for the VIP. Dennis R. made a point that my wife was my VIP, and I absolutely agree. This was a good reminder of the applicability of this training for me.
We started with an unorthodox and uncomfortable drill for me. We unloaded, showed clear to our partner, then practiced drawing and pressing the trigger at our partner. This felt very awkward to me. I was hesitant to press the trigger. I understand the utility in this, but I still had my reservations.
We started by learning the principle of pointing at the threat, yelling 'THREAT!', and going for the gun. We shot from seated positions in all directions. The side step we did was not to get ourselves OFF line, but rather ON line. This was another mindset change that was difficult to wrap my head around.
We worked a drill where we shot while holding the VIP with an underhook. This allows you to steer him behind you, or put him on the ground, and keep him tethered for movement. We shot from this position a few times. First no resistance, then some weight, then some jostling.
We worked single man BG drills where we were escorting him forwards or backwards. The proper place to escort a VIP is behind his right side. This allows him to press the flesh, shake hands, and allows you the best chance of covering his back as well as seeing threats from the front. We would see the threat, push him offline, draw and shoot, and then keep the pistol oriented on him while we walked the VIP towards cover. From behind, we would simply turn and return fire, and pick up the VIP and move out.
We worked a teammate bounding drill. Dennis made the very important point of keeping things simple and using short words with defined spaces between words so it doesn't all run together under stress. He used things like "ready, moving, move, malfunction, up" and so forth. He also said that they commo should be commands and not requests, since people will do what you tell them under stress. Dan K. and I used the Tactical Response "Move, Moving, Cover". It worked pretty well. I have to work on my use of cover. Bloovman reminded me of the fact that I always go down on a knee on the same side, and was exposing my femoral really badly. I need to just go down to both knees as he suggested. More positional shooting is in my must-practice list now.
The final two exercises were good. They involved a sims gun and a shot timer. I believe I did pretty well. I'm waiting for Shane to send my time as well as the par times.
Overall the class was very good. It reminded me of a few tactics things that I had forgotten, as well as made me think about some new ideas and concepts I hadn't considered.
Thanks to Dennis and Katherine for letting us train at their range, Shane for hosting, and Dennis Martin and Slack Bladder for flying over to teach in the colonies... ;-)
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