In 1996, the Todd Group, formerly the Baldock Institute, established 1927, opened its combative courses to include national and international exponents and instructors. The course has been conducted annually since then, late March, early April, always attracts full musters and has a reputation for being specialist and tough. It attracts military law enforcement close protection security and civilian enthusiasts committed to self-improvement and testing themselves.

The course has been increased in duration to accommodate phase 1 training requirements prior to the gruelling phase 1 test. The phase 3 specialist exponents and instructors undergo their training course of instruction the week before the phase 1 and 2 courses of instruction and stay on, joining the instructing team logging up instructing hours under the control of the senior and master instructors on course.

Having just arrived back from conducting military CQB courses it meant there was some serious maintenance, repairs and setting up to do before the candidates arrived in. Murphy's Law and the drinking water tanks were empty on inspection and this meant some last-minute plumbing was necessary. A committed team of Todd Group exponents and instructors put in some hard work to ensure everything was ready to go and all the equipment in place. Gus, our chef, along with his dog, San Jar Ka Ko Ka, arrived and he gave the galley a good going over prior to the stores being delivered. We even managed to get in a little hunting out at Camp Todd shooting two young wild pigs to add to the other good tucker.

The phase 3 course of instruction included being instructed in the most current phase 1, 2 and 3 skills, tactics and principles as well as revision on the basic military CQB package and introduction to the instructor military CQB package. The phase 3 attendees enjoyed the opportunity to learn specialist armed combat skills and practice them in a realistic environment.

The phase 1 and 2 attendees arrived in the day before there seven days of training and preparation for testing commenced. Full days of phase 1 and 2 training were conducted in separate training areas under the control of Tank and has instructing cadre.

Early dinners enabled exponents to be transported from Camp Todd to the Todd Group HQ in Dunedin city to join the local exponents for evening training sessions. Monday and Wednesday provided two hours in the evening for phase 1 training at the HQ and Tuesday gave phase 2 and 3 attendees the opportunity to train at the HQ with local exponents and instructors.

The visiting attendees enjoyed the opportunity to look around the 85-year-old unarmed combat training facility and especially check out the history room and upstairs gymnasium. They all visited the Fight Times shop, diagonally across Stuart Street from the HQ, where they bought themselves early Christmas presents.

The week went fast with the drills, stands, battle handling exercises, revision and test phase practices. Friday and two of the phase 2 candidates have logged up the required 400 hours to test.

The phase two test requires knowledge in a wide range of point blank range CQC as well as ground combat, tactical control and restraint, enemy decentralisation, strangulation and choking and a wide range of advanced and specialist self protection skills to counter and combat both unarmed and armed threats. The candidates must not only be proficient in the individual skills and tactics but also must be able to employ the in a wide range of categories of incident and under varying offensive and counteroffensive employments.

Focus and concentration are essential as well as a thorough understanding of the skills titles terminology and application in order to be able to follow the orders and instructions of the testing instructor. Candidates must be confident and combatively proficient in the execution of skills.

The eight modules tested comprise of a wide range of principles and hundreds of specific individual skills that must have been mastered by the candidates. All phase 2 modules are tested other than the familiarisation and countering and combating on enemy fighting arts instructed modules during the training phase.

The phase 2 test takes several hours and concludes with a toughener and sickener phase that is designed to destroy the candidates remaining levels of physical capabilities and prey on their inner resolve to achieve the objectives.

These two candidates were well-prepared fully committed and cut each other no slack even though they were training buddies. Both exceeded the required levels and achieved a phase 2 advanced test pass and promotion to phase 3 special training.

Another special aspect of the phase 2 test was one of the candidates father who was present observing his son’s test had previously also passed the phase 2 test and his son would now join him in specialist phase 3 training.

A proud father, Mike Snowden, and a successful phase 2 test
candidate, Adam Snowden, post phase 2 test.

Day seven of week two came around all too soon and it was time for the phase 1 test. The phase 1 test regime is strict and to the point and any candidate that fails any module is removed from the test phase immediately. The phase 1 exponents on this course were realists and by day six were well aware of the abilities and capabilities in regards to the test phase.

Eight exponents chose to undertake the gruelling phase 1 test coming from a wide range of backgrounds and of equally as wider age group and of very physical builds. The unusual outcome was that all candidates exceeded the phase test requirements passing and being accepted for phase 2 advanced training.

Post the phase 1 test was a BBQ of wild game delights where the successful candidates were served by their superiors.

The course and annual prize giving followed with one very special promotion. In the 84 years since Harry Baldock established our CQB training there have only been two chief instructor's the late Harry Baldock and Tank Todd both master instructor's of military armed and unarmed combat. Now there is a third master instructor promoted by Tank Todd and he is Howard Bell.

Howard has trained at the Todd Group HQ for 27 years and is a quiet confident achiever. He trained when the Todd Group was the Baldock Institute and when Harry was still the chief instructor. He completed a course of instruction under Charles Nelson at the school of self-defence in New York and was personally selected by Tank to accompany him for his first training under Col Rex Applegate in Oregon as Tank’s training assistant.

He qualified on the Todd Group military instructing team way back and has travelled to Australia assisting as an instructor on CQC courses. He has undergone training from a wide range of visiting instructors including Larry Jordan, Ron Evans, Major John Whipp etc.

Howard leads by example and on a combative survival camp some years back was the fittest attendee in the water and on land leaving some of the much younger bucks for dead on the hell run. Howard passes phase 1 test in 1985 his second phase test in 1987 and is third phase test December 1988. He has been a senior instructor for many years and both tank and the Todd Group 2IC cowboy Mitchell were very pleased to present and congratulate Howard Bell on the very special rank of master instructor.

This concluded the 2011 annual International and National Todd Group CQB course of instruction test phases and course and annual prize giving.

Planning has already begun for the following courses of instruction to be exported in July to the Gold Coast Australia and in late November and early December to Thailand at Lopburi, the Thai Special Forces training camp.

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