A Division of the Todd Group, Established 1927
Harry Baldock coaching wrestling at the old Baldock Institute
Harry with some of his champion wrestlers
Simon Usher in red Freestyle and Greco Roman National Champion with former Combat Sports School head Coach Alan Rolton
The Combat Sports School is a division of the Todd Group, formerly the Baldock institute.
The Todd Group are primarily mil close combat and mil self-defence specialists but have always kept alive the European combat sports wrestling and pugilism codes.
We have a history and lineage of no other training provision organisation and are committed to doing our very best for our understudies.
The Baldock institute was a specialist private institution established by the late Harry Baldock in the 1920s.
The Baldock institute was a multi-functional facility that included physical culture, massage therapy, combat sports and self-defence training.
Harry was expert in physical fitness, strength and conditioning as well as providing injury recovery and rehabilitation treatment.
He was a master of coaching wrestling, turning out many champions.
He also instructed pugilism and jiu-jitsu and restricted training in military self-defence and military armed and unarmed combat.
The old Baldock institute provided civilian men’s and women’s self-defence training to selected understudies.
My training was in physical culture, weight lifting, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, pugilism and self-defence until Harry agreed to teach me his army armed and unarmed combat and self-defence packages.
Harry lived by an unwritten code of not instructing military armed and unarmed combat and military self-defence after WWII until he eventually agreed to instruct me in his Army armed and unarmed combat and Army self-defence packages.
I believe he decided to train me in his military packages because I was a bouncer and often came to training with bruises and bark off, and because he knew it was mil CQC/MSD I wanted to specialise in.
Another reason why he may well have reconsidered and decided to train me in his military skills packages of mil self-defence and close combat could have been the changes in society and increasing urban violence.
I was the only instructor he ever qualified in military armed and unarmed combat and military self-defence.
In the later years at the Baldock institute he did not train competitive wrestlers but we always maintained wrestling codes training especially in the physical fitness and combating fighting arts aspects.
My primary focus was on military close combat and military self-defence from when Harry agreed to instruct me in these trade-crafts.
I also trained boxers and other combat sports fighters and was a fight promoter for several decades.
My hands on experience outside of training was in pubs and clubs and on the street as a bouncer facing likely lads trying to make themselves a reputation.
While most preferred the rules of competition I preferred the bare knuckles and boots brigade skills of MUC (military unarmed combat) where there were no rules, gloves or protectors as this best prepared me and gave me the best combative chance when things got unorthodox as a bouncer.
This made best sense to me especially under the reality of facing thugs that towered over me.
Later in my time under Harry’s tuition after I had tested and qualified and he was preparing me to take over the Baldock institute, Harry trained me in physical culture, strength and power training and massage therapy.
The jiu-jitsu was very much of a European self-defence type and you were either a white belt or a black belt.
You were a practitioner or the Master-Instructor and as such everything was very black and white and everyone knew their place and understood the importance of self-respect and respect for your instructors, coaches and others.
You got your instruction and direction from your Master-Instructor/Head coach and they took care of your training and all aspects of your advancement including testing and for combat sport your competition entries and arrangements.
You would never circumnavigate your superiors and make your own arrangements.
You needed to do what you were told and when you were told including abiding by general conditions such as arriving early before training commenced and not leaving until dismissed.
Respect for your superior’s went without saying and all decisions and arrangements were made by Harry.
You would not look outside of your facility and would never make arrangements or network on behalf of yourself, your gym/facility, head coach or team manager.
You would undertake provided institution or coaching with commitment and enthusiasm and would do as you were told and never just what you wanted to.
This was the catalyst of Harry producing NZ and international champions that was achieved by respect, loyalty with honour, dedication and uncompromising commitment.
two ears, two eyes and one mouth to look and listen twice as much as you talk and following instructions including completing set repetition drilling as told which made for top outcomes.
Harry would never put up with members that had their own agendas or were making unauthorised decisions.
Never make excuses or pay lip service when it came to doing what you were told and what was expected of you was the order of the day if you wanted to be on the team.
If Harry taught or told you to do something you would do it there and then or when he told you to do it and as many times as he told you to.
He knew best and could bring out the best in his understudies if they did what they were told.
Where understudies might not be able to identify faults and errors of their technique executions Harry certainly could including identifying weakness in his charges opponents.
Individuals that had their own agendas or thought they knew more or better were soon exposed and if they could not conform to the regime they would be cut.
True expertise is determined by the mastering of tactics and skills and true Master-Instructors/Head Coaches are not only instructors and coaches but also skills developers, problem solvers, always know the reasoning behind skills/techniques and have set up and follow up contingencies to support the skills/techniques they instruct.
They can explain the reasoning and provide all the answers to the what ifs, such is their level of expertise.
Harry taught me to develop skills, problem solve and how to best correct flaws and errors including character adjustment.
Being able to execute common knowledge techniques is but one thing Harry believed in and installed in me how to develop specialist skills to maximise advantages and chances of winning.
He believed in mastering all skills and techniques as knowledge is power just like mental toughness maximises your chances of victory over defeat.
He could look at an opponent’s primary winning techniques and tell you how to destroy their effectiveness.
He was a realist and would tell you how some techniques were made to work if you allowed your opponent to put them on you so you should not allow them to do so as prevention is far easier and less risky than escape once secured.
This is why when he was coaching his wrestling team the champions were many and the skills levels were so high.
When I took over the facility I looked for assistants and head coaches that had the type of capabilities that could bring out the best in the team.
Caleb Steven, the current Head Coach had extensive experience in wrestling and CQC and identified himself as not only experienced in all the basic skills but also innovative in technique development.
He can effectively problem solve and enhance individual competitors capabilities by identifying techniques best suited to their make ups.
He thrived in being part of the Todd Group development aspects and was very much hands on practical research and development orientated.
He has joined me on the training team with delivering training on combating enemy fighting arts and other aspects where there is cross overs with combative and combat sports practices.
We have exported courses of instruction including courses with wrestling training components for military and civilians.
Caleb Steven Combat Sports School head Coach familiarising mil pers with wrestling on a Todd Group exported course
Our strength is in our loyalty with honour and unity working as a selfless unit setting our highest standards and always pursuing excellence.
We pride ourselves in the continuation ethos of our founder the late Harry Baldock in being small group specialist training providers.
Our greatest satisfaction as instructors and coaches is our understudies’ achievements.
Harry once told me that in my lifetime wrestling would come back to play a major role in combat sports and how true that has turned out to be with wrestlers competing in MMA. He also told me that military close combat and military self-defence provided the underdog with the best combative chance by means of its dirty and deadly trade-craft tactics and skills making it the only truly deliberately employed formalised lethal threat neutralisation trade-craft practice unlike traditional and competitive styles or codes that were not designed for terminal outcomes and deadly objective achievement.
Harry also promoted the importance of combative conditioning and combat sports physical fitness and strength enhancement through combat sports, PT and drilling of techniques.
I have always done my best to maintain the wrestling codes including kill/catch wrestling skills especially in combating and countering enemy and other styles and codes techniques. I always had the intention of getting a competitive wrestling team going again.
That is something that I have achieved through initially bringing Alan Rolton on-board as Head Coach and later Caleb Steven as not only a Head Coach but also a combat sports codes developer.
Caleb is not only an excellent wrestling and other combat sports coach but is also an advanced CQC/MSD exponent.
He has competed in multiple combat sports codes with major successes.
Todd Group coaches and instructors are in-house recruited and head coaches take control over their codes of expertise training provision.
Final decisions are made by the Todd Group director of training including instructor and coaches selections.
The Combat Sports School has again produced many national champions including international competitors and none more successful that my daughter Jessica.
Jessica Todd two times Queen of the mat wrestling and grappling champion
She also won 19 national titles, 33 provincial titles, 15 South Island titles and 5 NZ club titles. Jess took gold at the Down-under games and Australia cup.
Recent Combat Sports School Champion Greco Roman Wrestlers Mike Johnston and Joe Dobson
The Todd Group is not just a combative and combat sports training provision organisation, we are the HQ source of doctrine development and writers of our training programs and manuals
We are a learning, training and qualification organisation through our HQ in Dunedin NZ and have depots nationally and internationally.
We do not seek our expertise externally as we are leaders in our fields of expertise that also export our trade-craft training overseas and attract international exponents and instructors to our HQ and Camp Todd in NZ for our mil CQC/MSD training.
Our head coach and Master-Chief instructor are not only competent and proficient in their trade-craft skills sets but also in tactics and skills development.
We have a chain of command, ethos, protocols and required code of conduct that demands commitment to excellence, respect for the chain of command and loyalty with honour and integrity.
Those that are included in our schools of instruction will get our best training and support but must comply with the code of respecting the chain of command and not overstepping their status.
No one is more important than the group and everyone is a part of the group and no-one must ever forget that.
They must follow orders and instructions and not just pay lip service to their coaches and instructors and must never overstep their status.
Like in any practice or competitive code the best of the best are those that are both quietly confident individuals and committed team or group members.
They need to be selfless, dedicated and highly committed to objective achievement with an uncompromising mentality and attitude.
They must never have hidden agendas or by-pass their head coach or Master-Instructor making their own arrangements without their knowledge and consent.
They must conduct themselves inside training safety conditions with a duty of care for everyone involved.
Exponents and competitors must have a grip on reality when it comes to their levels of expertise and knowledge.
They must understand that they do not know everything in regards to the running of the training operation and how things are done and of the people involved and the history.
In training every action must be supported with set ups, primary execution and employment practices and full follow-through and contingency options.
Such expertise and knowledge is testament to the coaches/instructors rank and level of competency.
Combat sports school members need to be able to train safely with others of different ages, genders, weight divisions and skills levels.
If they cannot conduct themselves appropriately the risk of injury to others is increased and if they do not listen to their coach’s instructions and complete techniques/training undertakings as directed their performance can be affected or risks of injuries to themselves increased.
Just like in any tactical undertaking there must be a chain of command and set means of communication and official process for decision making.
While players and exponents will come and go, leading coaches and Master-Instructors are predominantly lifer’s and are there to bring out the best in those that have fitting attributes, attitudes and a willingness to accept instruction. There must be a strict and proper training regime to maximise high level achievement and maintain safety.
The decisions must be made at the top level and all instructors and coaches will be decided by the training Director/Master-Chief instructor in consultation with the Head coach or Master-Instructors/Senior Instructors in relation to the specific school of instruction.
The Combat sports school is an important part of the Todd Group for those wanting to train/compete in competition and for children’s training.
European military close combat and our European combat sports share in their origins and provide crossover benefits in physicality, competitive codes practices, mental toughness and combative and self-protection primary trade-craft training.
Our ethos for military close combat is setting and maintaining the highest standards and must be as ours is a deadly business.
We expect our serious combat sports practitioners to likewise strive for reaching their full potential.
Just like there are some people that simply do not have the intestinal fortitude and mental toughness to excel there are those that have the physicality and resolve but think they know better and cannot conform or follow directions/instructions and as such never achieve their full potential.
When authority is compromised and communication breaks down shape and standards are compromised and decisions must be made for the team/group as a whole and this is something that Harry taught us well, including making hard decisions if required.
Our exponents and competitors get everything they need to achieve their very best outcomes at our schools of instruction including our combat sports school and do not need to look to overseas or elsewhere for their training but do need to look at themselves with honesty to identify their strengths and weakness and determine their true potential and current capabilities status.
They must know their boundaries and must conduct themselves with respect and quiet committed confidence. They must expect nothing and earn everything by being hard task masters and goal driven.
Achievement and gains take considerable time and while dominating in a small pond shows potential it can be a very different reality when facing highly experienced leading international competitors.
This is why it is so important that top competitors follow their superiors instructions and let them manage their program of training and competition to maximise their progress and best results.
We are the longest training provider in NZ of our close combat and our primary combat sports codes and this is something all members and coaches and instructors should be very proud of.
We are a tight close unit of leaders in our fields that conduct small group specialist training for those that have what it takes to join our teams and maintain their position on the team.
Dissention in the ranks/team must never be permitted to fester as all members must be treated equally and must conduct themselves professionally.
Team members will soon identify team member’s lacks in knowledge and often other team members by their comment and questioning will cause a reality check for such individuals that will pull them back into line.
The Todd Group Combat Sports School has produced not only wrestling champions but also boxing and winning fighters in MMA and other codes.
Applying a form of our close combat training ethos to our combat sports training is very important for setting and maintaining standards as well as emphasising the importance of self-respect and respect for others.
There are no easy options when it comes to close combat or combat sports training and there are no political promotions/advancement as everything is proven and earned hands on.
Training at the Todd Group/Combat Sports School is a privilege not a given right and requires uncompromising commitment to self-improvement and high level integrity and respect for the chain of command and all members.
Coming up to our 100th anniversary in 2027, we are proud of our schools of instruction and the advances and achievements of our exponents, proponents, instructors, coaches and competitors.
