Canada has first Level 2 courses
Jim Wagner
July 29th to August 3rd was the first time I taught my Level 2 courses in the country of Canada. The courses conducted in Vancouver (Burnaby) consisted of Conflict Conditioning, Scenario Training, Control & Defense, Improvised Weapons and finishing Friday with Handgun Survival. The courses attracted an officer from the United States Coast Guard, a couple of constables from local law enforcement agencies, a security specialist, a young female about to enter Depot (the police academy), and a few martial arts instructors from Arnis, Kenpo, mixed martial arts, and Karate. It was a good mix of people with a lot of energy all week. Of course, the success was due in large part to Reality-Based Personal Protection Director of Canada Dallas Johnson.
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Also assisting me each day was Reality-Based Level 3 instructor (master instructor) James Proulx, who has been by my side since day one – January 21, 2003, which is the birth date of our system. James was there to get some lead instructor time in. Also present each day was master instructor Garth Hoffman who was there to do a research paper on Reality-Based safety protocols. The Reality-Based Personal Protection system is the first civilian-based self-defense system in the world to implement standard law enforcement and military scenario training safety protocols. After all, Garth and I were both pioneers in scenario training going back a decade together. I began training law enforcement, military and corrections personnel back in 1991, and back then there were no training standards. Garth and I hooked up a few years later and we have been bouncing ideas off of each other and experimenting ever since. I consider Garth one of my closest advisors, and he has contributed tremendously to the Reality-Based Personal Protection system. He is also considered one of the most knowledgeable use-of-force experts in British Columbia.
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During this trip I had very little free time. I arrived in Canada the evening before my first class and flew out on Philippine Airlines the day after training. However, what little time I had in the evenings Dallas and I went over next year’s marketing and advertising strategy. The way things are growing in Canada it looks like 2008 is going to be an even more successful year and even more instructors will be spreading this revolutionary system.
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Movie review: The Bourne Ultimatum
Jim Wagner
On Friday night, August 3rd, right after I finished up teaching Handgun Survival, Dallas Johnson, Garth Hoffman, and I went out to go eat at the Boston Pizza restaurant near the training facility in Burnaby. We were later joined by instructors Joe Goodings, Nickolas Serna, and new student Amiee Croaker. After the meal we all headed over to the cinema complex for the opening night of The Bourne Ultimatum. Having seen the first two in the series, I knew that it would contain realistic fight scenes – and I was right.
In this movie “Jason Bourne” has a reality-based fight with a Moroccan CIA operative in a small apartment. The fight starts in the living room where a variety of improvised weapons are used, including a hard bound book that is shoved into the “bad guy’s” throat. The fight ends up in a small tiled bathroom and a straight razor is used against Bourne, but blocked briefly by a small hand towel.
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Of course there are a few more hand-to-hand combat scenes in the movie and the token spectacular car chase, and like the first two movies this one had a steady pace of action; no romance in this movie.
I recommend all Reality-Based Personal Protection practitioners to go see this movie, or rent it when it comes out on DVD. The only criticism of the movie and the fight scenes was made by Garth Hoffman when he told me, “I wish they would have shown us more of the overall action.” What he meant by that was that there was a lot of creative editing that only gave the viewer “snap shots” of the fight – jolty camera work, extreme close up flashes, and unique camera angles. For me it all worked, but I too would have liked to have seen more of the techniques. That said the fight scenes were still excellent and close to real life.
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Two more Reality-Based Blades in the works
Jim Wagner
While I was in British Columbia, Canada I received an email from Boker knife manufacturer president Carsten Felix. In it he informed me that my drawings for two new knives have been APPROVED. One will be a fixed blade version of my Jim Wagner Reality-Based Blade, which will be a tactical knife primarily for police and military special operations, and the other one will be a pencil thin knife for better concealment, such as when in a dress suit or for a woman to fit easily into her purse. Both knives are expected to be on the market in early 2008. Once a prototype of each is made I will display them on this website.
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