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 watched on cable a kiwi rugby game and can see why the kiwis are so good at hand to hand. No helmets protectors and full body contact. I know soldiers that have worked with the kiwi army and they have a fearsome reputation in combat. They are well known and respected at close quarters and have recently been recognised for their work in the Middle East.
I can see why so many people seek their hand-to-hand training from you kiwis. Keep up the good work and I must say your combative masters book is simply outstanding.
Yes NZ has a very long history in CQB training and my facility will celebrate its 80th anniversary 2007.
If you can find some rugby league on your cable or satellite TV you should check this out for non-stop hard running and tackling. A visiting S/F chief instructor down under described it as combat football. I think you would really enjoy it.
I am an interested buff when it comes to the military of allied countries and their place in global security, especially units and countries that are held in high regard for their expertise and achievements. I remember hearing last year of the NZ Army being awarded high honours that were the first such honour since Vietnam I believe.
This year I recently was informed of a news piece where a US representative stated to a NZ politician they would be interested in training from the NZ forces. The latest newspaper article was on how an Australian Army Major-General that said the Australian Army were showing keen interest in several training areas they felt they could learn from the Kiwis.
I read the Combative Masters of the 20th Century book and it further reinforced the long and excellent history of military combative training in NZ. The Kiwis seem to not let their isolated location stop their pursuit of excellence and constantly continue to set standards that are world renowned. The Kiwis seem to put great efforts into travelling the world to learn and instruct and this is something that many of their international counterparts never undertake.
It proves the need to get out and continue to strive to learn and prosper from the experience. They appear to be innovators that use what they have at hand and have been constantly working away at doing their very best forever.
After chewing over such news items I googled up further material on NZ and H2H and the like and found Fight Times and it has a wealth of material that is very interesting and I have let all my colleagues on my mail lists know of this great source.
I wrote to you to get you to visit our country and train our students but your reply was that you are fully booked for such training until 2008. How could we go about getting qualified in the Todd system and setting up facilities in our countries?
The next time I will be conducting International entry level training for phase one exponents to identify future instructors will be March 2007 at my NZ HQ. This would be the best time to train and if you are ready test as well as attending the instructor familiarization entry phase that is conducted at the same time.
As I explained I do not have a single available instructor to visit you and conduct such training at present as they are all working to capacity on my instructing team.
I have just up skilled another twenty instructors from my senior ranks to elevate the demand on the other eighty plus instructors currently on the training team.
Make sure you get your applications for 2007 in as early as possible as we have only 100 available positions in camp for this course and every year for the past decade the course has had a full muster.
Why don't you have books or DVDs on your phase two and three and military programmes?
This is a good question and I am pleased you have asked it. There are many reasons that are important to me and my people and clients and I will explain the most important of them right now.
In the Todd Group you must earn the right to test and be promoted and for the phase three training you must meet a strict criteria and be invited. There are no charges for testing or certification you must earn it – period. So to publish the system for all and sundry would be a gross injustice to those that have had to earn the right to learn the skills.
The other problem is that my role as a military chief instructor is more important to me than profits and the security of specialist skills for my military units is paramount. Restricted material is just that for obvious reasons and I consider my role as a chief instructor a commitment to the people I train and not just a job or source of income.
I provide training for non-military that fits their requirements and the rest is for the armed forces.
Col Applegate said to me once that the phase two and three content would be a best seller and I explained to him my situation and how I would not be comfortable for the general population to have access to such material as previously outlined especially while it is and I am still current, and he agreed.
He too had much material that was never made public from the OSS days and much of his later research and developments in armed concepts were restricted.
I have read in Fight Times about many current world champion fighters from New Zealand like Mark Hunt and Ray Sefo can you tell us about any great unarmed combat men from the history of the New Zealand Armed Forces?
Yes and if you get the Combative Masters of the 20th Century book you will be able to read about Harry Baldock, Jimmy Page and Shocker Shaw.
Another such great that was better known for his boxing achievements was the great Bob Fitzsimmons the fighting black smith. He was a multiple weight division world professional boxing champion including being the world heavy weight champion.
He also trained in unarmed combat and self defence and wrote a book on the subject that I have a copy of.
He had a skill known as the shift that was a rough house boxing combination of which I modified back in the late seventies as part of my close combat system and call it the deadly shift a military version of the original boxing combination.
I trained a relation of his some years back and assisted a play right with a production about his life. He is a very prominent combatant that springs to mind.
Recently my martial arts teacher was disrespected on the net on a forum and it would appear the reason was jealously and the person that done it has no grade and is a well known slanderer of people that have earned the right to be in the position they are.
What do you consider is the best way to deal with this?
People that don't have the intestinal fortitude to front the person they have a problem with man to man are not worth the effort. They must have plenty of time on their hands to wage such feather duster attacks and obviously cant be very busy with teaching.
They tend to only associate with other such individuals and their words are often groundless and although they may make them feel good they have little more effect.
The answer is take it as an admission of envy and that your Sensei is affecting them with out even having to face them, that has to be a moral victory.
The good news is even such deceptive cowardly attacks on credibility can have the reverse effect by bringing attention to your man and making readers check him out, find out he has the status and look him up.
I would not waste any effort if I was you as it is a waste of valuable time that could be spent on more positive and productive pursuits.
What is the best way to breath for unarmed combat practice?
Nothing mystical or magical just breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth with every definite skills action.
This will assist in powering the delivery and ensure you are not short of breath by holding your breath under exertion and also reduce the event of being winded.
I relate it to walking where you do not have to think about breathing or how to walk.
However in close combat every step can be a definite action based on step and follow footwork not your step past movement as in everyday walking.
Every physical action like with the previously described combative step and follow with the trailing leg forward movement requires controlled breathing to power it and maintain the maximum levels of physical capabilities and control stress levels and psychological factors.
The same principle applies to exercising like push-ups or chin ups where you breath out on the power required movement of the exercise.
I have heard from a Cop friend that trains in your system that you have training that you call sickener or toughener training, what is it and why do you do it?
These practises are used on military and some civilian depot courses to determine candidates inner resolve and mental and physical toughness under combative stress and with constant risk factors. It is also utilised as part of continuation training and in testing phases.
They are job and role specific and incorporate specially designed usage of skills that are the same skills included in the CQB programme but they are practiced with safe guards that change them from deadly to dangerous if not correctly dealt with.
It is very important that non-CQB skills aren't substituted for this phase of training as the exponent must train the same skills in training they will employ in combat.
This phase also incorporates such requirements of movement as crawling prisoner or patient moving and covering or clearing ground.
There are speed aspects strength aspects including load bearing and armed and unarmed combative aspects.
The unarmed aspects include combat milling, pugil fighting etc.
Many applicants’ weaknesses are identified on this phase of training and many that do not have what it takes are lost to the rigors of the sickener phases.
What are the distances or Ranges you teach in CQB?
I presume you mean the unarmed or non ballistic weapon escape and evasion ranges.
Minimum safe range for unarmed counteroffensive 2 metres.
For edged weapon disarms prior to the weapon entry a minimum of two meters and preferably as many back yards from the weapon as possible.
Instructed range for employing long range stamping unarmed offensive between 1metre and 1.5 metres out from the target.
Close range hand and arm related unuarmed offensive between 30cm and toe to toe distance.
At complete close quarters in unarmed combat situations in the clinch total body to body range to reduce the effectiveness of power close quarters strikes is instructed.
How can I and my members as a whole club join ranks with the Todd Group and can I get instructor recognition for my prior training?
We do not simply accept mass applications. Every exponent must individually apply and be processed.
There is no recognition of prior learning facility, as all exponents must volunteer to join and test and move up through the ranks in relation to participation qualification and rank unless they have qualified on military courses.
This is more a comment that a question Bro in regards to Fight Times.
We are out there doing the business and now where ever we are in the world we can get fight times online and not have to wait for the hard copies to roll in.
Thanks for the change and let it be known all our guys read fight times as it has good CQB content by people that do it for real not look in from the outside and copy or guess.
It’s great to see it presented as it is and not all the dreamers and bull shit artists slapping their rubbish on it.
Keep up the good work and if you want to dump everything but the military subjects well that would be OK by me.
Thanks for the compliments.
Before we went to free online we were sending hard copies all over the world and had the military subscribing and the like.
I took the gamble to go on line and it paid off from day one.
I had had countless requests from service persons from all over the world to go online simply because they wanted to read the material of people that were respected instructors in their world.
They did not want to read the thoughts of people that had never been CQB trained and qualified and had no military instructing service.
They also did not want it to be a forum based thing as this can attract the wannabes and misfits that have too much time on their hands brought about by not being on the job.
They wanted to ensure that the CQB content came from credible people and knew with the International close combat instructors association involvement that the Military CQB content would be the real deal.
So we ask the hard questions of our contributors and when we get inquiries as to the extent of their expertise or rank and qualifications we can give a clear overview of the subjects actual capabilities and credentials.
This is all done off line the way it should be to deal with it professionally and correctly.
As to the non CQB content it has always been a major part of Fight Ttimes simply because most civilians never get to train in military CQB and either fight in a ring or on a mat or train in a studio and wear martial arts uniforms and like we are committed to CQB they are to their traditional or sporting code.
I think it is very good to read on other subjects and be aware of other practises and admit it should never be confused with CQB but it is a very interesting part of Fight Times that features some very skilled and tough people.
If we went CQB only we would make it a closed publication for service persons virtually and miss out on all the other types of training out there and they would miss out on CQB and that would defeat the purpose.
So its good to have varied content and the CQB wise know how to read between the lines and ask the to the point questions that in an instant identify a subjects true place and level.
Everyone I meet of late on course or around the traps is being trained in the Todd Systems and is raving about the training and your plans and new products.
What do you have coming up or out on the market in the near future.
Where do I start, outside another 130 odd CQB courses before the end of this year I have a new entry level course in Australia next month and workshops planned for three national locations and three international locations.
I have the TSB45 baton being produced and ready for an October release with countries and departments already signed up as well as full department trials with major departments in International major cities.
I have leading toolmakers and injection moulders on the job and the best of advisers in regards to materials working on this project of over ten years.
I am completing the training package content and preparing to recruit the train the trainers required for such a massive global release.
I have been assisting a government with military knife design and the finished three knives will be issued to the forces and on sale by the end of the year.
I am also working on the training programme manual and DVD.
I have been producing military CQB training manuals and DVDs for some months now and have three civilian DVDs underway for a 2007 release.
I am also working high tech restraint device design and have a major US Corporation interested in any new inventions I can come up with.
I will conduct the annual International CQB course the end of March 2007 and a specialist close personal protection course to follow.
I will also do my best to get around the 30 or more Todd group depots around NZ and the world at least once next year and look at the applicants on the annual course who want to train and test with view to setting up a Todd Group depot in their country.
I will be at the International Close Combat Instructors Association convention in November and have a visit to the UK Middle East and South East Asia planned for the end of 2006.
I have elite forces groups to train globally and top-level close protection teams for foreign governments.
I have been invited to Japan to teach the Todd system and will either do that later this year or have a group visit me and stay at the camp in NZ and train.
I would like to before the end of the year have all my instructing team in one place for a get together and continuation training.
I have other projects on the go but they are on the back burner for now.
What training do you recommend for children?
I recommend the oldest of combat sports – wrestling – as it is great for physical and mental conditioning and has stood the test of time.
It does not allowing striking or kicking or strangles chokes or arm bars that can cause serious injuries to young children.
It makes them fit, strong, supple and determined and is a sport that is great for them to compete in.
It gives them a strong base for any sport or system or style they may enter into when they are older.
It is the competitive version of European military close combat and many of the top mixed martial artists come from wrestling backgrounds.
It sorts the quitters out from the rest.
I have been told that Fight Times was printed for over ten years in your country and had many great articles included, have you thought of putting all those editions on line?
Sure have, but the problem is the shear amount of over a decades inclusions as well as the amount of current material received.
We intend to go back through the old issues and take the best articles and include them in Fight Times on line in the near future.
Can you tell me if there are any other current military qualified instructors in European military close combat in New Zealand?
Only those that I have trained and qualified and that is why so many committed people travel down under for the training.
In close quarters where you are fighting to maintain your balance how low should you squat to be more stable?
Good question and some thing that was once a problem with the masses of exponents my training team had to adjust individually in relation to their height weight and take into account prior injuries how supple they were and the like.
I came up with a universal means to deal with this facet of training.
I call it the 'Poo'. I have them visalise digging a hole with an e-tool placing their boots forward and wider apart than the hole and crouching down just enough to ensure accuracy but not so far as to risk a slip into the hole.
In have them look up to see if anyone is coming and to drop their weight by pushing and imaginary Pooh down but not out.
This has proved very explanatory and successful and when I tested it under combative training conditions the results were very good indeed.
It really made the lifting of a combatant far more difficult and when I I tested it on the digital scales the weight increase at the point of executing the 'Poo' was as much as ten percent of the body weight or more for that split second of drop weight resistance.
It of course also gave you a more compact lower centre of gravity and less mass to cover guard or to be seized by your enemy.
Could you tell me how long you trained with Charles Nelson and how long it took to learn his system?
I trained with Charlie annually for over ten years.
I would travel to New York each year for several weeks and train from Charlie every day from when he opened the school until he closed including Sundays with his right hand man Herb.
Charlie had a basic fifteen lesson course that he offered the general public that included unarmed offensive and unarmed counteroffensive skills and hold-counters and street weapon disarming etc.
Realistically any qualified instructor will tell you that in fifteen one hour lessons you will not master such skills and will need to practice them considerably more to become proficient at them.
He also taught his senior members many more subjects and advanced options and variations, these subjects included control and restraint, coming to the aid of a victim, breaking up confrontations, multiple attackers, combating various fighting arts, firearms disarming, ground fighting etc.
So to just learn these subjects and others would take considerable time and to be effective at them much more time.
Charlie could teach a novice a simple skill that would give them a real fighting chance very quickly but to master the many and varied skills that made up the Nelson system took hundreds of hours.
He was a master of his trade a trade he spent his lifetime at.
I read your article about ten or more years ago in a martial arts magazine on psychological battle preparation and I have since learnt it from you on a military course first hand from you.
I have attended seminars or read articles in the last few years on the subject being taught by people that have never been trained and qualified in the subject and I think this is irresponsible.
Fortunately most are going on information read from books written by experts such as Lt Col Grossman but all they are doing is passing on written matter not lesson material or practice means.
Could you explain the outline of the module you teach the military on this subject and the requirements to develop such practises?
Yes good question and one that cannot be answered in a short form, so I will stick to the primary points.
I learnt my psychological instructor lessons from my military master instructors in several ways.
There was the theory that covered reasons as to why we act in various ways under combat conditions and then looked at the specifics of the triggers symptoms and most likely outcomes.
We then covered how to use the normal early stage reactions to fear and stress positively as an early warning and indicator to go tactical.
We then practiced methods to overcome our fears and go tactical.
This included situations like how to answer questioning forward plan and prepare or by time reduce risk etc.
Once we moved into the physical planning preparation and practice aspects we started with situational assessment decision making and preparing to employ our selected physical option.
This is all post employing our methods to control our fears reduce stress and stop the physical reactions related to high stress situations and environments.
We would practice our hard targeting physical skills and work on enhancing our senses to sudden aggressive actions so we could use physical positioning to reduce risk and psychological practises as well to make ready for such contacts.
In a nutshell we would by use of military physical skills and battle handling exercises employ actions to take some control of the immediate or perceived situation.
Everything we do from there on in would include our psychological training as a natural part of achieving our objective.
We would test our levels and push the boundaries in controlled training knowing very well in real combat or a POW situation our people would be prize targets and in line for some harsh treatment and need every bit of such training and preparation.
You simply cant instruct such specialist subjects in a correct and safe manner that will be beneficial to your exponents with out first being a student of the courses your self and receiving the entire package hands on.
Today there are many applications for psychological conditioning for sport law enforcement etc but non so terminal as for military special operations where it is maximum dangers and brutal realities.
The military type programmes are based on a combination of information from the psychs and from military training programmes to effectively prepare their personnel for battle or capture.
The military also has the huge advantage of years of experience under extremes and vets that have passed their knowledge on and assisted in this field.
The ultimate of elite must have the best training for their role requires it and they come into their own as the final option when all lesser options simply don’t stand up.
We were recently on course and it come up just how different the special ops personnel are in commitment and confidence.
The entry process or selection and qualification process was the most important factor and when combined with the best in skills and training you have the most physically and psychology prepared combatant.
Many individuals or general applicant professions use terms such as CQB and the like and just as many civilian martial artists are jumping on the band wagon and claiming to be knowledgeable in a wide range of specialist subjects such as psychological conditioning for battle when the reality is they have no courses or qualifications under their belt and could be getting it very wrong.
I advise all to err on the side of caution and ensure the instructor of such practises is trained and qualified and the subject matter is role specific and from battle proven quarters.
I have been instructed on my military close quarters course in machete and knife combat by the Todd Group and have while serving come across natives of the country we were serving in using machetes with horse hair attached to the end of the handle.
The horse hair is used as a distraction and I thought this might interest readers.
The old machete is a cheap effective weapon and has been adapted to serve many purposes and with tricks and distractions like the old horse hair it should always be respected as a real danger.
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
