The unexpected can be life or limb threatening
In this the 21st Century European military CQC/MSD is definitely not a traditional fighting art or combat sport practiced by the civilian masses. The European military close combat trade-craft for the battlefield or urban operators/covert operator’s self-defence is not common knowledge like the civilian arts and codes. Post WW11 European military CQC/MSD became all but non-existent for civilians simply because there were very few training schools operated by mil qualified Master-Instructors. This considerably protected status and minimal civilian training availability reality equated to specialist European military trade-craft close combat skills being far from mainstream and unpredictable in an actions on as these skills sets were not common expected fight or self-defence means and methods.
The unwritten rule post WWII with our former founding Master-Chief Instructor was that European military close combat employed in the Great Wars would not be openly available to civilians as it was used to wound, cripple, maim and kill on the battlefield and the perception back then was it was unlikely that there would be another world war.
If you have looked into the military Master-Instructors that continued in their tradecraft after WWII by providing such training and their qualified understudies that are still operating full time facilities today, you would have identified there simply were not many.
Because it was also developed and employed to counter and combat enemy fighting arts/styles and was also deemed to be overkill for civilian life back then it was all but made redundant post WWII.
Hence why you don’t find training schools established by leading WWI and WWII European military close combat Master-Instructor’s next generation of mil qualified Master-Instructors with direct lineages and instructor qualifications from leading instructors from the Great Wars providing European MSD/CQC like you do at Todd Group HQ.
The Todd Group, formerly the Baldock institute, is the exception to the rule and over the past nine plus decades has trained thousands of military, police and civilian enthusiasts in our European military armed and unarmed combat and military self-defence. We attract practical realists that know exactly what they want and won’t settle for anything less than instruction from military elite Master-Instructor in their most current skills sets.
The traditional fighting arts and combat sports are participated in by the masses and as such are considerably more well-known styles and codes with techniques that can become identifiable and as such can be countered with lesser sudden surprise shock actions effects and factors of confusion difficulties.
Not all former military close combat and military self-defence was European military battlefield derived and some was based on foreign fighting arts and on combat sports techniques.
It is the European military CQC/MSD that is the subject of this close combat file.
Our mil close combat and self-defence systems are continuous living evolving trade-craft practices. The most current primary tactics and skills being based on real time foul or deadly proven threat neutralisation means and methods, ensures exponents, proponents and instructors that are current are armed with the most current primary proven skills sets that are least known even in the mil close combat trade-craft by our former members or those that have not maintained a current competency status.
The objective of actions on mil CQC is to neutralise threats by deadly/dirty means that are all about immediate overkill unpredictable preferably covert threat elimination. When compromised or facing a formidable foe that protects all their life support systems and delicate human senses the employment of tactics to overload the enemy by foul or distractive setting up execution means that include incapacitation or interference with their mental and or visual focus or their physical capabilities is required. This is to disarm and disable them leaving them exposed to being effectively neutralised.
Formidable foes with their life support systems and human senses well guarded and protected against direct targeting require a disarm disable dispose MO to access primary targets.
Targets that are not permitted in even the most brutal and realistic of fighting sports codes are considered very much primary mil CQC targets. Most of the competitive techniques of combat sports/fighting arts being approved under rules of competition/training regulations are very different to that of the primary battle-field close combat means of incapacitation or elimination because the aim is not to cripple, maim or kill in traditional styles training or combat sports codes competition.
Another major difference is that military primary options of threat neutralisation include primarily armed options along with boots and body armour.
Even superior foes can be defeated with minimum effort by deadly armed means.
Even the military CQC unarmed options are all about foul or deadly means of incapacitating or elimination of the enemy by life support systems, delicate human senses or limbs destruction.
Ballistic primary and back up weapons, blades, bludgeons and combat boots of mil CQB/CQC/MSD in primary human anatomy targets targeting in mil close combat are all about threat neutralisation by quick overkill deadly/dirty means.
Combat sports fighters that are training in various codes have their own unique personal styles and means of techniques execution that can achieve high level competition success and often for some time in their codes.
World class champions throughout history that had different and unique styles and techniques achieved major success but their actions and techniques with time could be identified and countered.
Eventually most will add a loss or losses to their fight record and sometimes it can come down to their opponents doing their homework and working out how to read and defeat their opponents.
Challengers and their coaches may well have studied their opponents every movement and idiosyncrasy in painstaking detail to be able to prevent it being successfully used against them.
The most minor set up or execution undertakings become something they know and can identify and have attack or counter attack measures ready to stop the effectiveness of.
Minor set up movements or adjustments, positional shifting, feints, and limbs loading entry actions if familiar will increase counter actions chances.
When technique initiation can be identified counter actions including evasive or timed counter actions to maximise impact can be achieved. Timed counter actions to take advantage of momentum increased contact/impact can put an end to a formidable opponent in a fraction of a second.
Reading techniques set up signals, feints, techniques initiators, continuously orientating to your enemy/opponent controlling range, using angles, being aware of your position/footprint and surroundings and ensuring you are in a position that fits with your decided means of objective achievement or escape/evasion, makes you an aware willing able and ready combatant/competitor.
When you can read actions intentions the unpredictable can become more identifiable and as such more predictable and the chances of preventing such actions increased. When methods have been identified and are familiar in opponents/enemies strategies they are a lesser formidable threat and being defeated more likely and this has been the reality of many great fighters over time being eventually beaten.
In mil CQC there are multiple options provided for unarmed offensive assault and unarmed counter offensive assault threat neutralisation and these are not only to fit with individual combatants mental and physical make-ups but also to ensure they are armed with multiple options of threat neutralisation and variations of that to best provide increased threat neutralisation capabilities to deal with faced specific enemy combatants and situations.
Combine this with initiation and execution option diversity to enhance skills employment objective achievement and the combatant is armed with capabilities to ensure they best meet threat neutralisation requirements.
Another actions on reality is when combatants use threat perception of their enemy in relation to the deemed threat as being unarmed or the enemy considered by their appearance, demeanour or any signs of weakness or vulnerability as being low level and then under actions on the combatant draws a weapon and employs it with deadly effect. The unidentified weapon that finds its target can stop even the most skilled and formidable combatants in a heartbeat.
Never underestimating the enemy always maintaining a ready status for anything and everything and as such always staying willing able and ready to deal with real time changes in threat and situation is a must.
Importantly those with the combative smarts must ensure they are armed with the best and most proven means of dealing with unpredictable violent armed and unarmed close quarter’s life threatening actions taken against them.
The correct and best tools to take care of the job are essential as lesser options increase risk.
Set a real time assess, decide, execute mentality and not a guess hit and hope you get it right mind set.
While an enemy may be considered not to be in primary peak condition and as such not to be a major threat to a trained fighter, the introduction and employment of a weapon changes the threat level and situation by considerable.
Like the old adage of don’t bring a knife to a gun fight in that you may have thought you had the dagger holding capability over your considered unarmed and inferior foe, however from the safety of long range his drawing of a ballistic weapon changes everything.
Many a more formidable fighter or mil combatant through underestimating the enemy or using perception over maintaining a willing able ready and aware factual assessment and real time decision making mind-set/status have paid the ultimate price. Similarly those that may be fight capable that are not ready through not being aware of a threat can fall victim to covert or cowardly street attacks. The environment and terrain with protrusions, hard surfaces, edges, hazards and other risks and dangers can be responsible for fatal outcomes and must be avoided.
The unfortunate reality is that fighters and combatants have lost their lives to deadly unexpected unpredictable actions on or from contact impact with environmental hazards they did not identify and avoid.
Charlie Nelson had clippings of martial artists and fighters that lost their lives to street violence from those that were not trained fighters or did not the grades or hours of training in like their targeted victims.
Expecting the unexpected unpredictable and unorthodox applies to the introduction of the unseen weapon as well, simply because one of the most dangerous weapons in a confrontation is the one you don’t identify but feel the effect of or are taken out by.
Being aware and constantly vigilant under any potential risk/threat situations by avoidance or hard targeting tactics are essential aspects of self-protection risk reduction.
The weapon may not necessarily be a firearm or dagger it may be an improvised weapon or immediately environmentally available object or implement that has the capability of providing blunt force trauma or bodily penetration.
Mil close combat trade-craft being a living evolving trade-craft ensures the most current primary practices provide the best chances of effective threat neutralisation objective achievement and as such predictability is less likely to be a major issue.
The objective of threat neutralisation by incapacitation or elimination by an armed or unarmed overkill modus operandi is advantageous with quick safe objective achievement.
The principles of hard cover guarding and reducing human anatomy target exposure by the highest level of protection possible, including not exposing/extending extremities to increased risk of being targeted seized or secured or leaving life support vitals unprotected is a must in effective skills employments risk deduction.
Under testing phases where candidates have been trained in the same skillsets having several primary/signature skills capabilities at one’s disposal to achieve phase test objectives in actions on provides diversity and as such reduces predictability.
The skills all being based on cohesive same system tradecraft skill sets that share commonality, provide a range of execution options and the minor differences slight small edges or advantages aide in increasing chances of objective achievement.
The Todd systems having a complete CQC/MSD specific mental toughness package in the Brain to Boot that fits seamlessly with the physical skills employments provides the most important requirement, that being uncompromising and having intestinal fortitude and the mental toughness capabilities under the adversity of an actions on against a formidable foe.
I have tested candidates both military and civi that up against superior candidates in both the physical and mental toughness departments, have employed a skill that is not their commonly known primary option or simply comprises of a variation or different set up that has effectively adversely affected their enemy party candidate and enabled them to achieve their objective.
Dirty tricks and best of battle proven set up tactics that interfere with mental or visual focus, wound or injure, interfere with stability, physically overwhelm or physiologically over load, reduce or eliminate the predictability of employed primary skill, stand to increase the odds of fast and foul means of threat neutralisation.
Being constantly unpredictable, unorthodox and irregular enhances one’s chances of victory over defeat and this requires an uncompromising dedication and commitment to training in the perfection of the most current of ever evolving primary trade-craft skills. While skills perfection is seldom achieved but just by being armed with high level primary skills competency and capability and by continuous training/practice will increase one’s chances of safe threat neutralisation.
Always believe your enemy or opponent is working on defeating your skillset tools and never be predictable.
Change it up, mix it and introduce your most current tactics and skills that you are not known or renowned for but have practiced until you could not get them wrong and never become predictable by continuous use of a skill in an actions on or contest that is failing to achieve the desired objective.
Maintain unpredictability be unorthodox give nothing away and never quit in achieving your objective by whatever means is the best and safest up against the faced threat.
The Todd Group Modus Operandi of training provision like our processors is control of the access and release of the training packages.
Exponents and proponents must meet stringent mandatory joining conditions and complete mandatory training hours before volunteering for testing and being cleared for testing.
They must surpass the testing competency and confidence levels and then be accepted for advancement.
There are no Phase 2 advanced or Phase 3 Specialist training packages in print/film/photograph or text formats available for public release and members must undertake hands on training to learn such skills sets.
This is essential to maintain the integrity of the group and ensure responsible training provision protocols.
This also ensures the training packages are not available except to those that have earned the rights to be privy to such training.
The only publicly available material is Phase 1 Basic MSD/CQC and selected skills sets that apply to defensive tactics and close protection.
My dear friend the late Bill Hall of the independent company and Bomber command WWII said while this was not good business financially with so many people inquiring about such training, it was the correct and responsible protection mechanism to reduce the likelihood of the skills getting becoming publicly available and as a result abused and misused.
These responsible specialist training provider control measures also act as a means of ensuring the advanced and specialist training packages are not common knowledge and as such are not so identifiable.
The complete advanced and specialist systems and strategies doctrine and training packages are restricted information for the HQ Master-Chief Instructor and HQ Master-Instructors as this is the material that must not be publicly available and includes all our internally developed IP that we must protect.
Some things over more than 100 years have not changed when it comes to integrity and the responsibility that applies to the care taking of the doctrine.
