Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection

The last Level 2 seminar ever…

Jim Wagner 

Wednesday, November 11, 2015 was Veteran’s Day. It’s a day in the United State in which former and current soldiers, sailors, and airmen are honored. It also happens to be the day that I had to fly to Germany to teach a Level 2 seminar, a Women’s Defense course, and Knife Camp. I had to fly out of the Orange County airport on Delta Airlines. 

While I was at Gate 4 waiting to board the woman at the ticket counter announced that they were ready for business class passengers to board. Normally the next group to board is the frequent flyers, but the woman instead asked over the public address system, “Do we have any former or current veterans flying with us today? If so, would you please raise your hands.” I shot up my hand along with two others.  Normally I’d never identify myself in public as being connected to the military, especially going onto a passenger aircraft, but it was Veteran’s Day and I felt obligated to the crowd to let them know that I was one of the less than 1% of the population who picked up arms to protect the country. 

To my surprise the Delta agent said, “We would like to have our veterans board the aircraft now.” I gladly walked up and handed my ticket to the other ticket agent at the scanner. Almost every one of the one hundred plus passengers applauded us veterans as we made our way to the front of the line. It was a nice feeling to be appreciated. They didn’t know me, or the other two men personally, but they acknowledged out service to our country. Most Americans, at least the older generation, respects and supports the military. They understand that their freedoms are protected by the men and women who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to protect the Constitution of the United States of America against “all enemies foreign and domestic.” 

I made my way through the jetway and I was greeted by a female flight attendant. I said to her, “Good morning,” and she likewise replied. I then said to her, “The ticket counter agents are letting the veterans board the aircraft first.” Her eyebrows went up, “Really? That’s nice.” Once all of the passengers had boarded, and just before the door was closed to be underway, the Purser announced over the public address system, “We have a few veterans aboard this aircraft. Could those individuals please raise your hands? We would like to thank you for your service to the country.” Again I raised my hand, as did the others behind me, and the entire plane was filled with applause. She then went on to say, “When we are serving beverages we would like to give you a free cocktail.” Again, it was not necessary, but it was appreciated.  

Once we had leveled off at 36,000 feet heading to Atlanta the flight attendants came through the aisle with the beverage and snack carts. They handed out a free chocolate to all passengers. The paper wrapper had the American flag on the front with the words Remember Our VETERANS Nov. 11^th. Again, Delta Airlines did not have to do that, but they did. It’s just one more reason I always like flying with them; they always treat veterans with respect. 

When I landed at Atlanta airport, to change planes, I noticed that an African American female who worked for Southwest Airlines was wearing a United States Marine patrol cap with the rank of Gunnery Sergeant. Then it dawned on me why I saw a Delta ticket agent, not someone who serviced me but a few lines down, wearing a Green Beret. Different airlines were allowing their veteran employees to wear the military headgear of their choice. I had never seen this before at any airport, but I thought it was a fantastic idea. Of course, when it was time to board my plane for Europe Delta Airlines did not ask if there were any veterans flying. Going overseas with a mixed crowd could be problematic. If any bad guys were aboard the flight it would not have been good to identify the alpha dogs, the “sheepdogs” that would be willing to fight. For it is Lieutenant Colonel David Grossman, U.S. Army Retired, who stated in his famous tactical book On Killing (recommended reading for all Reality-Based Personal Protection instructors) that there are two type of people in this world: sheep, which is the majority of the population not willing to fight the bad guys, and the sheepdogs who are willing to protect others and fight evil. Since I got into the martial arts at the age of 14-years-old, then became a soldier, then a corrections officer, then a police officer, a S.W.A.T. officer, deputy sheriff bodyguard, counterterrorist for the federal government, and now a Reserve soldier for the past nine and a half years, I’ve always been the “sheepdog.”

Just before boarding my second airplane, and Airbus 330, in Atlanta I strolled into the bookstore in the international terminal and bought the book 13 Hours: The Inside Account Of What Really Happened in Benghazi by Mitchel Zuckoff with the Annex Security Team, and soon to be a major motion picture to be released in January 2016. The book is all about the attack on the U.S. Diplomatic Compound and the CIA Annex in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012.    

Back in 2012 I was schedule to teach a Reality-Based Personal Protection seminar in Germany. Germany, because that is where my European Headquarters is. The day I was supposed to return home, back to California, was September 11, 2012. When I saw that date on the calendar, and I was online booking my airline tickets, I told my wife, “There is no way I am flying home on that date. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to stay an extra day in Germany, which I did.” 

September 11^th is a date permanently burned into my brain, for it was on September 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda terrorists flew two passenger aircraft into the two World Trade Center Towers, a third plane into the Pentagon, and a fourth plane, probably on its way to the White House or the Capital Building, went down in a field in Pennsylvania when a few passengers tried to retake the plane from the terrorists. That afternoon I was called by my Sheriff’s Department to report to the Orange County Airport, in uniform, to secure the airport even thought it was closed to all air travel. It was shortly after that the government recruited me to become a counterterrorist. They sent me through counterterrorism school, and then I was sworn in as a federal agent for the U.S. Federal Air Marshal Service working out of the Los Angeles Field Office. 9/11 had literally changed my entire life. So, I knew that September 11^th was the anniversary of the infamous attacks, and that perhaps Al-Qaeda would use that date to harass America. Unfortunately, I was right, only it was not an airplane that they attacked this time, but it was our interests in the country of Libya. Once again Al-Qaeda, along with local terrorists and thugs, was responsible for deadly attacks on Americans. Those murdered were American Ambassador Christopher Stevens, State Department communications officer Sean Smith, GRS, Global Response Staff, Tyrone “Rone” Woods and Glen “Bub” Doherty. More would have died had it not been the heroic actions of several others on the ground. 

Once I started reading the book I couldn’t put it down. Author Mitchell Zuckoff makes it very clear before getting into chapter One, in A Note To The Reader, that, “Although written as a narrative, this is a work of nonfiction. No scenes or chronologies were altered, no dramatic license was taken, and no characters were invented or created from composites.” It’s a book about what really happened in Benghazi. It’s also a book I recommend that you read, and to see the movie when it comes out. It’s right up there with Lone Survivor, Zero Dark Thirty, and Sniper. 

I arrived at the Köln-Bonn Airport around noon, and I was exhausted. I have no trouble sleeping on airplanes, but only getting three hours of sleep didn’t cut it for me. I had a hotel room near the airport and I crashed for a few hours. When I awoke I worked on a new book that I am writing and tried to get back to bed at decent time to fight the jetlag. 

The following morning, at the hotel, I had a meeting with Carsten Felix, the president of Boker, the company that manufactures the Jim Wagner Reality Based Blade series, and Tobias Leckebusch, my RBPP Director of German speaking countries. The meeting was about the expansion Reality-Based Personal Protection. The problem is that our growth has become a little stifled in the last several months. Tobias works full time for Boker and cannot devote any more time to his Reality-Based Personal Protection director duties. And, with many good changes coming January 1^st an agreement had to be reached. Boker will continue to manufacture my popular blade series, but Tobias will step down as the RBPP Director of German speaking countries. The self-defense business will be soon transferred over to a new director, one who highly trained in the system like Tobias, and who will be able to devote more time to expanding the system: running seminars, providing private lessons, and who has the authority to certify RBPP instructors so more instructors can be out there teaching. The problem has been that for the past 10 years students wanting to learn and teach the Reality-Based Personal Protection system had to wait for me each time to go to Germany, and this would take years for some to become certified. With the new system starting the first day of 2016 students wanting to become instructors will have a few more options, however, all instructors will still be tested by me and it will be my signature on the instructor certificate that will make it official. All of the changes will appear on my website next month. 

Going back to the meeting with Carsten and Tobias, the three of us believe that it was the best solution for both organizations to move forward. I am currently speaking with the candidate for the RBPP Director of German speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Lichtenstein, and German speaking Switzerland), and his appointed will be announced in several weeks. 

Since Tobias was already at my hotel he drove me to my second hotel in the center of Cologne saving me a short train ride. When I settled in I contacted Christophe Besse, the RBPP Director of French speaking countries, and he confirmed that he’d be arriving the next morning to assist in training for three days, and for the two of us to finalize the system changes for 2016. Christophe and I had been working together for several months to make the system more “accessible” to more people (again, all changes to be announced soon). Christophe also informed me that, Miryana Poljakovic, one of my top French female RBPP instructors, would be travelling with him and return a day earlier to Paris. She needed to meet with me in Cologne to go over some details on Children’s Survival. Miryana will not only be offering this course in Paris, but she will be helping me to develop the program even further. By trade she is a school teacher. 

Jetlag was kicking my butt, so I turned in early. Little did I know as I slept that the worse terrorist attack in French history was happening in Paris. I found out about it as I was having my breakfast at 6 o’clock in the morning. The breakfast room in the hotel keeps the television on with the news for the guests. I just watched in horror like everyone else. The details of the attack were coming out: multiple attacks in Paris by Islamic radicals, 150 dead, and scores more wounded. Of course, the first thought that came to my mind was the safety of Christophe and Miryana, their families, and all of the my French students I had been training for the past 10 years in Paris. 

I quickly went up to my room and got onto the Internet to find out more in English. The news down in the breakfast room was all in German. I found out that the French government had closed their borders, which meant that Christophe and Miryana would not be able to come to Cologne, Germany. No sooner had I found out this information did I get a text from Christophe. He stated that the French border was closed and that he didn’t think he’d be able to get out of the country, but he and Miryana would try. I then had a Skype conversation with my wife in California who had heard about the terrorist attacks. She was not only concerned for all of our French friends, but she was naturally worried about me as well knowing that they were looking for terrorists in Germany as well. A few days later her concerns would be warranted, because a suspect terrorist was arrested on the outskirts of Cologne. 

I was disappointed that I might not get to see Christophe and Miryana, but I had a course to teach on Saturday morning (November 14, 2015), and nothing was going to get in the way of that. I packed up my things and headed to the Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection School located on Heinrich-Brunningstrasse, which is also the RBPP European Headquarters. Tobias and Sevil Dilbas, one of my youngest female instructors, was there before I was getting all the equipment ready. Every student is issued the RBPP standard safety gear: one hard shell helmet, eye protection, elbow pads, knee pads, and a rubber knife. All other safety and training equipment is brought out as needed. As this was happening Christophe let me know that the French border had been opened, and that he and Miryana were on their way, which pleased me greatly.

After the introductions I told my Level 2 students, “This is the last Level 2 seminar ever. You’re the last ones to go through it. Oh, these five courses will still be offered, but they will be part of the ten core courses. Starting January 1^st these courses will be just addressed by their names or their numbers. The various levels will cease to exist. So, you’re part of the ‘old school.’” 

What made this group special was that it was quite international, and especially by the time Christophe and Miryana showed up. The countries represented there was, of course, Germany, France, Switzerland, Jakub  Turanyi from Slovakia, and Joshi “Joe” Jaipreet from New Deli, India, and the United States if you counted me – the founder of the system. Not only was the group impressed by the nationalities, but there was definitely a sense of purpose in the room because of the terrorist attacks the night before in Paris. Everybody was talking about it before we got started. More than half the people in the room had taken my Terrorism Survival course during Level 1, and so I said, “Crime and terrorism is on the rise. Violence is everywhere now. This is why you are here today. There is now urgency to your training.” 

We started the seminar off with the one-day course Conflict Conditioning, which is a course designed to prepare both the body and mind for brutal conflict. 

During any training day we have three breaks. The first break, usually around 9:30 or 10:00 am, is called “NATO pause,” and it is for 15 minutes. Then there is a one-hour lunch break around noon, and the final break of the day is called “cigarette pause,” which falls on 3:00 pm, or there about, and it is fifteen minutes long. These are the traditional three breaks of the German military, and I’ve always referred to the two fifteen-minute by their military names after having first trained German GSG9 in 1999. Then when I trained the German Special Forces in Pfullendorf in 2005 it only solidified the names of these breaks for Reality-Based Germany. They sound better in the German language… 

Anyway, come the cigarette pause I gave Miryana a knife and sheath for her to wear on her belt on the small of her back. I told her that I wanted her to carry this knife with her as we go down to the coffee shop just down the road within walking distance. She looked at me wide eyed and said, “Vraiment?” She speaks English, but she prefers to speak to me in French. She thought I was joking, because carrying a concealed knife in France is a serious crime. I told her, “Oui, ce n’est pas contre la loi ici en Allemagne,” (It’s not against the law here in Germany). Rather than being intimidated by the prospect, she was quite excited and gladly placed it on her belt. I told her that I wanted her to feel what it was like to carry a “tool” that can be used for self-defense in public.

Christophe, Miryana, a few instructors, and I got some coffee. When we returned Miryana admitted that she liked carrying the tool. In Germany it is perfectly legal to carry a concealed fixed blade, provided it is under 13 centimeters, and only one side has a cutting edge.   

After the class I took Christophe and Myriana for a little sightseeing of the “alt stadt,” the old city. Neither one of them had seen Cologne before, and so I was their unofficial “tour guide.” After the highlights, and a few photos together, I then took my two French friends to the No. 4711 Cologne boutique not less than 200 meters from the Cologne Cathedral. We went inside and I bought a few small bottles of No. 4711 cologne. 

When we went outside I said to Christophe, "Hold still. You are going to be the first instructor of the Reality-Based Personal Protection to go through this new tradition that we are going to adopt. Since you are my protégé it is only fitting that you be the first to go through this. I will place a drop on you, and then Miryana, and then I will explain it to you afterwards."

I did a drop on each of their heads, and then explained it, "The Japanese samurai warrior, before he went into battle, would place his helmets over sticks of burning incense. The sweet smelling odor of the smoke would fill his helmet. The warrior would then place the helmet back on his head and go to battle. If he he was killed in battle, and the enemy picked up his decapitated head or removed the helmet, he would smell the sweet odor and realize that his foe had been ready for death."

They both smiled knowing what I was going to say next.

"You are like the samurai warrior of old. While most of the population ignores the violence of this world you are preparing yourself to survive it. As a Reality-Based Personal Protection instructor you are facing the possiblity of a criminal or terroirst attack head on. While some believe that saying slogans, or having a hash tag, or laying flowers at the scene of an attack is "doing something" about violence, you are actually doing something know that the response to violence is situational awareness or meeting it head on with violence."

Christophe and Miryana had big smiles on their faces.

"Our sweet smelling odor is No. 4711 cologne," I explained, "for after all, this is the origin of cologne, and the city of Cologne is the European Headquarters for Reality-Based Personal Protection. Because we are a modern fighting system we don't have any traditions. This is going to be the first tradition for anyone who earns an instructor certificate in our system. For their first certificate they will get a drop of 4711 on their head, and this will connect them to the warriors of the past. What do you think?"

Christophe said, "I love it!"

Miryana replied, "Oui."

After the ceremony we went out for a traditional German dinner at the Früh Beerhouse & Restaurant just a stone’s throw from the Cologne Cathedral, also known as “der Dom.” 

After a tasty meal, and just as we were starting to stand up, I saw the waiter come up behind Miryana and get all excited. In the confusion I heard him say to her, “Sie haben ein messer?” Translated, “You have a knife?” It was an excited tone, and I didn’t know if he was just shocked that she had a knife, or he was about to call the authorities or something. Apparently, Miryana wasn’t used to carrying a concealed weapon in public, and when she stood up she didn’t realized that the back of her shirt had lifted up exposing the sheath and knife handle. That day in class I had just told my students that new undercover agents, and terrorists alike, pat their weapon often because they are not used to carrying it concealed, and this bit of knowledge can be used to detect if someone may have a concealed weapon. 

My thought was to get us out of the restaurant quickly, so as not to cause a scene, but when the waiter heard us speaking French to one another it turned out he spoke good French also. This gave us the opportunity to calm him down a little, and finally he laughed and said, “Elle est une femme fatal,” (She’s a fatal woman – as in a female James Bond). Once outside I told Miryana that was all part of learning to carry a concealed knife.  

From there we walked across the courtyard and into Starbucks where we had hot drinks and I gave Myriana the advice she was after, and the reason she had come to Cologne – Children’s Survival. We got back to the hotel at a decent time. 

In the morning Christophe and Miryana were waiting for me in the hotel lobby. Myriana said to me, “I needed you last night.” 

I replied, “Excuse me?” but with the grin on Christophe’s face I knew it had something to do with self-defense. 

She told me that a man had tried to get into her room around 3:30 in the morning. She grabbed the knife that I had let her keep for her stay and positioned herself in a fighting stance ready for the door to break wide open. After a few moments of pounding and the door knob jiggling the man finally left. She then realized that it could have been just a drunk man who had mistaken her room for his. After all, all the doors look the same. Perhaps he was on the wrong floor or something. Regardless, she let me know that she was thankful that I had armed her. 

It’s strange, but the next evening, earlier in the evening than Miryana’s incident, a woman actually walked in my room. I always lock doors, but I was went into my room to just grab something and go out again. Murphy’s Law is that someone comes in the one-time I don’t lock it. As she was coming in I quickly spun around and my right hand when for the small of my back grabbing the handle. I called out in German, “Hallo?” In English the woman said, “Sorry!” and quickly closed the door. I just got a half-second peek at her, and she seemed harmless enough.

The second day of training, Sunday, was Situational Awareness. Several of my students came up to me at the end of the day pretty much saying the same thing, “I have never seen this type of material taught in any martial arts school.” It was understandable, because who else is teaching K.I.M.S. games, tactical diagramming, and how to reduce reaction time in conflict?

Myriana had to be back in Paris that evening, so Christophe and I made sure that she got safely on her train. 1,500 French troops had been called into Paris, suspected terrorists were being hunted down in France, Germany, and Belgium, and we knew with the training we had given her over the years that she would Be A Hard Target. Yet, we were concerned for her, and we told her to contact us when she was safely home. 

Once Miryana was on her way back to Paris Christophe and I went to grab a bite to eat at McDonalds, which Miryana had suspected all along that’s what we’d go do when she left. We joked with her before she got on the train, “Hey, it’s bachelor night once you’re gone.” When she was with us we made sure she got the best, but Christophe and I have no problem being Spartans when we are on our own. This usually gets the rolling of the eyes from our wives as well. After our burgers and fries we went back to the Starbucks where we had our meeting until we, and a bunch of other foreigners, were kicked out at closing time. On Sundays they close rather early. By the time we left there, and we were on a U-Bahn train heading back to the station nearest our hotel, we were quite satisfied that we had finally put the finishing touches on the new system structure for 2016. Christophe said to me, in English, “This is how more people will get into the system. It has to go faster now. There are more bad things happening.” He was right. Europe seemed like a war zone.

The third day of training was the course Control & Defense. It’s all about how to survive chokes, body holds, and the pros and cons of getting involved in stopping a crime. It’s a very physical course, and by the end of Monday evening everyone was wiped. The students loved the course, and the group bonded well together. It was an exceptional group, and all the instructors could feel it. After the course Tobias and I dropped Christophe at the Hauptbahnhof Koln (the main Cologne train station), and then drove to Tobias’ new house. I had dinner with his family, who are like my own family. To his boys I am like their uncle. 

After the boys went off to bed, for they had school in the morning, he, his wife, and I watched the news. Again more shock. The French police had killed a few terrorists in a gun battle, where 5,000 rounds had been fired, and a woman blew herself up – a first for Europe. It was like watching news about Israel or the Middle East, except it wasn’t it was Europe. Tobias’ wife just couldn’t believe what was happening and told me, “We’re not going anywhere that there are a lot of people. No concerts! No events! Nowhere!” Of course, Tobias has taught with me at least 10 or more Terrorism Survival courses over the years, and he knows exactly the dangers, and he said, “I agree with her. It’s not safe here in Germany anymore for my kids.” Just down the street was a camp for Syrian refugees. In fact, there were camps all around the area, and the Germans are leery of them. Not only was the mastermind of the terrorist attacks in Paris a Syrian “refugee,” but a lot of strange things have been going on with the refugees that is not being reported in the news. Tobias own mother, at first, tried to donate some good clothes to the refugees near her, but they were turned down because they were not new designer clothes. No kidding! 

Many refugees are given cases of bottled water, and then right in front of stores the water is poured out, they go in and get money for the bottles to be recycled, and then buy cigarettes and other non-essentials with the money. One of my students has a friend in the military. She was told by her chain of command to set up housing for 800 refugees, which she did. They moved in the 800 refugees, and the next morning 500 had disappeared. They left in the middle of the night. When her chain of command came down on her she said, “You told me to get them housing! I’m not a prison guard!” So, where did 500 Syrian refugees go? Why wouldn’t they stay and receive the help of the German government. Those are just a few of the stories, and you know it’s bad when Europeans, including the Germans now, are saying that the flow of people has to stop. Some countries are building fences and walls simply because they cannot absorb any more, and governments are well aware that Islamic State is mixing in thousands of fighters with the legitimate families fleeing the wars. About 70% of the “refugees” fleeing into Europe are young men – military age wearing new clothes, all with cell phones, and unbelievable rude attitudes. Crime has increased along the refugee routes all across Europe, and entire indigenous populations are afraid of the refugee camps near them, because there is little to no control of them. Tobias was not the only German to tell me that the refugees are a security risk.

The following morning was the Improvised Weapons course: impact weapons, flexible weapons, staff weapons, throwing weapons, and even a project at the end making “prison weapons.” Obviously, the course is not to teach good citizens how to be criminals and make weapons to hurt others, but as the ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu wrote in his classic book The Art of War, “Know your enemy.” To really understand the criminal or terrorist one has to know how they think and how they are trained. This course does just that. When a student finishes this course there is no doubt in their mind that ANYTHING can be a weapon – even a few sheets of paper.

The final Level 2 course, on Wednesday, November 18, 2015, was Handgun Survival. This course serves a few important purposes. One, if a gun is taken away from a criminal or terrorist during a struggle it is vital that the Reality-Based student knows how to use it in order to save his own life, or the life of others. Two, Reality-Based Personal Protection courses depend heavily upon scenarios involving Airsoft guns (training guns that fire a plastic 6mm non-lethal projectile). Future RBPP instructors need to be safe and professional when handling these training tools. Three, students learn standard civilian, police, and military range procedures. Some of the students had been in actual gun battles, and they made it known to their fellow classmates that what I was teaching was spot on. 

Thursday was my only day off between seminars, and since Joe Jaipreet had flown all the way from India to take my courses I offered to show him all around Cologne, and he took me up on my offer. I took him to the Globetrotter camping and survival gear store, which is Europe’s biggest store of its type. 

After buying a few things at Globetrotter I took Joe to the No. 4711 Cologne boutique where I once again bought a couple of bottles of the eau de toilette. I then poured a drop of the sweet smelling cologne on Joe’s head, and then I explained the new Reality-Based Personal Protection tradition to him. He was the third RBPP instructor to go through this ceremony: Christophe was first, Miryana second, and him third. On Sunday, November 22, 2015 I’d do the same for Carlos Urenda, who flew all the way from Chile to attend my Knife Camp. I too took him to the Globetrotter, showed him some of the tourist sights, and went to No. 4711 where Nicolas Marucci, my RBPP Director of Belgium, received “the drop.” Carlos was to receive his after he became a Knife Instructor on Monday, November 23, 2015 with his class, which was to be the first class to go through the new ceremony.

On Friday, November 20^th, was Women’s Defense, which is a one-day version of Women’s Survival. I had a good group of women and helping me teach was Jorg Kuschel and Ajeeth Sivanajagam, plus, of course, Tobias Leckebush. One of the women in the course had actually been kidnapped five years ago, and her daughter convinced her to take my course. At the end of the course the mother said that I had given her a renewed sense of confidence.