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Established
I apologize ahead of time for any vagueness, omissions, or mistakes in the AAR, as my notes are a bit incomplete, as the structure of the class did not give much time for note taking at times.
This is my second combatives-oriented course. I had previously taken a ShivWorks ECQC, along with various beginner and intermediate pistol courses. I used an H&K P30 Ring's Bluegun with a Surefire X400 zeroed at 25 yards, and IWB carried it using an RCS Phantom about the 0130 position. I also had a ShivWorks Clinch Pick trainer (PRC made) carried at a downward cant at the 1130, and a wave'd ZT 0561 in the left pocket, tip up, spine of the blade toward my centerline, using a Wilderness Tactical Ti Instructor Belt. The rest of my clothing was standard streetwear, t-shirt with relatively form-fitting jeans, with a pair of sneakers.
Steve Tarani was the primary instructor, with Darryl Bolke as the primary AI. Class started the first day at 0900; the class was held indoors at a Crossfit gym, so weather did not play any role in the course. There were approximately 15 students in the class, with several active LEOs and one AD military, while the rest were civilians, including several retired military members. Steve had all the students state their preferred name, occupation, and expectations for the course. Interestingly, many students talked about hoping to learn how to transition viewing a blade from being a tool to being a weapon. About half of the students had their own inert training guns; Blueguns were provided for the rest of the students, as were training knives. Also, there were a great number of Striders in the class, both fixed and folding.
Steve then went over the background of the course. The course originally started in 1989, as something as part of the POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) program in CA. After the success of the program in CA, the IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) asked Steve to write policy for LEO blade use, which he obliged. Thus, the program has been thoroughly vetted on the LEO legal side of things, which Steve explained could be quite helpful from a liability POV. This program was later also modified to fit the needs of the intelligence community.
After we checked each other for live firearms (all operational firearms and loaded magazines were placed in a separate, locked room; live blades were allowed to be carried on person), we started out with stretches, getting ourselves limbered up, before going to working with the Blueguns on drawing. An interesting technique for drawing from concealment from the strong side that Steve showed us was the usage of both hands to clear a closed garment. Ideally, the strong hand would be right above the holstered gun. While slightly slower than a one handed clearance of a closed garment, the two handed method is far more reliable in clearing the garment in the first place. After establishing the master grip on the gun, the support hand should be in, so that it's not in front or dangling by the side; what that support hand is doing can vary, but it must be close in to prevent muzzling yourself or giving the opponent something to latch onto during the draw. The feet should be shoulders width apart, knees slightly bent, toes and knees forward, creating a stable platform. Also, Steve emphasized the importance of realizing that one is in a fight, and thinking in quarter second intervals, as a quarter second is generally the fastest a human being can react to any external stimuli.
We thus executed our first drill, in which we would start from the hands up position, essentially meaning nothing more than the fact that the hands should be above the belt line in this case. We would clear the garment/defeat the retention/etc. and establish a master grip. This was first done on verbal command; after a few reps, we then moved onto a visual cue.
We then attempted the same drill, but this time to retention. Steve and Darryl both drew up to about the pectoral area, with the gun canted somewhat outward, so that the slide would clear the body and not be obstructed, with both hands on the gun.
At this point, Steve went ahead and explained the difference between an event indicator and a threat indicator. An event indicator is an act or event that signifies the strong possibility of another event; for example, observing someone taking their foot off the brakes in a car while at a stop strongly suggests that they are about to start driving again. A threat indicator is a subset type of event indicators, such as an aggressive person reaching behind their back, which strongly suggest that they are about to produce a weapon, thus indicating a threat. Steve also pointed out that what qualified as a threat indicator varies from situation to situation; for example, in the USA, encroachment of personal space may be a mild threat indicator, while in many locales overseas, would be completely normal.
Steve then covered one of the basic terms of the course in preparation of the next drill: operator and role player. The operator is the person practicing the skill being currently taught, while the role player is an actor that facilitates the operator's learning, not only acting as the aggressor usually, but also making sure that the role player is using the correct techniques and such.
Learn simple and effective skills in this two day class necessary to protect you and your family with any Edged Weapon should you find yourself in an unfriendly situation or location. Take advantage of this extremely rare opportunity to learn from the experience and knowledge of a protective services professional from deep within the US Defense Intelligence community. Former federal employee (CIA), Protective Programs defensive tactics subject matter expert and world-class educator Steve Tarani steps outside “the Agency” to provide you with this vetted, unarmed, easy-to-follow advanced Edged Weapons training curriculum allowing you the opportunity to develop and utilize your instinctive reflexes to solve difficult threat engagement problems.
NO PRIOR TRAINING OR PREREQUISITES ARE NECESSARY. This is NOT martial arts. This is NOT “knife fighting.” This IS a professional Protective Services approach to doing what it takes to get yourself and your loved ones immediately out of trouble and to safety. This IS an opportunity for you to take home field-tested “bread and butter” techniques and proven defensive tactics gleaned from decades of professional experience.
Course Content: Access (where and how to carry) and rapid deployment of a fixed, folding or improvised blade at Contact Range, Do’s and Dont’s of utilizing a blade in an actual threat engagement, Protecting your exposure of lethal target areas, Real-world Scenarios (single/ multiple threats 360 approach), Managing the fateful Injury/ Distance liability gap, Unarmed attack-line defense and disarming, Hostage Escape Scenarios, Ground Recovery Options (how to use a blade to get back up on your feet after being knocked down by multiple attackers), Unarmed Defense versus a Machete, Stalemate Response Series, Mastering Force Vectors, Protective blade handling skills (“indexing”, “programming,” etc.), Handling multiple assailants and a rare training block on curved blades and other exotic edged weapons.
This is my second combatives-oriented course. I had previously taken a ShivWorks ECQC, along with various beginner and intermediate pistol courses. I used an H&K P30 Ring's Bluegun with a Surefire X400 zeroed at 25 yards, and IWB carried it using an RCS Phantom about the 0130 position. I also had a ShivWorks Clinch Pick trainer (PRC made) carried at a downward cant at the 1130, and a wave'd ZT 0561 in the left pocket, tip up, spine of the blade toward my centerline, using a Wilderness Tactical Ti Instructor Belt. The rest of my clothing was standard streetwear, t-shirt with relatively form-fitting jeans, with a pair of sneakers.
Steve Tarani was the primary instructor, with Darryl Bolke as the primary AI. Class started the first day at 0900; the class was held indoors at a Crossfit gym, so weather did not play any role in the course. There were approximately 15 students in the class, with several active LEOs and one AD military, while the rest were civilians, including several retired military members. Steve had all the students state their preferred name, occupation, and expectations for the course. Interestingly, many students talked about hoping to learn how to transition viewing a blade from being a tool to being a weapon. About half of the students had their own inert training guns; Blueguns were provided for the rest of the students, as were training knives. Also, there were a great number of Striders in the class, both fixed and folding.
Steve then went over the background of the course. The course originally started in 1989, as something as part of the POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) program in CA. After the success of the program in CA, the IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) asked Steve to write policy for LEO blade use, which he obliged. Thus, the program has been thoroughly vetted on the LEO legal side of things, which Steve explained could be quite helpful from a liability POV. This program was later also modified to fit the needs of the intelligence community.
After we checked each other for live firearms (all operational firearms and loaded magazines were placed in a separate, locked room; live blades were allowed to be carried on person), we started out with stretches, getting ourselves limbered up, before going to working with the Blueguns on drawing. An interesting technique for drawing from concealment from the strong side that Steve showed us was the usage of both hands to clear a closed garment. Ideally, the strong hand would be right above the holstered gun. While slightly slower than a one handed clearance of a closed garment, the two handed method is far more reliable in clearing the garment in the first place. After establishing the master grip on the gun, the support hand should be in, so that it's not in front or dangling by the side; what that support hand is doing can vary, but it must be close in to prevent muzzling yourself or giving the opponent something to latch onto during the draw. The feet should be shoulders width apart, knees slightly bent, toes and knees forward, creating a stable platform. Also, Steve emphasized the importance of realizing that one is in a fight, and thinking in quarter second intervals, as a quarter second is generally the fastest a human being can react to any external stimuli.
We thus executed our first drill, in which we would start from the hands up position, essentially meaning nothing more than the fact that the hands should be above the belt line in this case. We would clear the garment/defeat the retention/etc. and establish a master grip. This was first done on verbal command; after a few reps, we then moved onto a visual cue.
We then attempted the same drill, but this time to retention. Steve and Darryl both drew up to about the pectoral area, with the gun canted somewhat outward, so that the slide would clear the body and not be obstructed, with both hands on the gun.
At this point, Steve went ahead and explained the difference between an event indicator and a threat indicator. An event indicator is an act or event that signifies the strong possibility of another event; for example, observing someone taking their foot off the brakes in a car while at a stop strongly suggests that they are about to start driving again. A threat indicator is a subset type of event indicators, such as an aggressive person reaching behind their back, which strongly suggest that they are about to produce a weapon, thus indicating a threat. Steve also pointed out that what qualified as a threat indicator varies from situation to situation; for example, in the USA, encroachment of personal space may be a mild threat indicator, while in many locales overseas, would be completely normal.
Steve then covered one of the basic terms of the course in preparation of the next drill: operator and role player. The operator is the person practicing the skill being currently taught, while the role player is an actor that facilitates the operator's learning, not only acting as the aggressor usually, but also making sure that the role player is using the correct techniques and such.