Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection

Reality-Based expands to East Coast of Canada

Dallas Johnson, the Reality-Based Director of Canada, set up the first Reality-Based Personal Protection Level 1 courses in Toronto, Canada last week making it the first one on the Canadian East Coast since the system was born almost four years ago. The event took place from October 23 to 27. Jim Wagner, assisted by Dallas, taught the five core courses: Defensive Tactics, Ground Survival, Knife Survival, Crime Survival and Terrorism Survival.

Jim Wagner had taught the Montreal Police Department, also on the Canadian East Coast, in the past but that was prior to the creation of the Reality-Based system. It was a time when Jim Wagner only taught exclusively police and military units. Even when the former Reality-Based Director of Canada, Chris St-Jacques, was in charge of the Canadian program he chose to hold all Reality-Based courses in Vancouver, Canada – the West Coast of the country.

The courses were held at Ooi Tae Kwon Do school in Mississauga (a suburb of Toronto). 8th Dan Grandmaster Hong-Lye Ooi was the perfect host, and his 5,000 square foot school was perfect location for all of the courses.

So why would a traditional-based Tae Kwon Do master not only make his school available for Reality-Based courses, but participate as a student with his own students? According to Master Ooi, “The martial arts are dying. 80% of my business is teaching kids. Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching kids, but there needs to be a way to attract more adult students to the school. After taking Jim Wagner’s courses I think Reality-Based Personal Protection is the answer. I loved every minute.”

Christopher Kolomayz was one of the persons in all five of the courses that was certified as a Reality-Based instructor by Jim Wagner. For Christopher this course was not about fun and games. For him it is life and death. He is a prison guard for a maximum security prison in Ontario working for the Ontario Correctional Services.

Christopher is a person who has seen much violence over the years, and has survived actual attacks by inmates. When Jim Wagner was teaching Knife Survival, especially about inmate shankings (stabbings using improvised edged weapons), Christopher told his fellow class mates that Jim Wagner was teaching it exactly like it happens in the prison system. It is these inmates that eventually are let loose back onto the streets of Canada.

Also earning his Reality-Based Personal Protection Level 1 certificate was Robert Walker who works for a security company. Like Christopher, Robert took the five courses to not only learn how to survive modern attacks, but he wants to teach the material as well.

The beauty of the Reality-Based system is that it is modular. Garvin Thomas took two of the courses in Mississauga, and is finishing up the week in the New York City in December where he will then be presented with his instructor certificate. Patrick Whalen also got two of the Level 1 courses out of the way, and will work on the rest at another time. Emanuel Kingwell came all the way from Portugal to take the Terrorism Survival course as an instructor, and also plans to finish up the other four classes in New York City. Emanuel is visiting Canada and the United States for three months. He is also getting some training from other masters in the area.

Cap Pitts signed up as a student in the Terrorism Survival course, and was loved by all because he brought a box of energy drinks from his company, Diamond Mountain Associates, and handed them out to everyone. The drinks were called XS Energy Drink and came in a variety of flavors. He also gave some to the instructors to take home.

Master Ooi took Jim Wagner and Dallas Johnson out to Chinatown in Toronto on Wednesday night, but not before taking some photos of the Toronto skyline that included the famous CN Tower. Master Ooi also drove the two instructors to see his second school, also located in Missassauga. A movie was being shot there. Toronto is the “Hollywood of the East Coast,” and many American movies are filmed there.

During the graduation ceremony Jim Wagner told Master Ooi that he was getting a new name; a Reality-Based name. Master Ooi’s first name is Hong (pronounced Hock). Because of his fierce spirit and his new passion for the Reality-Based Personal Protection system his new name is pronounced the same, but now written Hawk. Jim and Dallas labeled him “The Hawk.” Then, when it came time for Jim Wagner to autograph Hock’s copy of his Reality-Based Personal Protection book Master Ooi wanted it addressed to “The Hawk.” And so a tradition is born.

The Canadian East Coast seminar was a huge success, and Master Ooi requested that future Toronto seminars be held at his school. A true friendship had developed. Jim and Dallas are taking him up on his offer, and are now arranging another Level 1 seminar September 10 to 14, 2007. Of course, Jim and Dallas’ goal now is to make Master Ooi’s schools the most popular in the Toronto area.

If you are in the Toronto area, and are interested in learning Reality-Based survival skills “The Hawk” would be more than happy to teach you.

If you are in the Vancouver area, the West Coast of Canada, Jim Wagner and Dallas Johnson will be teaching the Level 1 courses from January 22 to 26. Since there will be no courses in the Seattle or Portland areas in 2007, this is the event Americans in the Pacific Northwest should sign up for. 

Al-Qaeda Warns Canada
Jim Wagner

The Canadian newspaper National Post (Vol. 9 No. 2 Saturday October 28, 2006) ran a story titled Al-Qaeda Warns Canada. From a document written in July, and translated by the SITE Institute (a U.S. non-profit group that monitors terrorist web sites), the Canadian government was warned by terrorist group al-Qaeda to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan or face terrorist attacks similar to 9/11, Madrid and the London transit bombings with the help of Allah.

The document also refers to Canada’s “fanatic adherence to Christianity” and their attempts to “damage the Muslims.” In September Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, referred to the Canadian troops as “second rate Crusaders.”

Earlier in the year, June 2nd, 17 terrorist suspects in Toronto had plans to blow up the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, cut off the head of Prime Minister, and take hostages from Parliament Hill. These suspects said they were motivated in part by Canada’s presence in Afghanistan.