Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection

KNIFE CAMP Three days of intensity

Jim Wagner

On March 1st I had a day off before teaching my three-day KNIFE CAMP. Although it was freezing cold, with icy rain coming down sporadically, I took a 25-minute train ride into Germany’s fourth largest city – Cologne. Besides getting a little rest and relaxation I continued my research on human conflict by going to the Roman-German Museum after visiting the Cologne Cathedral. I had been there before in the past, but there were a few photos I needed to take for future articles and videos.

On March 2nd, bright and early at 08:00 in the morning I started my KNIFE CAMP at my European Headquarters in Solingen, Germany. I started with the foundation, Knife Survival course, teaches one everything they need to know in surviving a criminal or terrorist edged weapons attack and how to use edged weapons if that’s the only tool available for self-defense.  

The next day was the KNIFE EXPERT course for those who wanted to continue their edged weapons education: double knives, machete, sword, throwing knives, and how different sub cultures around the world attack their victim with edged weapons.

The third and final day was for those who wanted to be certified under me to teach KNIFE SURVIVAL and KNIFE EXPERT under my organization’s umbrella or under their own system. It does not matter to me if they want to promote my system, mention me or not, or teach the material in their own names, as long as there are no copyright infringements. The group I had on March 4 was a good group of men who took learning how to teach seriously. They thought the course was going to be me just going over the material again, but it was more than that. I wanted to teach them teaching skills and how to make the best possible lesson plans. Now these instructors have gone out and are teaching others how to survive knife attacks based on really what happens, and not the proverbial, “Come at me this way” type of training. Stage blood, treating knife injuries, weapon signatures, and much more…  

The rest of the photos give you a good idea of the intensity of all of the courses I taught. The next time I teach knife skills in my European Headquarters will be KNIFE SURVIVAL on June 4^th and KNIFE EXPERT on June 5^th. However, I will be teaching a full KNIFE CAMP in Paris, France May 16 to 18.

SWEDISH REALITY-BASED INSTRUCTOR STARTS NEW PROGRAM

Jim Wagner

Reality-Based Personal Protection Level 3 instructor, and the RBPP Director of Nordic countries, Peter Falk, started a blog that is about bodyweight strength training that is a good complement to martial arts training. Not only is it good for overall health, but it also increased performance. Peter already has lots of knowledge and experience to draw upon, but in June he will attend an instructors course in Gothenburg, Sweden that will provide him with even more material to work with.

Take a look at Peter Falk’s new blog that is in both English and Swedish:

http://www.kroppskontroll.blogspot.se

REALITY BASED INSTRUCTOR A SUCCESS

Jim Wagner

Alex Haddox is one of the few instructors who have gone through my Level 3 courses. He was one of those students who soaked in everything I taught him, asked good questions, and used his past training and experience to perfect his self-defense and situational awareness skills.

Every self-defense instructor hopes that his students will not only continue with their martial arts, but even surpass even their teacher and go on to expand their knowledge. Alex is one of my students who has done this. Over the years he has written a book called Practical Home Security: A Guide to Safer Urban Living that even I got a few new pointers, he has been doing a podcast about self-defense and security for years, including talking about many of the things I have taught him, and he has had over 2 million downloads. 

Alex’s company, Palladium Online Security Training Center, offers online training and certification for security officers. The programs comply with all state and national requirements as mandated by their regulatory bodies. The program is for the California Department of Consumer Affairs Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS) Guard Card. 

I am on Palladium’s Advisory Board, and I will be working on a video series dealing with security issues with Alex in June.

http://security.palladium-education.com

Fellow Costa Mesa police officer Mike Delgadillo dies

Jim Wagner

On March 12^th at 10:30 p.m. Detective Mike Delgadillo was killed when his private car crashed into a support column under a Freeway overpass. It was a single vehicle accident, and the cause is under investigation. He was a 32-year veteran of the Costa Mesa Police Department.

When I was a police officer with Costa Mesa Mike was a K9 officer that I worked with. Whenever I needed a dog Mike was there to assist. In fact, I learned a valuable lesson from Mike one time. Here’s what happened back in the late 1990s:

I responded to a burglar alarm at a manufacturing business on Hyland Avenue at 01:28 hours. The front door window had been smashed and the venetian blinds that were on the other side of the door were a tangled mess.

“This is the Costa Mesa Police Department! Make yourself known or we will send in the dog!” Delgadillo yelled into the jagged hole.

He let Nero, his German Shepherd, bark for several seconds to intimidate anyone that might still be inside the darkness. When there was no reply we made entry into the building.

“Stay close behind me,” Delgadillo ordered me while keeping his focus on the beam of light in front of him. Both of us had our pistols at the low ready position and proceeded through the building. 

A couple of seconds later He knelt down and unleashed his police dog. Nero, already leaning hard in the direction he wanted to go and whining for freedom, bolted immediately once the clasp was released. In less than two seconds he disappeared from our sight deep into the interior of the building. 

For about ninety seconds Officer Delgadillo and I slowly went past one working space after another sweeping each side of the room in searching patterns of light. 

We had not heard any noise from the dog. It was as if he vanished, and Delgadillo never called out to him. It was as if he had launched a fire-and-forget missile. The dog was dangerous, and he was roaming around somewhere in the building. 

As we walked through a long hallway I had drifted about six feet behind Delgadillo. All of a sudden, with urgency in his voice, he said, “Wagner, you better get back on my ass!” 

A chill went down my spine. I did not know much about K9 procedures at the time, but I knew by the sound of his voice that somehow I was in immediate danger.

I quickly picked up my pace and a second later I was literally pressing by shoulder up against Delgadillo’s back, and just then I heard sound of dog toe nails tapping on the tile floor behind me. I felt a hot blast of air from the dog’s nose on my trousers as he brushed past me and face forward. I had made it to Delgadillo’s side before he took a bite out of me.  A dog like his can rip your flesh from the bone. 

How did this dog get behind us? I tried to understand. I never heard him moving through the building, and I didn’t even know that there was a way he could circle around and come up behind us.       

“These dogs don’t know what a uniform means. You need to stay with me so Nero knows that you are with me and not the suspect,” Mike mentored me.  

We never found the burglar inside the business, but it was a good education for me on what to do during a building search with a K9 and his handler. 

Mike Delgadillo is survived by his parents, brother, and children: Ivy, Noah, Sierra, and Quinton (ages 13-20). 

Rest In Peace Mike.