Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection

Young and Old Desiring Warrior Wisdom

Jim Wagner

After the event had ended a young woman, a Hollywood screenwriter who had just recently started studying the martial arts for self-defense, enthusiastically complemented me, “I learned so much from you. I never heard about Reality-Based before. It’s so easy and practical.” 

I finished signing my book Warrior Wisdom In One Month, and I handed it back to her responding, “That’s exactly why I named my system Reality-Based Personal Protection twenty years ago, It deals with the ‘reality’ of today’s criminal and terrorist attacks. And, now that you’ve taken your first course with me, you are now Reality-Based.”

I was there at the Martial Arts History Museum on Saturday, February 18, 2023, from 4 pm to 6 pm, because I was invited by Michael Matsuda back in October 2022. Back then he said to me, “Your book (Warrior Wisdom In One Month) is really good. Would you be willing to do a book signing in 2023?” Of course, being a huge supporter of the museum, since it is the only museum in the world exclusively dedicated to the martial arts, I was honored that he had asked me. 

After the Knife Combat lesson, I then gave a 15-minute lecture titled Increasing Violence Worldwide. Of course, I have no lack of material on this subject, since many of my students in the 20 countries I have taught in, along with the additional international that are attending my weekly Live Zoom Training Courses, keep me up to date with the increasing crime in their countries. However, I don’t just like throwing around a bunch of statistics, and so I always try to connect my students to connect to the realities that I talk about, both physically and emotionally, and I do that through a process I learned back in grade school known as Show & Tell. When I brought up the subject about the increasing crime in Germany, I told my audience, “Germany is not a gun culture, like we are. Citizens cannot own guns. And, those who do have permission to store guns at their homes are burdened down with heavy restrictions. You have to be in a government approved gun club, and you can’t store ammunition anywhere near the gun safe. And, if you do use that gun in self-defense – watch out! You’ll be in unbelievable trouble. So, do you know what many Germans are buying for home defense?” 

I got the usual answers, “baseball bats,” “knives,” and common objects, such as “hammers,” which are indeed bought by many Germans to protect themselves, but my answer surprised all of them. “They are buying tactical crossbows. And, it just so happens that I have the most popular tactical crossbow with me here today, and you are some of the first people in California to see it.”

From underneath a nearby table, hidden behind a table skirt, I pulled out a box, and then I pulled out a menacing looking weapon. “This is the Stinger AR-6 Stinger II Tactical crossbow designed and manufactured by the Austrian company Steambow.”

Everybody’s eyes got wide. 

“This is not just any crossbow. This one has a speed loader that will rapidly load five bolts, and then as fast as you can cock the lever here, is as fast as you can fire a bolt.” 

I cocked it rapidly, but I did not pull the trigger, since you never dry-fire a crossbow. “Of course, I purposely did not bring any bolts with me here today for safety reasons.” 

Roger, a traditional martial artist, in the audience asked, “Can you show that again?” 

I carefully put relaxed the heavy-duty string, and then rapidly cocked it again, but like an old lever-action repeating rifle from the 1800s. The audience was truly amazed, as they should be. After more than 2,000 years since crossbows first appeared on battlefields, this method of loading and firing bolts is revolutionary. Now that I had their undivided attention, I added, “So, imagine some criminals that have busted down your door in Germany, and you’re not allowed to have a firearm to protect yourself, this crossbow gives you the ability to fire multiple bolts at multiple targets quickly, and believe me, a bolt will do some serious damage. Hopefully, a bad guy will retreat just looking at this weapon. Doesn’t it look exactly like an assault rifle? It certainly feels like one,” and then I put it into my shoulder and pointed it in a safe direction as if I had an M4 rifle. 

Well, I was able to do this Show and Tell, because the company that made this incredible tactical crossbow, Steambow, sent it to me to test and give them my opinion on it. So, what is my opinion about this revolutionary tactical crossbow, you may be thinking now. Well, you’ll just have to wait, because I will be doing an entire article about it soon. Yes, it’s that important to devote an entire article to it.

And, speaking about Germany, I went on to show my new students the Nextorch TA30 tactical flashlight at the F-1 Tactical Flashlight Ring that was invented by my student, and friend, Sören Beck of the German Customs.

Back in December 2022, Sören was in Los Angeles, and we met to go over the new improvements of the flashlight and tactical ring. He had introduced me to these products three years ago, and I have carried nothing but these two products since for my security and executive protection missions, but he wanted to meet with me personally to go over all of the new improvements. Together we also made a quick video describing the improvements, which I posted on my YouTube channel, titled NEXTORCH TA30C The Tactical Flashlight Jim Wagner Endorses. Of course, Sören also briefed me on how crime in Germany keeps increasing. With his perfect English he said, “Crime is through the roof in Germany,” and gave me several disturbing examples – pretty much the same problems we are facing in the United States: open borders, out of control sexual assaults, more visible organized crime, and senseless violence over petty issues or no issues at all. After showing my students how the Nextorch TA30 worked, I told them about the crime issues in Germany. 

I then finished the lecture by discussing the crime wave sweeping over American by showing them a crime map of just the city of Burbank and bordering areas. They were shocked at how many dots were on the map showing where crimes had taken place in the past three days. The dots were everywhere – too many of them. I noticed many of my students shaking their heads in disbelief.