Self Defence Frequently Asked Question - Questions about the self defense courses
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FAQ’s
Let’s get a few things straight
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The Flinch Response is not a position it is a human response.
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The Flinch Response is hot wired via the Autonomic Nervous System and manifests itself as a physical response to protect us.
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Flinch Responses are such things as: lifting the hands to protect the head, or lifting the leg when kicked at, turning the head away
from a perceived attack, sharply pulling in the waist when lunged at, shouting out, striking out, fleeing, freezing, folding into a
foetal position......this is an almost endless list.
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The Flinch Response is a non definable position, it is not a set response of 1, 2, 3 etc number of responses to a threat; it is a fluid
response to a threat that hasn’t happened.
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There are however ‘likely’ responses, that need to be understood.
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Dependant on the person and the situation a Flinch Response can occur from both an ambush and a known threat situation.
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I am not teaching you a technique called the Flinch Response, I coach you to understand the Flinch Response and work with it.
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The training shows you how to understand the Flinch Response and how to work with it.
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The revolution is in the techniques that I show you to work with your natural response.
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The revelation is in the thinking that I show you in how to think about and apply this self defence approach
So what do you teach me?
This is a coaching certification for self defence, so you will learn the principles of the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©, the science
and the competence to talk and debate it, you will learn a hand position called the Arrow Position and you will learn how to apply this ‘one
technique’ to any primary threat situation. You will also learn the Core Techniques of the system and how to coach it to others. Also
remember the 100% guarantee, that enables you to walk away on Day 1 if you are not completely impressed by the programme.
Who is this aimed at?
Anyone who wants to teach the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©
Who can do this? Who is it suited for?
Anyone can do this programme, as long as they want to learn and coach, there is no set rule to attend, however you have to understand I
won’t pass you just for attending. Further down read about what happens if you aren’t able to meet the standard.
Most importantly you have to be willing to train hard, have coordination, be ego free, think and be willing to contribute:
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Train Hard
This is a 4 day certification, so there is a lot of extended physical activity, working 121, in groups. Where you will be challenged to
absorb the learning and immediately utilise it for long periods of training. The training has nothing to do with testing your fitness,
but we are at it solidly.
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Coordination
You have to be able to control your body! Sounds obvious right? But you would be surprised how many people can’t, so previous
martial arts experience is not by any means essential, often Personal Trainers are very adept at taking on the training as they have
flexible and adaptive learning styles. So you need the kind of physical capability to observe and replicate new techniques, you
aren’t going to go away for 6 months, we are doing it on the spot. Usually this means: Martial Arts, Military, Personal Trainers,
Police, Self Defence.
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Ego Free
Leave it outside. You have to be able to fall on your ass and get up laughing. If you can’t do that, then forget it, this isn’t about how
good you look, this is about learning and to learn you often have to fail, especially whilst training. As part of the programme you are
expected to receive ‘support & challenge’ for your own skills and knowledge, so if you are precious about being right this isn’t going
to work for you, you will also be ‘supporting & challenging’ other attendees skills and people won’t want to receive that if you
couldn’t take it. Remember I spend 4 days with all of you trying to break it, so we are all in this together; it very important to
understand you aren’t joining a cult of ‘this is correct, everyone else is wrong’; you are training in an approach that says, ‘well you
might be able to break it, but none of us could!’.
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Think
You will need to think for yourself, if all you are going to do is accept everything I say, that won’t do either of us any good. You need
to think whilst you are training, and by that I mean trying really hard to break the tools, thinking and techniques that we will be
working on. It is this “I don’t believe it, prove it” attitude that is fundamental to the well being of the system, your capacity to learn
and the benefit of others on the programme. When a group of people spend 4 days trying to break something and can’t, then that’s
exciting! This also means you are thinking about how the F.R.A.C.T System© will work with what you already know, how you are
going to coach it later in the session, what Scenario Plans you could create.
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Contribute
If it’s all about you and all you want to do is take, that’s not going to work out. This is an Instructor Certification programme, so you
will be teaching others as you go through it, it is also a proven fact that the quicker you get to teach what you are learning (see
diagram on right), the quicker you yourself learn and the more sustainable that learning, so this starts on the first day. It will be
expected that you contribute to the learning of others and then in turn listen to and learn from others.
When certified then what?
During the 4 day certification programme, we work through 'Lesson Planning and the Time To Competence', which means as an output
you can utilise incorporate this in the following ways:
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Small Sessions/ Single Workshop
We know that some people want a single Self Defence workshop, this may be a 1 day session, others will want a number of
sessions. Thus you can run a short course for those that want this for example 1-10 sessions, a session being a day or a few
hours, the SAFE Programmes are designed with this in mind
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Club Level - Self Defence
You run a self defence club in the same way you would run a martial arts club, the difference being that you aren’t covering a huge
catalogue of moves; you are in this case teaching people a stripped down approach and then working with them each week to
practice these moves to a level of significant expertise. The outcome isn’t years to learn 100's of technique, years to master them
and then years to translate them into a reality based situation. But an accelerated route to mastery of a core selection of
techniques through high levels of repetition and mastery of ones psychology and physiological responses due to understanding
and an ongoing move to inoculate against stress factors due to scenario based training.
In this way Foundation level can run indefinitely as the coach works within the programme to create a constant focus on
challenging scenario based learning challenges, this never ends.
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Club Level - Martial Arts
You are running a martial arts club and want to include the F.R.A.C.T System to run as a dedicated self defense programme as
above to add value to your offering and keep your martial arts classes traditional and pure; or you want to blend it into your
classes in a seamless offering as part of your overall approach.
A club can offer Small Sessions and Single Workshops, as per the SAFE programme as described in the Value Component
section.
So who will I be teaching in my classes?
Who do you teach now? Who do you want to teach?
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Martial Artists that want to understand more than their traditional art, love training what they do and want something to add value.
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Self Defence practitioners that don’t want to learn a martial art.
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The man/woman/child who want a dedicated self defence programme and don’t want to learn a martial art.
Will it interfere with what I already train or teach?
Quite the opposite. This will enable three things to greater or lesser degrees depending on what you want.
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Bolt the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© in front of what you do now.
Use the programme as a bridge to the training you are already doing.
For example I suggest teaching the system to all new starters who are looking to learn a martial art, and then you know they are
safe while they take the next year, two years etc to learn the martial art you are teaching; this enables you to keep you martial arts
training completely separate and pure.
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Blend completely into what you do, so it is a part of what you are doing.
The idea here is that you teach the system as an integral part of your classes, as you are teaching a blended approach and whilst
you demonstrate where the learning comes from you train it along with all your knowledge.
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Teach the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© as a standalone system
If you want a dedicated no-nonsense self defence programme, then teach this in isolation. If you only want to teach the Defiance
Combat F.R.A.C.T System© then do so, or if you want to keep it completely separate from what you currently teach.
Do I have to run it as a separate system?
You can do what you like as long as when teaching the system or parts of the system you acknowledge what is it and where you learned it
and you maintain the standards required to maintain your certification as explained below; so you can:
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Run dedicated self defence classes based on the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©.
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Run your own brand self defence classes and have the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© as part of that.
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Run your martial arts classes and have self defence classes separate as per the two bullet points above.
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Run your own brand martial arts classes and have the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© as part of that.
How is it possible to learn anything valuable in 4 days?
That's the whole point of the system, I have developed two things:
1.
A teaching programme that hot wires the learning into your unconscious, coupled with an ongoing instructor training programme
that embeds the learning.
2.
A set pattern of movements that are able to handle any threat situation. This means that you are able to 'force' the pattern into your
muscle memory and unconscious reactions with the accelerated learning techniques I will teach you.
Also remember that I have been teaching martial arts for 25 years, and the last decade or so coaching and lecturing; if there is one thing I
know how to do its transfer knowledge, teach the skills necessary for you to then coach and then support you post learning; I focus on
creating transformational change in individuals and teams. What’s more I don’t make empty promises, I guarantee this, with a 100%
Iron Clad Guarantee.
What is the investment to certify?
£899 per certification - Foundation & Advanced. The cost of certification is set in UK Stirling, otherwise it becomes a constant battle to list
prices in line with currency changes. Currency Converter
Who is Guy Bloom?
The best thing to do is read History, Brand & Vision pages to get a sense of where I am coming from, read the Combat Editorials; I am
featuring in Martial Arts Illustrated throughout 2012 and then email or call me if you want to clarify anything.
How credible are you?
That's a tough one, and of course I think pretty credible! But then I would right! Also I think that it gets tougher for people to trust what they
read as we keep hearing about supposed experts not actually having the backgrounds they market and the blurring between personality
promotion, martial art, self defence, military/LEO training, mma and the self created styles.
But most importantly I think is the fact that I am out there in the public domain, you can see me at martial arts shows, I have featured in
editorials and articles in Combat Magazine, have been inducted into the Combat Hall Of Fame for 2011, and in 2012 onwards will be
featured in MAI (Martial Arts Illustrated) the UK’s leading martial arts publication; so I hope this goes some way to giving you a sense of
the commitment to the programme, the honest intent behind it and the fact that seasoned publications generally only want to be
associated with credible individuals.
What if I turn up for the certification training and I don't like it?
Easy I return the course fee to you! It's important to me that only those that are committed to learning and promoting the system are
involved with it, so it's no use to me having people walking around angry with something they haven't connected with.
So on Day 1 of the training around lunchtime, if you make the decision to not continue then you leave and get a full refund as per
guarantee details, frankly this should be an almost impossible situation as there is enough information on the site, in the form of content
for you to have a pretty strong idea about your desire to get involved.
What if I turn up for the certification training and I'm not good enough?
It is paramount to me to protect the standards of the system to ensure that those involved in it have the pride of a hard earned
certification; that the brand stays aspirational and motivational and the best way is to feel you and your peers earned it.
So each everyone who is considering the program has a personal conversation with me (Guy Bloom) in person or via phone to enable me
to get a sense of each person and help you to make a sensible decision as to your capacity, competence and capability to achieve the
course. This isn’t a test so don’t worry you are not blasted with loads of questions, but it’s an opportunity for me to help you be sure that
you will succeed.
If for some reason you attend and do not make the standard, you will get a full refund (as we will know on the first day) or you are able to
return onto the programme as many times as required in order to achieve it; in this way if someone is struggling to achieve the standard
then they are able to continue until the standard is achieved.
The achieving of a standard is paramount, it may mean that you are given specific areas in which to improve and thus you may have to
engage in training that is not within the Defiance Combat system in order to the make the necessary steps forward (for example fitness
isn’t mandatory for certification, but if you are not fit enough to train for a full day, then you’ll need to get fitter and come back); but frankly
I can’t see how this can happen if you have been honest with me when we speak.
What support do I get after the training?
In the first instance the support of peers, annual camp, ongoing updates, email and phone support.
In the second instance as the network grows forum debate and instructor only training camps.
Can I certify people once I am an instructor?
You cannot certify anyone as an instructor, as an Certified Instructor you can award a Seal of Achievement to the level of competence you
are certified to, thus a:
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Foundation Instructor can award a Certificate of Competence to Foundation Level
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Advanced Instructor can award a Certificate of Competence to Advanced Level
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Elite Instructor can award a Certificate of Competence to Elite Level
At club level a Certified Instructor can designate a person as an Apprentice Instructor to signal they are being developed
to take the Foundation Level certification.
I have a huge amount of experience, can I skip Foundation?
Frankly no you can't. Why? Honestly I am yet to come across anyone that has been able to, it would be like me saying, "I teach
swimming, I want to teach gymnastics, can I skip the foundation stuff?".
What I can say with a great deal of confidence is that if you have hard won experience in this area then you'll digest it with ease and this
will mean you'll be able to accelerate your development and enter the Advanced programme at an accelerated rate.
I have previous experience. Does that help?
Yes! See above.
I want to teach but have never trained before?
You’ll need to talk to me directly so I can understand your background. For example if you are PT instructor or keen sports person,
chances are you are coordinated and you’ll be very successful. But be honest with yourself, if you’ve never done a days exercise in your
life, then don’t make this your first port of call. I’ll send you home and though I won’t charge you, it’s pointless. When I talk to you on the
phone, if I’m in doubt I shall ask you to video yourself doing some set physical pieces so I can ascertain your level of fitness and co-
ordination.
Who certifies instructors?
All training for instructor certification is directly with me, the creator of the program Guy Bloom, there are no exceptions. This is to ensure
that the standard is kept to a high level. You want to be proud of what you earned, trained and payed for.
What’s with all the branding?
Brand is a key part of the Defiance Combat proposition, it's very important to me as the creator of the programme that it doesn't sit as an
undiscovered, never to be known or understood system.
It's also important to attract good people to the programme and to do this people have to know about it, be interested to it and motivated
to get involved.
I am also adamant that Defiance Combat is an aspirational ideal for those that wish to belong to something that is able to add value to the
lives of those involved, that goes beyond the simple attendance on a self defence program.
Branding if done well supports and identifies those involved to the world, so we'll do it well!
Why reward Instructors?
Mainly as I hate the idea of not! I truly believe that students of the martial arts and self defense have been ripped off for years, the chief
instructor creates great loyalty gets all the money from the hard work of others, they then fall out and the whole thing falls apart. I don’t
want that to happen, so straight off the bat, I reward instructors with a very healthy percentage of the certification fee, and then reward
them again when that student send others forward.
Buying equipment, advertising, insurance, venue hire etc...they all add up, so I also get to feel good that I am giving rather than taking
from instructors.
What about Subscription Fees?
There are no subscription fees for you or your students. Again I am not enamoured with the idea of someone paying money to me, other
than to certify, so you pay a once only fee for the certification workshop. You charge what you like in your club, it is your club after all.
Can I charge a student more than the fee you charge to certify and keep the difference?
No. That would be a really bad idea.
What about Instructor Certification Renewal?
I would expect to see you at an annual instructor camp.
So I am an instructor for life?
As long as:
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You turn up to an Instructor annual camp.
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Do not bring the brand into disrepute; this mainly involves your character remaining in good repute (don’t bad mouth others, don’t
get arrested or be known for behaviour that means the brand is damaged by you being associated with it (bullying, theft, drugs,
aggressive behaviour)).
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You demonstrate that you are an advocate for the brand, carry the brand on your site and link to us
I think I have spotted some other types of martial arts/self defence in your technique and thinking?
That is more than likely, I have studied Wing Chun Kung Fu since the age of 12 and have been teaching it since I was 17, thus much of
my thinking comes from that area, I am an instructor in Thai Boxing and over the decades (yes I can say decades now), I have
experienced many other sides to the martial arts, so you will see that in there.
Do others train what you train?
Yes and No! I defy any self defense or martial arts instructor to tell me that everything they are teaching has completely been thought up
by them as original, never been seen anywhere else, or rooted in some other exposure they have have had to other learning, it’s just not
possible......in fact the last thing you want is to be taught by someone who hasn’t got wide influences.
This means you will see huge influences from others sources in the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©.....and be grateful for that! I
have a huge amount of experience of coaching, human psychology, the martial arts and self defense, in the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T
System© you get the very best of everything that I can offer you.
Why does 'traditional' training fail so often?
Because most trained people are trained to respond to static (You punch, I punch back), non-fluid (We know what's going to happen),
training room (Ever been attacked in a training room) scenario based situations; usually these are free from the levels of stress we might
actually meet and actually create a false response in terms of personal self defense.
Why does 'reality based' training fail so often?
Many people who are trained in a dedicated self defense programme are actually being trained in the martial art of the instructor and/or in
a set pattern of moves that are designed to handle given situations, thus you are back to a 'pattern-response' training scenario and though
this does have its place it's far from real enough for the modern combatant.
What is wrong with teaching a Martial Art to use for Self Defence?
Nothing! and Everything! Everyone has a different interest and need, some study many martial arts, some dedicate themselves to one for
a lifetime, others just want to feel safe, some love teaching, other just want to train!
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Martial Arts are a process of dedicated focus, taking years to reach levels of true competence and even then, may well be limited
in their self defence functionality by the inherent design, personal interpretation and limited experience of the instructor.
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Most people only train once or twice a week for a few hours each time, this is great for a hobby, but not ideal to risk your life on.
And frankly most martial arts are one or all of the following:
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Sport orientated
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More for the art, than the martial
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Are answering combat situations that just don’t arise any more
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Complicated to learn
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Not based around modern combat situations
There are many reasons to learn a martial art, and I talk as a practising martial artist, however self defence for the ‘average joe, the guy in
the street, the mother, the young girl, etc..’ actually may very well not be the right choice. As a martial arts coach teaching a martial art as
self defence, may well be antiquated and dangerous and remember I am one.
The Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© often ‘shocks’ martial artists, it challenges at the core, what works and what doesn’t, the kind of
feedback I get from martial artist is: “Damn this is good!”, “It’s so bloody simple, how does it work?”, “I feel better”, “I’m safer”, “This
changes everything”. So I am going to say it, “For most martial artists, this changes everything!”.
What is wrong with other Self Defence Systems?
Nothing! & Everything! There are some excellent self defence systems out there and some excellent instructors, the trouble is finding
them. It is seeing through the hype of the fad, trying to get to the source and recognising the real reason you are learning it. If it is
because their logo has a skull on it, the instructor looks hard and you get to say you were trained by X and the image of the teacher and
the branding is boosting your ego, rather than your in-depth knowledge and personal competence, then be careful.
At the 2011 TMAS show in the UK, I did a free skills session, a couple of great guys came over from an internationally recognised self
defence system, they were at the show, they asked if they could take part; 45 minutes later one wandered over to my colleague and said
the immortal words, “This is much simpler and more effective than what we do”. That system steeped in ‘combat reality and a head
coach who’d been in an elite army group’ has good stuff in it, if you are training 24/7 in an elite army group. But the average man/woman
just can’t take that stuff on board, the reaction of the guy who made the comment above wasn’t because what he was learning was wrong,
it just wasn’t right! And that’s the point!
The Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© frequently ‘opens the eyes’ of self defence instructors by challenging presumptions and giving
the knowledge and technique that enables people at all skills levels to ‘reinforce, reject or review’ current knowledge.
I am a martial artist already and I reckon I can fight?
I am sure you can and I am sure you can’t. What I mean by that is most ‘highly trained’ martial artists are very capable in the training
room, in a controlled situation. However we aren’t talking about that, we are talking about Fear, Ambush, Mugging, Multiple Attackers
and unfortunately experience has shown me that most people have no understanding of what’s really going to happen to them at a
physical, physiological and psychological level and what they will do in response to that. So maybe you are right, but experience has
shown me that you might be wrong.
I have a great deal of relevant experience, what’s in it for me?
Well you know you just might not need this, it might not be for you. Remember I am not saying everyone else is wrong, I am just saying
that 95% of the time, I find that once exposed to the whole programme, most people are inspired by the ‘thinking and the technique’ that is
the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©. I hope you find a way to get some exposure to the programme and this will help you to get a
sense of if it can contribute to your brand, learning and credibility.
I have worked on the doors, I never lost a fight!?
Okay, that’s nice. Should you be coaching? Can you coach? Are you teaching what works for you or what works for others? I don’t know.
But frankly being a coach is about teaching for the needs of others, coaching is it’s own skill and the techniques for self defence are for
those that aren’t martial arts trained and for those that are martial trained, is your knowledge deep enough to ‘support & challenge’ what
they do? Again, I don’t know, but this programme will help you understand where you are excellent and fill in the gaps.
Did you invent the words Flinch Response?
No absolutely not! Many people use the words flinch and some have been saying it publicly for a long time so they can get a little
protective. But the these words have been around for years, the word Flinch & Response were around early enough to be in the
Webster’s Dictionary of 1828. The words Flinch Response as a sports term has also been around for years and think about it, you
probably did not not have to look the words up in a dictionary, you most likely knew the meaning.
Did you invent THE Flinch Response, were you the first?
Again the idea of Flinch Response has been around for a long time, I created the ‘Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©’, that’s all I lay
claim to, no one else’s version of any approach, style or brand approach.
Is learning other martial arts and self defense systems a good idea? Can’t they steal your stuff?
When I started in Wing Chun I went to courses by William Cheung , Wong Shun Leung, got interested in JKD and went to a Dan Inosanto
workshop at the Bob Breen academy...we all did, we'd go on courses come back discuss, debate test it, take some of it on board, reject
other bits ...when did that stop, did I miss a meeting?!
I have come to a belief that their is nothing really knew, sometimes things are packaged differentially, or connected to each other in ways
they weren’t before. MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and JKD (Jeet Kune Do) are great examples of this, you can’t own MMA as it is a generic
term, someone came up with the term and it applied to anyone who basically ‘mixed their martial arts’ learning up to get a better outcome;
of course JKD is exactly the same as a principle, but the terminology was created by one person (Bruce Lee), was never used by anyone
else and was specific to their approach and really shouldn’t be used by anyone outside of that lineage.
So I completely agree that you can’t and you shouldn’t deny your learning history, if you trained with a chap called Fred for 10 years and
when you started you knew nothing, then don’t pretend that never happened. But at the same time if you are the chap that taught
someone something for 10 years, don’t pretend they’re no good. It’s all about the balance.
What I primarily have a problem with is people trying to own a thing, because they made it to print first, or have been saying it for a long
time, you just can’t do that; unless you have really invented a new term or design and if you have copyrighted of trademarked the thing,
you shouldn’t really have to; but these days you really have to.
So if you train with me, you can’t steal anything, but what I won’t allow you to do is damage the brand, thus you come, you pay, you learn.
Once you learn it, the only thing I would ask you to do is recognise openly where you learned it from, the icons, logo’s and leaning tools
are proprietary as they were created by myself and that’s why they have a “™” or a “©” .
Note: Go on courses, find a buddy who is learning something else, learn whatever you can, from whoever you can, show
them what you know, swap ideas, believe in what you do however never think you are the only answer to a way of operating,
enjoy being wrong!
“Never stop seeking the best,
and those that will challenge you!”
Bob Breen - B.I.G Camp (8th & 9th Oct 2011). Bob remains the top man in Europe for JKD, a great privilege to
train with him and experience a true expert and incredibly patient man.
Mick Gould - Open Day (2011). Went down to an open day run by Mick Gould, ex-SAS did all the training for the
cast of Heat, Collateral Damage and Taken. Completely different art, very challenging to train as so different, but
I learned two very important things. (There is always something to learn off someone from people of quality)
Darren Le Fevre
Darren Le Fevre and I got together to do some training the day after the Hall OF Fame; he’s a friend, a great guy,
very skilled and has intelligent things to say, I have nicknamed him ‘The Bear’; as he’s just so damn big!
Why are some people so defensive about their style and point of view?
People are without doubt tribal and like to believe that what they do is the most authentic, this comes from statements that I receive and
that I see of others; "Your position looks like X's and this one looks like Y's"....well probably, there's really only so many places to put your
hands! When I consider every martial art/self defense system that exists in the world with the statement for example "Hey that's a Wing
Chun move" followed by the riposte, "No it's a Sil Lum move"; we don't frown on it we just acknowledge it's someone else's way, there are
for example many variations of Karate, Kung Fu, Krav Maga etc that are all added to by the flavour of the instructor and the approach; this
in my reality applies here.
If you study with me you will encouraged to learn whatever you can learn (but be sure to be honest about where it has come from), from
whoever is willing to teach you, don’t become a cult member, don’t think what you do is the only truth and most importantly, as a martial
artist or self defense instructor “let’s not full fill the caricature of the thug, the unthinking and irrational”.
What about the styles and teachers that promote being the toughest and the hardest?
Now that’s a tricky one. I think it is all relative to the thing you are looking for. A great fighter doesn’t mean a great coach, a great coach
may not be a great fighter and of course may well be.
On a personal note, I don’t like it. I have a huge issue with the idea that a thug, bouncer etc has any place as a teacher, unless they have
‘grown up’ and can see that this type of ‘big man’ marketing is a huge negative to the martial arts and self defense arena.
I on the other hand also recognise that experience is experience and not to sniffed at, if you have been in harms way and have the
experience to pass on, who can argue with that. If you have been involved in the martial arts all your life, who can argue with that either?
My problem doesn’t come with the ‘where the learning came from’ as you can’t unlearn, what I struggle with is the self aggrandisement
that is, I am a ‘nasty SOB’ so learn from me. That’s just not for me.
What about those that say they have been in the military/police, so they must be good right?
So the idea is that the military/police have ‘military/police secret stuff’ or that as they are in the military/police they get to do this stuff a lot
and so they are the ‘go to guys’.
Honestly, I think it’s very, very rare!
There are a few people that fall into the ‘real quality category’, Mick Gould definitely does (having witnessed Mick recently on a seminar
2011, he’s the real deal) and not having met them, but Mo Teague, Hock Hochheim probably fall into that very, very small list.
Especially as today’s warfare is so technical. I was listening to a military liaison on the BBC radio and he was saying that most of the
soldiers in places like Iraq, rarely if ever actually see the enemy, they “mostly shoot at where they think they are”.
And on a personal note I have hardly ever met a military person who has ever had sustained periods of hand to hand combat experience,
if your options are: Call in an air strike, use a grenade, use a rifle, use a pistol and you are in a unit or team scenario, then it is hard to
think of many situations that result in unarmed combat.
The police in particular are bound by a ‘protect and serve’ ethos that disables many techniques and in the UK especially we operate with a
duty of care that focuses the techniques into control and neutralise, and use of overwhelming physical force (eg: many police to arrest one
person). You only have to watch a reality police programme to see 3-6 people sometimes wrestling 1 drunk bloke to the ground, of course
they are taught positive techniques that do work, but good luck in finding a small, light weight, short UK policeman wandering around an
inner city area at pub closing time by themselves....and if you do he’s lost or there’s a riot van round the corner with 6 of his mates in it!
So I am cautious over the military/police background as being any better by default, though I do recognise that some people in that arena
have really got the experience and background that is only going to come from that kind of background.....they are a very rare breed.
Do you teach the police or military? That would be cool!
I used to be quite keen on the idea and then realised that this was best left to those that understand this arena and have time served. I
welcome any service people onto a programme and am happy to teach if asked, but have decided to focus on one very specific area and
that is civilian self defense. this is an area I can excel at and develop people to be world class. So I’ll leave the police and military stuff to
those with that direct experience.
So is your stuff better than anyone else’s?!
Yes & No! I think it’s better than most, in my thinking 90% of what is in the self defense market is poor or average and 10% is excellent. I
believe that the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© is in that 10% of excellence and offer a full 100% money back if you don’t agree.
Are you tough?
Defiant, not tough.
But basically I am a coach not a street fighter, there are a lot of people very, very tough guys out there and frankly I wouldn’t have learned
as much about the martial arts and self defense if I was one of them!
Women’s Self Defense
Women's self defense is to me the pivotal factor in any self defense system for a number of reasons:
If it works for a women it should work for a man, that's not a judgement, but a statement about body mechanics: weight & strength. It
challenges you to truly answer the question: "Will it really work for a women?" If I ask myself the question: "Would I feel confident teaching
a wife, mother, daughter this system?" Would I be confident that it would give them the best opportunity to survive?
These are easy questions, but delivering on them is not so easy. However it was the catalyst for the whole Defiance Combat approach,
when I was asked:
"If I only had 4 days to teach a person of no prior experience and of average height,
weight and strength to survive an attack, what would I teach them?"
I tagged onto this, that if the person being taught was a petite female, could I be really confident that this was a real deal system
approach? Could I be sure that if this is what I taught a loved one, or advocated teaching a loved one it would work.
It was a simple question, but it had ramifications for many things, all martial arts that I can think of are designed by men; Wing Chun is as
legend prescribes the only one that is 'probably' designed by a women. So 99% of all martial arts, the basis of 99% of all women's self
defense were designed by men, most 'recognised' self defense instructors are men; I'm a man.
So with that in mind as explained in the history page the journey to create a self defense programme started, it morphed into the
programme as it stands today, but that was the catalyst.
Interestingly as a male who is intent on learning a self defense programme that truly works for all weight, height and power combinations
then in reality you really need to consider that the system you want to know is the one that will work for someone significantly smaller and
weaker than you are.
In terms of my thinking, when I was 13 years old training in my first real system Wing Chun, I was always the smallest and the weakest
(just by being 13 yrs old), however it taught me something of great importance: "I couldn't win using any form of power or strength, it had
to technique and my own psychological approach that would make the difference".
It is this approach that I brought to the development of the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©, it is also why there is no difference in
approach to the teaching of the system for Women's Self Defense, it was designed from the foundation up for the smallest and the
weakest in mind.
Thus for women's self defense, military, police or general civilian self defence a modern day system has to be able to deliver:
•
Immediate Response
•
Instinctive Reactions
•
Be able to overwhelm the assailant
•
Not rely on physical strength
•
Not require years or even months of training
•
It has to be holistic (physical & mental)
So no demonstrations of the dedicated technique for women's self defense. It's the same.
Can I buy the training gear you use from you?
No, we don’t sell it.
•
Protective Gear
Most of it is Gryphon Hockey Gear and it works really well for us. Mainly as I figured if it can stop the impact of a hockey player,
stick or puck then it’ll do for me, works an absolute charm and is a really good price and it’s black! I get a big permanent marker
pen and cover the logo’s as with all hockey gear they love a logo.
It has to be said though that there are suits out there that I have never used that also look really good, they just cost a fortune.
•
Training Knives - Aluminium
For the realism we use aluminium training knives from Keen Edge Knives, with the sheath and belt clip, this means that we can pull
the blade at any point. Keeps you on your toes!
•
Training Knives - Safe(r)
The best knives I have come across are Nok Training Knives, these are hand made and frankly brilliant, you definitely know you
have been hit, but you are ‘OK’ after!
My preference is the Nok Eagle.
Can I train privately?
Yes, simply email me directly if this is of interest to you. However you can only certify as an instructor by attending the 4 day Defiance
Combat F.R.A.C.T System© instructor training.
Do you train outside of the UK?
We are focusing on Europe and are looking for trusted partners in Europe who are dedicated to represent Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T
System©.
Where do you certify?
UK Venue:
Birmingham, England: 15 minutes from both Birmingham International Airport (BHX) and Birmingham New Street Train Station, both
central hubs.
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FAQ’s
Let’s get a few things straight
•
The Flinch Response is not a position it is a human response.
•
The Flinch Response is hot wired via the Autonomic Nervous System and manifests itself as a physical response to protect us.
•
Flinch Responses are such things as: lifting the hands to protect the head, or lifting the leg when kicked at, turning the head away
from a perceived attack, sharply pulling in the waist when lunged at, shouting out, striking out, fleeing, freezing, folding into a
foetal position......this is an almost endless list.
•
The Flinch Response is a non definable position, it is not a set response of 1, 2, 3 etc number of responses to a threat; it is a fluid
response to a threat that hasn’t happened.
•
There are however ‘likely’ responses, that need to be understood.
•
Dependant on the person and the situation a Flinch Response can occur from both an ambush and a known threat situation.
•
I am not teaching you a technique called the Flinch Response, I coach you to understand the Flinch Response and work with it.
•
The training shows you how to understand the Flinch Response and how to work with it.
•
The revolution is in the techniques that I show you to work with your natural response.
•
The revelation is in the thinking that I show you in how to think about and apply this self defence approach
So what do you teach me?
This is a coaching certification for self defence, so you will learn the principles of the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©, the science
and the competence to talk and debate it, you will learn a hand position called the Arrow Position and you will learn how to apply this ‘one
technique’ to any primary threat situation. You will also learn the Core Techniques of the system and how to coach it to others. Also
remember the 100% guarantee, that enables you to walk away on Day 1 if you are not completely impressed by the programme.
Who is this aimed at?
Anyone who wants to teach the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©
Who can do this? Who is it suited for?
Anyone can do this programme, as long as they want to learn and coach, there is no set rule to attend, however you have to understand I
won’t pass you just for attending. Further down read about what happens if you aren’t able to meet the standard.
Most importantly you have to be willing to train hard, have coordination, be ego free, think and be willing to contribute:
•
Train Hard
This is a 4 day certification, so there is a lot of extended physical activity, working 121, in groups. Where you will be challenged to
absorb the learning and immediately utilise it for long periods of training. The training has nothing to do with testing your fitness,
but we are at it solidly.
•
Coordination
You have to be able to control your body! Sounds obvious right? But you would be surprised how many people can’t, so previous
martial arts experience is not by any means essential, often Personal Trainers are very adept at taking on the training as they have
flexible and adaptive learning styles. So you need the kind of physical capability to observe and replicate new techniques, you
aren’t going to go away for 6 months, we are doing it on the spot. Usually this means: Martial Arts, Military, Personal Trainers,
Police, Self Defence.
•
Ego Free
Leave it outside. You have to be able to fall on your ass and get up laughing. If you can’t do that, then forget it, this isn’t about how
good you look, this is about learning and to learn you often have to fail, especially whilst training. As part of the programme you are
expected to receive ‘support & challenge’ for your own skills and knowledge, so if you are precious about being right this isn’t going
to work for you, you will also be ‘supporting & challenging’ other attendees skills and people won’t want to receive that if you
couldn’t take it. Remember I spend 4 days with all of you trying to break it, so we are all in this together; it very important to
understand you aren’t joining a cult of ‘this is correct, everyone else is wrong’; you are training in an approach that says, ‘well you
might be able to break it, but none of us could!’.
•
Think
You will need to think for yourself, if all you are going to do is accept everything I say, that won’t do either of us any good. You need
to think whilst you are training, and by that I mean trying really hard to break the tools, thinking and techniques that we will be
working on. It is this “I don’t believe it, prove it” attitude that is fundamental to the well being of the system, your capacity to learn
and the benefit of others on the programme. When a group of people spend 4 days trying to break something and can’t, then that’s
exciting! This also means you are thinking about how the F.R.A.C.T System© will work with what you already know, how you are
going to coach it later in the session, what Scenario Plans you could create.
•
Contribute
If it’s all about you and all you want to do is take, that’s not going to work out. This is an Instructor Certification programme, so you
will be teaching others as you go through it, it is also a proven fact that the quicker you get to teach what you are learning (see
diagram on right), the quicker you yourself learn and the more sustainable that learning, so this starts on the first day. It will be
expected that you contribute to the learning of others and then in turn listen to and learn from others.
When certified then what?
During the 4 day certification programme, we work through 'Lesson Planning and the Time To Competence', which means as an output
you can utilise incorporate this in the following ways:
•
Small Sessions/ Single Workshop
We know that some people want a single Self Defence workshop, this may be a 1 day session, others will want a number of
sessions. Thus you can run a short course for those that want this for example 1-10 sessions, a session being a day or a few
hours, the SAFE Programmes are designed with this in mind
•
Club Level - Self Defence
You run a self defence club in the same way you would run a martial arts club, the difference being that you aren’t covering a huge
catalogue of moves; you are in this case teaching people a stripped down approach and then working with them each week to
practice these moves to a level of significant expertise. The outcome isn’t years to learn 100's of technique, years to master them
and then years to translate them into a reality based situation. But an accelerated route to mastery of a core selection of
techniques through high levels of repetition and mastery of ones psychology and physiological responses due to understanding
and an ongoing move to inoculate against stress factors due to scenario based training.
In this way Foundation level can run indefinitely as the coach works within the programme to create a constant focus on
challenging scenario based learning challenges, this never ends.
•
Club Level - Martial Arts
You are running a martial arts club and want to include the F.R.A.C.T System to run as a dedicated self defense programme as
above to add value to your offering and keep your martial arts classes traditional and pure; or you want to blend it into your
classes in a seamless offering as part of your overall approach.
A club can offer Small Sessions and Single Workshops, as per the SAFE programme as described in the Value Component
section.
So who will I be teaching in my classes?
Who do you teach now? Who do you want to teach?
•
Martial Artists that want to understand more than their traditional art, love training what they do and want something to add value.
•
Self Defence practitioners that don’t want to learn a martial art.
•
The man/woman/child who want a dedicated self defence programme and don’t want to learn a martial art.
Will it interfere with what I already train or teach?
Quite the opposite. This will enable three things to greater or lesser degrees depending on what you want.
•
Bolt the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© in front of what you do now.
Use the programme as a bridge to the training you are already doing.
For example I suggest teaching the system to all new starters who are looking to learn a martial art, and then you know they are
safe while they take the next year, two years etc to learn the martial art you are teaching; this enables you to keep you martial arts
training completely separate and pure.
•
Blend completely into what you do, so it is a part of what you are doing.
The idea here is that you teach the system as an integral part of your classes, as you are teaching a blended approach and whilst
you demonstrate where the learning comes from you train it along with all your knowledge.
•
Teach the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© as a standalone system
If you want a dedicated no-nonsense self defence programme, then teach this in isolation. If you only want to teach the Defiance
Combat F.R.A.C.T System© then do so, or if you want to keep it completely separate from what you currently teach.
Do I have to run it as a separate system?
You can do what you like as long as when teaching the system or parts of the system you acknowledge what is it and where you learned it
and you maintain the standards required to maintain your certification as explained below; so you can:
•
Run dedicated self defence classes based on the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©.
•
Run your own brand self defence classes and have the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© as part of that.
•
Run your martial arts classes and have self defence classes separate as per the two bullet points above.
•
Run your own brand martial arts classes and have the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© as part of that.
How is it possible to learn anything valuable in 4 days?
That's the whole point of the system, I have developed two things:
1.
A teaching programme that hot wires the learning into your unconscious, coupled with an ongoing instructor training programme
that embeds the learning.
2.
A set pattern of movements that are able to handle any threat situation. This means that you are able to 'force' the pattern into your
muscle memory and unconscious reactions with the accelerated learning techniques I will teach you.
Also remember that I have been teaching martial arts for 25 years, and the last decade or so coaching and lecturing; if there is one thing I
know how to do its transfer knowledge, teach the skills necessary for you to then coach and then support you post learning; I focus on
creating transformational change in individuals and teams. What’s more I don’t make empty promises, I guarantee this, with a 100%
Iron Clad Guarantee.
What is the investment to certify?
£899 per certification - Foundation & Advanced. The cost of certification is set in UK Stirling, otherwise it becomes a constant battle to list
prices in line with currency changes. Currency Converter
Who is Guy Bloom?
The best thing to do is read History, Brand & Vision pages to get a sense of where I am coming from, read the Combat Editorials; I am
featuring in Martial Arts Illustrated throughout 2012 and then email or call me if you want to clarify anything.
How credible are you?
That's a tough one, and of course I think pretty credible! But then I would right! Also I think that it gets tougher for people to trust what they
read as we keep hearing about supposed experts not actually having the backgrounds they market and the blurring between personality
promotion, martial art, self defence, military/LEO training, mma and the self created styles.
But most importantly I think is the fact that I am out there in the public domain, you can see me at martial arts shows, I have featured in
editorials and articles in Combat Magazine, have been inducted into the Combat Hall Of Fame for 2011, and in 2012 onwards will be
featured in MAI (Martial Arts Illustrated) the UK’s leading martial arts publication; so I hope this goes some way to giving you a sense of
the commitment to the programme, the honest intent behind it and the fact that seasoned publications generally only want to be
associated with credible individuals.
What if I turn up for the certification training and I don't like it?
Easy I return the course fee to you! It's important to me that only those that are committed to learning and promoting the system are
involved with it, so it's no use to me having people walking around angry with something they haven't connected with.
So on Day 1 of the training around lunchtime, if you make the decision to not continue then you leave and get a full refund as per
guarantee details, frankly this should be an almost impossible situation as there is enough information on the site, in the form of content
for you to have a pretty strong idea about your desire to get involved.
What if I turn up for the certification training and I'm not good enough?
It is paramount to me to protect the standards of the system to ensure that those involved in it have the pride of a hard earned
certification; that the brand stays aspirational and motivational and the best way is to feel you and your peers earned it.
So each everyone who is considering the program has a personal conversation with me (Guy Bloom) in person or via phone to enable me
to get a sense of each person and help you to make a sensible decision as to your capacity, competence and capability to achieve the
course. This isn’t a test so don’t worry you are not blasted with loads of questions, but it’s an opportunity for me to help you be sure that
you will succeed.
If for some reason you attend and do not make the standard, you will get a full refund (as we will know on the first day) or you are able to
return onto the programme as many times as required in order to achieve it; in this way if someone is struggling to achieve the standard
then they are able to continue until the standard is achieved.
The achieving of a standard is paramount, it may mean that you are given specific areas in which to improve and thus you may have to
engage in training that is not within the Defiance Combat system in order to the make the necessary steps forward (for example fitness
isn’t mandatory for certification, but if you are not fit enough to train for a full day, then you’ll need to get fitter and come back); but frankly
I can’t see how this can happen if you have been honest with me when we speak.
What support do I get after the training?
In the first instance the support of peers, annual camp, ongoing updates, email and phone support.
In the second instance as the network grows forum debate and instructor only training camps.
Can I certify people once I am an instructor?
You cannot certify anyone as an instructor, as an Certified Instructor you can award a Seal of Achievement to the level of competence you
are certified to, thus a:
•
Foundation Instructor can award a Certificate of Competence to Foundation Level
•
Advanced Instructor can award a Certificate of Competence to Advanced Level
•
Elite Instructor can award a Certificate of Competence to Elite Level
At club level a Certified Instructor can designate a person as an Apprentice Instructor to signal they are being developed
to take the Foundation Level certification.
I have a huge amount of experience, can I skip Foundation?
Frankly no you can't. Why? Honestly I am yet to come across anyone that has been able to, it would be like me saying, "I teach
swimming, I want to teach gymnastics, can I skip the foundation stuff?".
What I can say with a great deal of confidence is that if you have hard won experience in this area then you'll digest it with ease and this
will mean you'll be able to accelerate your development and enter the Advanced programme at an accelerated rate.
I have previous experience. Does that help?
Yes! See above.
I want to teach but have never trained before?
You’ll need to talk to me directly so I can understand your background. For example if you are PT instructor or keen sports person,
chances are you are coordinated and you’ll be very successful. But be honest with yourself, if you’ve never done a days exercise in your
life, then don’t make this your first port of call. I’ll send you home and though I won’t charge you, it’s pointless. When I talk to you on the
phone, if I’m in doubt I shall ask you to video yourself doing some set physical pieces so I can ascertain your level of fitness and co-
ordination.
Who certifies instructors?
All training for instructor certification is directly with me, the creator of the program Guy Bloom, there are no exceptions. This is to ensure
that the standard is kept to a high level. You want to be proud of what you earned, trained and payed for.
What’s with all the branding?
Brand is a key part of the Defiance Combat proposition, it's very important to me as the creator of the programme that it doesn't sit as an
undiscovered, never to be known or understood system.
It's also important to attract good people to the programme and to do this people have to know about it, be interested to it and motivated
to get involved.
I am also adamant that Defiance Combat is an aspirational ideal for those that wish to belong to something that is able to add value to the
lives of those involved, that goes beyond the simple attendance on a self defence program.
Branding if done well supports and identifies those involved to the world, so we'll do it well!
Why reward Instructors?
Mainly as I hate the idea of not! I truly believe that students of the martial arts and self defense have been ripped off for years, the chief
instructor creates great loyalty gets all the money from the hard work of others, they then fall out and the whole thing falls apart. I don’t
want that to happen, so straight off the bat, I reward instructors with a very healthy percentage of the certification fee, and then reward
them again when that student send others forward.
Buying equipment, advertising, insurance, venue hire etc...they all add up, so I also get to feel good that I am giving rather than taking
from instructors.
What about Subscription Fees?
There are no subscription fees for you or your students. Again I am not enamoured with the idea of someone paying money to me, other
than to certify, so you pay a once only fee for the certification workshop. You charge what you like in your club, it is your club after all.
Can I charge a student more than the fee you charge to certify and keep the difference?
No. That would be a really bad idea.
What about Instructor Certification Renewal?
I would expect to see you at an annual instructor camp.
So I am an instructor for life?
As long as:
•
You turn up to an Instructor annual camp.
•
Do not bring the brand into disrepute; this mainly involves your character remaining in good repute (don’t bad mouth others, don’t
get arrested or be known for behaviour that means the brand is damaged by you being associated with it (bullying, theft, drugs,
aggressive behaviour)).
•
You demonstrate that you are an advocate for the brand, carry the brand on your site and link to us
I think I have spotted some other types of martial arts/self defence in your technique and thinking?
That is more than likely, I have studied Wing Chun Kung Fu since the age of 12 and have been teaching it since I was 17, thus much of
my thinking comes from that area, I am an instructor in Thai Boxing and over the decades (yes I can say decades now), I have
experienced many other sides to the martial arts, so you will see that in there.
Do others train what you train?
Yes and No! I defy any self defense or martial arts instructor to tell me that everything they are teaching has completely been thought up
by them as original, never been seen anywhere else, or rooted in some other exposure they have have had to other learning, it’s just not
possible......in fact the last thing you want is to be taught by someone who hasn’t got wide influences.
This means you will see huge influences from others sources in the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©.....and be grateful for that! I
have a huge amount of experience of coaching, human psychology, the martial arts and self defense, in the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T
System© you get the very best of everything that I can offer you.
Why does 'traditional' training fail so often?
Because most trained people are trained to respond to static (You punch, I punch back), non-fluid (We know what's going to happen),
training room (Ever been attacked in a training room) scenario based situations; usually these are free from the levels of stress we might
actually meet and actually create a false response in terms of personal self defense.
Why does 'reality based' training fail so often?
Many people who are trained in a dedicated self defense programme are actually being trained in the martial art of the instructor and/or in
a set pattern of moves that are designed to handle given situations, thus you are back to a 'pattern-response' training scenario and though
this does have its place it's far from real enough for the modern combatant.
What is wrong with teaching a Martial Art to use for Self Defence?
Nothing! and Everything! Everyone has a different interest and need, some study many martial arts, some dedicate themselves to one for
a lifetime, others just want to feel safe, some love teaching, other just want to train!
•
Martial Arts are a process of dedicated focus, taking years to reach levels of true competence and even then, may well be limited
in their self defence functionality by the inherent design, personal interpretation and limited experience of the instructor.
•
Most people only train once or twice a week for a few hours each time, this is great for a hobby, but not ideal to risk your life on.
And frankly most martial arts are one or all of the following:
•
Sport orientated
•
More for the art, than the martial
•
Are answering combat situations that just don’t arise any more
•
Complicated to learn
•
Not based around modern combat situations
There are many reasons to learn a martial art, and I talk as a practising martial artist, however self defence for the ‘average joe, the guy in
the street, the mother, the young girl, etc..’ actually may very well not be the right choice. As a martial arts coach teaching a martial art as
self defence, may well be antiquated and dangerous and remember I am one.
The Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© often ‘shocks’ martial artists, it challenges at the core, what works and what doesn’t, the kind of
feedback I get from martial artist is: “Damn this is good!”, “It’s so bloody simple, how does it work?”, “I feel better”, “I’m safer”, “This
changes everything”. So I am going to say it, “For most martial artists, this changes everything!”.
What is wrong with other Self Defence Systems?
Nothing! & Everything! There are some excellent self defence systems out there and some excellent instructors, the trouble is finding
them. It is seeing through the hype of the fad, trying to get to the source and recognising the real reason you are learning it. If it is
because their logo has a skull on it, the instructor looks hard and you get to say you were trained by X and the image of the teacher and
the branding is boosting your ego, rather than your in-depth knowledge and personal competence, then be careful.
At the 2011 TMAS show in the UK, I did a free skills session, a couple of great guys came over from an internationally recognised self
defence system, they were at the show, they asked if they could take part; 45 minutes later one wandered over to my colleague and said
the immortal words, “This is much simpler and more effective than what we do”. That system steeped in ‘combat reality and a head
coach who’d been in an elite army group’ has good stuff in it, if you are training 24/7 in an elite army group. But the average man/woman
just can’t take that stuff on board, the reaction of the guy who made the comment above wasn’t because what he was learning was wrong,
it just wasn’t right! And that’s the point!
The Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© frequently ‘opens the eyes’ of self defence instructors by challenging presumptions and giving
the knowledge and technique that enables people at all skills levels to ‘reinforce, reject or review’ current knowledge.
I am a martial artist already and I reckon I can fight?
I am sure you can and I am sure you can’t. What I mean by that is most ‘highly trained’ martial artists are very capable in the training
room, in a controlled situation. However we aren’t talking about that, we are talking about Fear, Ambush, Mugging, Multiple Attackers
and unfortunately experience has shown me that most people have no understanding of what’s really going to happen to them at a
physical, physiological and psychological level and what they will do in response to that. So maybe you are right, but experience has
shown me that you might be wrong.
I have a great deal of relevant experience, what’s in it for me?
Well you know you just might not need this, it might not be for you. Remember I am not saying everyone else is wrong, I am just saying
that 95% of the time, I find that once exposed to the whole programme, most people are inspired by the ‘thinking and the technique’ that is
the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©. I hope you find a way to get some exposure to the programme and this will help you to get a
sense of if it can contribute to your brand, learning and credibility.
I have worked on the doors, I never lost a fight!?
Okay, that’s nice. Should you be coaching? Can you coach? Are you teaching what works for you or what works for others? I don’t know.
But frankly being a coach is about teaching for the needs of others, coaching is it’s own skill and the techniques for self defence are for
those that aren’t martial arts trained and for those that are martial trained, is your knowledge deep enough to ‘support & challenge’ what
they do? Again, I don’t know, but this programme will help you understand where you are excellent and fill in the gaps.
Did you invent the words Flinch Response?
No absolutely not! Many people use the words flinch and some have been saying it publicly for a long time so they can get a little
protective. But the these words have been around for years, the word Flinch & Response were around early enough to be in the
Webster’s Dictionary of 1828. The words Flinch Response as a sports term has also been around for years and think about it, you
probably did not not have to look the words up in a dictionary, you most likely knew the meaning.
Did you invent THE Flinch Response, were you the first?
Again the idea of Flinch Response has been around for a long time, I created the ‘Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©’, that’s all I lay
claim to, no one else’s version of any approach, style or brand approach.
Is learning other martial arts and self defense systems a good idea? Can’t they steal your stuff?
When I started in Wing Chun I went to courses by William Cheung , Wong Shun Leung, got interested in JKD and went to a Dan Inosanto
workshop at the Bob Breen academy...we all did, we'd go on courses come back discuss, debate test it, take some of it on board, reject
other bits ...when did that stop, did I miss a meeting?!
I have come to a belief that their is nothing really knew, sometimes things are packaged differentially, or connected to each other in ways
they weren’t before. MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and JKD (Jeet Kune Do) are great examples of this, you can’t own MMA as it is a generic
term, someone came up with the term and it applied to anyone who basically ‘mixed their martial arts’ learning up to get a better outcome;
of course JKD is exactly the same as a principle, but the terminology was created by one person (Bruce Lee), was never used by anyone
else and was specific to their approach and really shouldn’t be used by anyone outside of that lineage.
So I completely agree that you can’t and you shouldn’t deny your learning history, if you trained with a chap called Fred for 10 years and
when you started you knew nothing, then don’t pretend that never happened. But at the same time if you are the chap that taught
someone something for 10 years, don’t pretend they’re no good. It’s all about the balance.
What I primarily have a problem with is people trying to own a thing, because they made it to print first, or have been saying it for a long
time, you just can’t do that; unless you have really invented a new term or design and if you have copyrighted of trademarked the thing,
you shouldn’t really have to; but these days you really have to.
So if you train with me, you can’t steal anything, but what I won’t allow you to do is damage the brand, thus you come, you pay, you learn.
Once you learn it, the only thing I would ask you to do is recognise openly where you learned it from, the icons, logo’s and leaning tools
are proprietary as they were created by myself and that’s why they have a “™” or a “©” .
Note: Go on courses, find a buddy who is learning something else, learn whatever you can, from whoever you can, show
them what you know, swap ideas, believe in what you do however never think you are the only answer to a way of operating,
enjoy being wrong!
“Never stop seeking the best,
and those that will challenge you!”
Bob Breen - B.I.G Camp (8th & 9th Oct 2011). Bob remains the top man in Europe for JKD, a great privilege to
train with him and experience a true expert and incredibly patient man.
Mick Gould - Open Day (2011). Went down to an open day run by Mick Gould, ex-SAS did all the training for the
cast of Heat, Collateral Damage and Taken. Completely different art, very challenging to train as so different, but
I learned two very important things. (There is always something to learn off someone from people of quality)
Darren Le Fevre
Darren Le Fevre and I got together to do some training the day after the Hall OF Fame; he’s a friend, a great guy,
very skilled and has intelligent things to say, I have nicknamed him ‘The Bear’; as he’s just so damn big!
Why are some people so defensive about their style and point of view?
People are without doubt tribal and like to believe that what they do is the most authentic, this comes from statements that I receive and
that I see of others; "Your position looks like X's and this one looks like Y's"....well probably, there's really only so many places to put your
hands! When I consider every martial art/self defense system that exists in the world with the statement for example "Hey that's a Wing
Chun move" followed by the riposte, "No it's a Sil Lum move"; we don't frown on it we just acknowledge it's someone else's way, there are
for example many variations of Karate, Kung Fu, Krav Maga etc that are all added to by the flavour of the instructor and the approach; this
in my reality applies here.
If you study with me you will encouraged to learn whatever you can learn (but be sure to be honest about where it has come from), from
whoever is willing to teach you, don’t become a cult member, don’t think what you do is the only truth and most importantly, as a martial
artist or self defense instructor “let’s not full fill the caricature of the thug, the unthinking and irrational”.
What about the styles and teachers that promote being the toughest and the hardest?
Now that’s a tricky one. I think it is all relative to the thing you are looking for. A great fighter doesn’t mean a great coach, a great coach
may not be a great fighter and of course may well be.
On a personal note, I don’t like it. I have a huge issue with the idea that a thug, bouncer etc has any place as a teacher, unless they have
‘grown up’ and can see that this type of ‘big man’ marketing is a huge negative to the martial arts and self defense arena.
I on the other hand also recognise that experience is experience and not to sniffed at, if you have been in harms way and have the
experience to pass on, who can argue with that. If you have been involved in the martial arts all your life, who can argue with that either?
My problem doesn’t come with the ‘where the learning came from’ as you can’t unlearn, what I struggle with is the self aggrandisement
that is, I am a ‘nasty SOB’ so learn from me. That’s just not for me.
What about those that say they have been in the military/police, so they must be good right?
So the idea is that the military/police have ‘military/police secret stuff’ or that as they are in the military/police they get to do this stuff a lot
and so they are the ‘go to guys’.
Honestly, I think it’s very, very rare!
There are a few people that fall into the ‘real quality category’, Mick Gould definitely does (having witnessed Mick recently on a seminar
2011, he’s the real deal) and not having met them, but Mo Teague, Hock Hochheim probably fall into that very, very small list.
Especially as today’s warfare is so technical. I was listening to a military liaison on the BBC radio and he was saying that most of the
soldiers in places like Iraq, rarely if ever actually see the enemy, they “mostly shoot at where they think they are”.
And on a personal note I have hardly ever met a military person who has ever had sustained periods of hand to hand combat experience,
if your options are: Call in an air strike, use a grenade, use a rifle, use a pistol and you are in a unit or team scenario, then it is hard to
think of many situations that result in unarmed combat.
The police in particular are bound by a ‘protect and serve’ ethos that disables many techniques and in the UK especially we operate with a
duty of care that focuses the techniques into control and neutralise, and use of overwhelming physical force (eg: many police to arrest one
person). You only have to watch a reality police programme to see 3-6 people sometimes wrestling 1 drunk bloke to the ground, of course
they are taught positive techniques that do work, but good luck in finding a small, light weight, short UK policeman wandering around an
inner city area at pub closing time by themselves....and if you do he’s lost or there’s a riot van round the corner with 6 of his mates in it!
So I am cautious over the military/police background as being any better by default, though I do recognise that some people in that arena
have really got the experience and background that is only going to come from that kind of background.....they are a very rare breed.
Do you teach the police or military? That would be cool!
I used to be quite keen on the idea and then realised that this was best left to those that understand this arena and have time served. I
welcome any service people onto a programme and am happy to teach if asked, but have decided to focus on one very specific area and
that is civilian self defense. this is an area I can excel at and develop people to be world class. So I’ll leave the police and military stuff to
those with that direct experience.
So is your stuff better than anyone else’s?!
Yes & No! I think it’s better than most, in my thinking 90% of what is in the self defense market is poor or average and 10% is excellent. I
believe that the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System© is in that 10% of excellence and offer a full 100% money back if you don’t agree.
Are you tough?
Defiant, not tough.
But basically I am a coach not a street fighter, there are a lot of people very, very tough guys out there and frankly I wouldn’t have learned
as much about the martial arts and self defense if I was one of them!
Women’s Self Defense
Women's self defense is to me the pivotal factor in any self defense system for a number of reasons:
If it works for a women it should work for a man, that's not a judgement, but a statement about body mechanics: weight & strength. It
challenges you to truly answer the question: "Will it really work for a women?" If I ask myself the question: "Would I feel confident teaching
a wife, mother, daughter this system?" Would I be confident that it would give them the best opportunity to survive?
These are easy questions, but delivering on them is not so easy. However it was the catalyst for the whole Defiance Combat approach,
when I was asked:
"If I only had 4 days to teach a person of no prior experience and of average height,
weight and strength to survive an attack, what would I teach them?"
I tagged onto this, that if the person being taught was a petite female, could I be really confident that this was a real deal system
approach? Could I be sure that if this is what I taught a loved one, or advocated teaching a loved one it would work.
It was a simple question, but it had ramifications for many things, all martial arts that I can think of are designed by men; Wing Chun is as
legend prescribes the only one that is 'probably' designed by a women. So 99% of all martial arts, the basis of 99% of all women's self
defense were designed by men, most 'recognised' self defense instructors are men; I'm a man.
So with that in mind as explained in the history page the journey to create a self defense programme started, it morphed into the
programme as it stands today, but that was the catalyst.
Interestingly as a male who is intent on learning a self defense programme that truly works for all weight, height and power combinations
then in reality you really need to consider that the system you want to know is the one that will work for someone significantly smaller and
weaker than you are.
In terms of my thinking, when I was 13 years old training in my first real system Wing Chun, I was always the smallest and the weakest
(just by being 13 yrs old), however it taught me something of great importance: "I couldn't win using any form of power or strength, it had
to technique and my own psychological approach that would make the difference".
It is this approach that I brought to the development of the Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T System©, it is also why there is no difference in
approach to the teaching of the system for Women's Self Defense, it was designed from the foundation up for the smallest and the
weakest in mind.
Thus for women's self defense, military, police or general civilian self defence a modern day system has to be able to deliver:
•
Immediate Response
•
Instinctive Reactions
•
Be able to overwhelm the assailant
•
Not rely on physical strength
•
Not require years or even months of training
•
It has to be holistic (physical & mental)
So no demonstrations of the dedicated technique for women's self defense. It's the same.
Can I buy the training gear you use from you?
No, we don’t sell it.
•
Protective Gear
Most of it is Gryphon Hockey Gear and it works really well for us. Mainly as I figured if it can stop the impact of a hockey player,
stick or puck then it’ll do for me, works an absolute charm and is a really good price and it’s black! I get a big permanent marker
pen and cover the logo’s as with all hockey gear they love a logo.
It has to be said though that there are suits out there that I have never used that also look really good, they just cost a fortune.
•
Training Knives - Aluminium
For the realism we use aluminium training knives from Keen Edge Knives, with the sheath and belt clip, this means that we can pull
the blade at any point. Keeps you on your toes!
•
Training Knives - Safe(r)
The best knives I have come across are Nok Training Knives, these are hand made and frankly brilliant, you definitely know you
have been hit, but you are ‘OK’ after!
My preference is the Nok Eagle.
Can I train privately?
Yes, simply email me directly if this is of interest to you. However you can only certify as an instructor by attending the 4 day Defiance
Combat F.R.A.C.T System© instructor training.
Do you train outside of the UK?
We are focusing on Europe and are looking for trusted partners in Europe who are dedicated to represent Defiance Combat F.R.A.C.T
System©.
Where do you certify?
UK Venue:
Birmingham, England: 15 minutes from both Birmingham International Airport (BHX) and Birmingham New Street Train Station, both
central hubs.