Introducing European military close quarters combat and military self-defence systems to South East Asian countries where the majority of the population have no knowledge of such training needs to be a carefully planned, slow-is-fast undertaking. I have been involved in CQC in South East Asia for coming up 24 years and it’s a constant hands-on approach that is needed.
Because we are looking for adult only realists with the commitment and resolve to partake in a week-long military structured combative courses of instruction for civilians, recruiting and identifying individuals with the required attributes and attitude is a slow process exponent by exponent.
We have an 87-year history of excellence in providing military self-defence and military armed and unarmed combat and this attracts the minority individual realist we are looking for. The quietly confident, self-motivated, committed to self-improvement type of individual is the focus attracting on our intensive courses of instruction.
Graeme Wilson has been with the Todd Group for close to 20 years, has passed the phase 1 test and completed our close personal protection specialist course of instruction. He is the IT manager for the Todd Group and has been the expertise behind so many of our projects and developments including the printed and online magazines, the production of a historic DVD, our training DVDs, and the publishing of our training manuals. Graeme was the course manager for the recent inaugural Philippines week-long intensive course of phase 1 CQC instruction.
Interestingly, the Philippines nationals and two first time exponents from New Zealand had been intending taking a Todd Group HQ or Thailand international hub country course for some time and when they saw the course posted on the Todd Group HQ website they applied for this course.
Graeme, although this was his first visit to the Philippines, has family there and travelled there with his partner and just 14-month old daughter, giving up much of his first visit to the Philippines in the management and coordinating of this first course of instruction. He had spent considerable time over the months prior to the course making arrangements from New Zealand, sorting out logistics, promoting the course, and recruiting.
Fortunately, Maria, a Philippines national and exponent on the course who had been intending to undertake the course in Thailand, contacted Graeme and assisted with hosting this course, including arranging the Nomad Sports Club venue. To Graeme and Maria, appreciation for all your efforts and undertakings making this small specialist inaugural course in the Philippines possible and such positive undertaking.
To the two Kiwi lads who I had never met before, well done on your initiative to travel all the way to the Philippines to undertake a course with the Todd Group especially, with our HQ being in New Zealand. The benefits culturally and as a training and traveling experience of attending Todd Group exported course of instruction are really a special and different experience from training at home.
We all know how special the Old Todd Group HQ is, with the history all around you as well as the rustic charm and well suited training place, Camp Todd, but experiencing other cultures and meeting people from other countries brought together for CQC is a special and unique experience.
There are many martial arts self-defence styles, but attending a pure European Allied course of military CQC and military self-defence instructed the intensive military way where you earn your rank by intestinal fortitude and the employment of battle proven tactics and skills under sudden aggressive shock actions on encounters is very different.
This combined with our joint military and civilian pers training together on some courses is a very different experience.
The Philippines, as warned, provided difficulties with getting about in relation to traffic jams and the general chaos of long durations getting from point A to point B.
There were so many no shows and withdrawals from this course, but at no time did Graeme give up his commitment to managing an excellent small specialist course of instruction. After all, from the rest come the best as the military saying goes and one committed combative smart exponent is worth all the wannabes and paper hounds put together.
Spending time talking to the Philippines nationals on the course and discovering that their norm for self-defence is martial arts and combat sports based styles and hybrid systems and as such the majority have no understanding or idea of what true European military CQC is. Some interesting and informative information was received from Philippines resources and indigenous assets for future courses of instruction.
With committed individuals that know what they want through previously partaking in martial arts based self-defence courses and through doing their research in relation to European military CQC and the Todd Group direct lineage to the pioneers, we have good people on the ground now to assist with promoting and recruiting for 2015 courses.
The course, like all Todd Group courses, follows deliberate and definite lines of training provision and methods of training instruction. State, explain, demonstrate, questions answered, safety brief, method of training brief, physical practice, initial major error critiquing for every skill. Buddy paired practice at a controlled enabling level and increased in intensity with proficiency. Importantly, no choreography or pre-informed methods of unarmed or armed offensive assault.
Exponents are instructed on how to employ safety and hard cover tactics, make fast mapping assessments of the threat, and initiate their decided option in relation to determined assessment information. This is important to ensure they gain competency in sudden aggressive shock actions and against unpredictable threats at real time.
Anyone can look good countering a predetermined, known threat, but when you factor in the element of surprise and a lack of prior knowledge of the exact threat then it requires mental and physical skills capabilities and self-confidence to be able to undertake an assessment and decision-making under actions on training conditions.
The heat of the Philippines, as with our Thailand courses, does affect performance as well as mental focus and physical fatigue is a reality. However, having a full week of full days of continued training, drilling, and gradual intensity increases is proficiency and confidence enhancing.
You only test when you feel ready and when the instructors confirm your readiness. No one was ready or up to phase testing on this course, but and that is understandable after around 40 hours of training where the recommended training time prior to testing is 100 hours.
The course managed to cover the entire phase 1 basic package including unarmed offensive assault, unarmed counter offensive assault, seizure prevention and seizure escapes, edged weapon disarming under entry assault and at phase ambush weapon point threats, bludgeon weapon disarming under entry assault and secured an ambush conditions with a bludgeon weapon. They received an introduction and basic drilling in military technique to command and the brain to boot psychological enhancement package for military self-defence and military close quarters as combat. Primary option defensive tactics control and restraint of prisoners was also part of the week-long training program.
Exponents on course underwent an introduction to two of the toughener and sickener phases of the phase 1 package in combat milling and coming back from the dead. There is no protective gear with European military unarmed combat training and this enhances the realism and ensures the combatant’s conduct under controlled aggression, staying completely in control of their physical skills employment levels.
No wasted non-combative essential training or over-protective training suits that change the realities from real life actions on encounters where you use anything and everything you have at your disposal as you are.
Graeme was an excellent course manager and in between arranging everything for his family, as well as socializing and spending time with his partner’s family and his visiting friend, Hanh, from Vietnam, he managed to transport me to and from the apartment he had rented for our stay to the Nomad Sports Club training facility and back every day. He met me at the airport when I arrived and he took me to the airport for my departure. Comes back to old saying of Howard Bell a fellow Master Instructor at the Todd Group HQ if you want a job done properly ask a busy person not a lazy one. Graeme had done his research, advance planned, made arrangements, dealt with the difficulties of setting up an inaugural course in a foreign country and with the cultural differences as well as the disappointments of more than 30 no shows including a confirmed military group and a D-WAR females anti and counter rape course. With all the difficulties and curveballs, Graeme was a course manager that took care of everything, putting the course ahead of his own needs. He was a course manager of highest order and through his course management skills and commitment he conducted an excellent well-organised course of instruction.
Interestingly the grapevine works fast and furious and since the course of instruction has ended and the positive feedback from exponents has gotten out, requests for future courses from those that could not make it have been received. Word-of-mouth recruiting after conducting a first course is a primary means of ensuring future courses attract more willing exponents. Once the word gets out that this is not a martial arts based course for everyone, but a military combative course for committed adult realist civilians only and you can’t get the system or skills elsewhere, then those with the smarts and nous will apply.
This has set the foundation for upcoming courses in the Philippines and for Philippines nationals to attend courses in Thailand, our hub country in Southeast Asia, as well as visiting the Todd Group headquarters, the oldest private training facility of European military close quarters combat globally.
I write this article in Thailand where I am working on the brain to boot psychological enhancement manual and training resources that is due for release in 2015. This is prior to the final exported course of instruction at the Navy base, Chonburi, Thailand from December 1 to December 6.
Again thank you to Graeme and all the assistance from Maria that has established our presence and continuation in the Philippines.
The date for the next Philippines course still has to be set so check out www.toddgroup.com or eliteactionadventure.com regularly.
