Security for the Happiest Place on Earth
Jim Wagner
My background was quite extensive when it came to security at every level: soldier with a combat unit, jailer, police officer, SWAT officer, deputy sheriff, Team Leader of a bodyguard unit, a federal agent counterterrorist, a private bodyguard, working surveillance for a private investigator, a military police soldier, Security Forces, a Team Leader for a military Special Response Team, and a Terrorism Liaison Officer. The one thing missing from my resume was CORPORATE SECURITY. To many it may have seem unnecessary given my high-speed low drag career that I had obtained over three decades, but I felt like I needed the experience in order to strengthen a large segment of my business that came to the Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection system for training. Private security companies run very much like police departments do, but with a different set of rules, regulations, and laws. Although I had worked with, and trained, many private security companies I knew that I could deepen my knowledge in this area by actually working for a limited time for a Fortune 500 company. If I was going to do it, it might has well be with the best.
I applied to few of the largest corporations in the United States. I was only looking for part time work, so that I could continue to teach RBPP on the side, and the one that hired me first was The Walt Disney Company. Although I had successfully completed the interview process for a part time position they turned around and offered me a full time position. I knew that by taking it that I’d have to put my former life on hold for a while, but I knew deep down that it was something that I had to do, and without any hesitation I said “yes” to their offer.
I decided that I’d work for six months for “The Big Cheese,” Mickey Mouse that is, as all Cast Members called him acknowledging him as the boss of the corporation, and then after that I’d go back to training the world’s elite. Even though I’d be gone for half a year I knew that the RBPP system would not collapse, because I had tremendous people working for me. There were RBPP Directors, Coordinators, and Instructors worldwide teaching the system, and on my days off I’d be able to make key decisions and give advice via Skype meetings.
On November 3, 2016 I began work with the Disneyland Resort Security & Emergency Services in Anaheim, California. I’d love to talk all about it, but I signed a nondisclosure form, and my lips are sealed.
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Reality-Based Personal Protection desperately needed in Europe with increasing crime and terrorism
Jim Wagner
After six months away from teaching my RBPP system full time it felt good to be in front of a class of enthusiastic students again teaching them how to survive today’s increasingly violent world; especially in Europe where one after another terrorist attack was happening, women being raped in alarming numbers, and crime spiking because of bad elements mixed in with the surge of immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East.
Geneva, Switzerland
I was scheduled to teach in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday, May 5, 2017 and on Saturday, May 6th. Technically these were the last two days that I was on vacation from work. By “work” I mean The Walt Disney Company, because I had accumulated enough hours to take a one-week vacation. When I returned back home a month later a paycheck was waiting for me for this final week.
Sponsored by the Silhouette Fitness Club in Geneva, Switzerland, practically under the flight path of the international airport, I taught my popular RBPP Ground Survival course. Although it was an open enrolment course the majority of my students were women. That’s extremely rare for this course, but no complaints from me. Helping me teach was my Coordinator of French Speaking Switzerland Gaby Tornaire and French RBPP Level 2 Instructor Julie Duranton. To my surprise, at dinner time, Gaby and Julie presented me with a French made OPINEL survival knife (the Number 08 Outdoor – Couteau No. 08 Outdoor). It was a very thoughtful and generous gift, which proudly was added to my knife collection.
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The following day, my last day of “vacation” and last day employed by the 11th largest corporation in America, was my RBPP Tactical Pen, Light & Stick course. The students were all highly motivated, and I even had a Swiss banker in the course. People at every level are concerned about the violence plaguing Europe, even though Switzerland is calm at the moment.
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Julie, knowing that I like to visit new museums, battlefields, and places of interest for my ongoing research on human conflict, took me to the Château de Prangins only a few minutes from the city of Nyon. The building that stands there now, which was built in 1730 for Louis Guiguer, was constructed over the remains of an ancient castle. Inside I found quite a few things of interest for my research, and I clicked away with my camera and took some notes. I even found a great spot where I told Julie, “Arrêtes! Va dans ce coin là-bas. Regarde à doite.” Stop! Go into the corner over there. Look to the right, and then I instantly snapped the photo when it matched the pose that I had imagined in my mind. It was just like the days of my former life when I did fashion photography when I was an Art Director for an advertising agency before going into the career of law enforcement.
The following day both Gaby and Julie drove me to the lakeside city of Nyon where I saw the Nyon Castle and other historical sites. Of course, the two days off from work afforded us a few great traditional Swiss and French meals, time to catch up on everyone’s lives, and discuss the upcoming seminars we want to run.
On the last night of my stay Gaby, Julie, and I toasted to two successful courses completed in Geneva with virgin Mojitos (a traditional Cuban cocktail), and Swiss dark chocolate. Why virgin Mojitos? I don’t know why, but RBPP Directors and Coordinators are allowed to choose what drink and snack they want to use for the celebration, and for whatever reason Gaby decided on these two things years ago.
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Charleroi, Belgium
Early the next morning I caught a ride into Geneva and boarded a train bound for Brussels, Belgium. A lot of people were still rattled there by the fairly recent radical Islamic terrorist bombing that took place Brussels at the capital’s airport on March 22, 2016. And, for good reason too – it was brutally shocking. Thirty-two innocent people were blown up by nail-packed bombs, and 340 people were injured, 62 of them critically. Then after the incident scores of terrorist suspects were arrested all across Belgium, and to this day soldiers patrol the capital; I clicked a few photos of them patrolling in various public places. Islamic State took responsibility for the murders and declared the three suicide bombers martyrs. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in Belgium’s history.
A year earlier in Belgium I had taught my Reality-Based Personal Protection Terrorism Survival course in the city of Charleroi. That was just two months after the Brussels airport bombings. Even though I had been teaching Terrorism Survival all over Europe since 2003 that was the first time I ever taught the course in Belgium, because prior to the bombings nobody was really interested in learning how to survive terrorist attacks. My other courses were popular, just not Terrorism Survival. Of course, the attacks changed everything.
Originally I was not scheduled to teach in Belgium this year. I was supposed to teach for two days in London, England on May 9th and 10th. Last year in the center of London, literally a block from the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police, I had taught my Knife Camp so that RBPP students could defend themselves against criminal and terrorist knife attacks, and this year I wanted to teach my Terrorism Camp. Unfortunately, my RBPP Director of the UK, Oli Rawlings, told me that we had lost our location (St. Andrews) because the landlord of the building believed that my courses “promotes conflict.” To top it off Oli’s employer reversed their decision on allowing him to be the RBPP representative of the United Kingdom and Oli told me that he is not “allowed to carry on as your RBPP’s UK representative. I’m putting in for the first round of appeal, but rumour has it they’re really clamping down on business interest.” Since I am very familiar with Oli’s situation I told him not to worry about it, and his job comes first. Oli reassured me that we will work together again in the future.
My course this May in Charleroi was additional training to prepare students for an Active Shooter, be it a school shooting, office massacre, or terrorist attack using small arms (any firearm under .50 caliber). It was good to see some of my former students returning, and a lot of new faces as well. Coming all the way from Paris was my RBPP International Director Christophe Besse and RBPP Coordinator of France Miryana Poljakovic who came as students, because they had never taken this course before. Helping me teach the course was my RBPP Coordinator of Belgium Nicolas Marucci. He is not only a great instructor, but a good friend who has assisted me in several countries over the years.
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One of the highlights of my trip to Belgium was meeting with Sergio who is an instructor of the Mastro Defense System (MDS), founded by Fred Mastro, who wanted me to test a product – the TORSKIN Protective skin. I tried on a long-sleeve, lightweight, shirt. Nicolas Marucci, the RBPP Coordinator for Belgium, took out a fresh orange and sliced it open with a combat knife. He then sliced the TORSKIN polo shirt that was on the pick nick table outside to show me its ability to resist a cut. Under controlled conditions I raised up my arm, to simulate a block, and Nicolas sliced at my arm. The blade did not go through the material, and my arm was unharmed. The next test was when Sergio brought down the point of the knife a few times on the test polo shirt. A thin anti-stab insert had been placed inside one of the pockets that protected the organs of the abdomen. In my shirt I had the same insert. Then Sergio jabbed me in the stomach with the knife. The tip did not penetrate the lightweight insert.
The TORSKIN is ideal for police officers, private security officers, and bodyguards. This “second skin” definitely gives a layer of protection that anyone would want to have if attacked with an edged weapon. After having experienced it myself I highly endorse the product. In fact, I even wanted to try the test again with the original Jim Wagner Reality Based Blade (0BO51). Although the material held up to one pass, my razor sharp serrated blade, with a gladius tip, damaged the TORSKIN more than a standard utility combat knife. Or course, there is a reason why my knife (designed by me and German engineered) is the ultimate tactical folder for self-defense, and why so many professionals around the world carry it.
I am often asked by various companies to test their products. Last year in Belgium Anthony Hardy had me test the Flexible Ballistic Shield by SIOEN, which I highly recommended as well.
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Paris, France Terrorism Survival Conference
Since the threat of terrorism is one of the main reasons for me teaching in Europe I did something new that I had never done before, and that was to teach Terrorism Survival in demonstration/lecture format. On Saturday, May 13, 2017 Christophe Besse and I rented a conference room at the Hôtel l’Elysée at Val d’Europe (a suburb of Paris next to Disneyland Paris) and we did indeed give step-by-step demonstrations and lectures with a PowerPoint presentation accompanying it. Of course, most police and military courses taught in the United States are taught in this fashion, and so I was confident that it works, but I didn’t know if my French audience would receive it well or not. After all, “the customer is always right.” Well, to my surprise I received nothing but compliments and praise at the end of the conference. I had several former students attend the conference who had taken the hands-on version of it before. When I asked why they would take the demonstration/lecture form of the course RBPP Level 1 Instructor Eleonore da Silva told me, “There is so much information to learn, and I want it to really sink in. I’m teaching people this now.”
With this new additional format I can teach people all over the world in any hotel conference room who would never come to a hands-on course. The new students attending the conference said that they understood perfectly, based upon our teachings, what options they have in a terrorist attack, and that they received the information that they had come for.
Although we had a good turn out for the conference it was not packed. There were not hundreds of people on a waiting list wanting to get in. One student wondered why and openly asked me during the Question & Answer portion of the conference, “Why aren’t more people coming to this? Everyone should know about the things you taught here today.”
I responded before the entire audience, “Because most people don’t want to face reality. For example, they’ll easily spend five hundred euro or more in one day taking their family to Disneyland Paris, but they won’t spend one euro to learn how to survive a terrorist attack or for their children to learn how to survive a school shooting. They all know the possibility exists, but they just hope it doesn’t happen to them or anyone they know. They just don’t want to face it, and a course like this makes them deal with the reality.”
Heck, I don’t like thinking about the reality of terrorism, but I do. I also don’t like thinking about getting into a car accident, but I mentally and physically prepare for the possibility by fastening my seat belt every time I get into a car. I drive defensively when I’m behind the wheel. Facing reality is simply the prudent thing to do.
I told my audience, “You’re the 2% of the population who are actually doing something to increase your odds of surviving a terrorist attack.” This 2% I spoke of comes from Lieutenant Colonel David Grossman’s famous book titled On Killing, who also happens to be one of my instructors from the past. Everybody in the tactical world reads this book: police, military, and private security agents who operate in the hot spots of the world.
After the Terrorism Survival conference a few of my students and I got together to have an awesome French dinner in the center of Paris. Joining us was my former RBPP Director of France (for one year) Julien Nodier. It was a fun time for all.
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On May 14, 2017 I taught, along with Christophe Besse, the 8-hour RBPP Knife Survival course. It also happened to be Mother’s Day back home in the States, but I already had that covered. I had sent a Mother’s Day card from Charleroi, Belgium when I was there.
The Knife Survival course is like none other in the world. This is the course that has got “my foot in the door” with elite units all over the world: German counterterrorist team GSG9, the Israel Police Academy, Helsinki Police Department, FBI, Bulgarian Secret Service, and many others. The reason is because it is as realistic as it comes, and effective; none of the “Come at me like this,” choreographed or Cooperative Partner Training crap! In fact, a French police officer asked if I’d be willing to train his agency, to which I replied, “Baaaahhhh, oui.”
The next day in Paris was the Knife Expert course. This course does just that – it makes a knife defender/fighter into an expert. The course gives students and instructors more techniques, tactics, and training methods above and beyond what most knife enthusiasts know.
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Germany, Three Cities
After my courses in Paris there was no rest for the weary – me, that is. The next morning I had to hop onto a train to Düsseldorf, Germany. Waiting for me there at the train station when I arrived was one of my RBPP Coordinators Gerald Meischein. He has been a student of mine since 2009, and he has earned his instructor certificates all the way up to Level III. You can call him “loyal and dedicated.” Also meeting me in the train station at the same time, just to say “hi,” was my former student Sevil Dubas. She just happened to be leaving the university there after a class, and heading home by train at the same time I arrived, and so we coordinated the rendezvous through What’s App messages. Of course, we snapped a photo.
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To make a long story short, I had not been teaching in Germany for a year. Just a few months ago I received an email from Gerald where he stated, “Germany needs Reality-Based Personal Protection more than ever,” and he offered to host the courses if I’d come back. Of course, he was right. Since 1999, when I first started teaching counterterrorism courses in Germany, I had predicted since then that radical Islamic terrorism would eventually hit Germany, and unfortunately it did: shootings, knife attacks, and even Vehicle Ramming terrorism like the one on December 19, 2016 in Berlin where Tunisian “asylum seeker” Anis Amri killed not only the Polish truck driver, but ran over and killed 12 people and injured 56 others who were shopping for Christmas at a Christmas market. Again, Islamic State took credit for the attack on the Christian Crusaders.
Several years ago I had taught a large group of Gerald’s Tae Kwon Do students before, and so I knew that he was a man that I could trust and work with. He was a martial arts expert, a good businessman, and had high ethical standards; not to mention having a passion for RBPP. I agreed to work with him, and the rest is history.
Well, as the saying goes, “when it rains it pours.” A few weeks before my scheduled trip to Germany Carsten Felix, the president of Böker, which is the knife manufacturer who produces my Jim Wagner Reality Based Blade series, emailed me asking me if I’d be willing to teach all my courses for them again. Having taught for Böker for 10 successful years I accepted the offer. It was time for a “restart,” because Germany really needed it. The social/political climate had changed in Germany, and my courses were once again in high demand.
That evening, May 16, 2017, I taught a course in Gelsenkirchen titled Introduction to Control & Defense. It was primarily made up of Tae Kwon Do students, and even a few high school girls; one a foreign exchange from Brazil. It was a good group, and it was a good feeling for me to be once again teaching in Germany. Gerald and I were off to a good start.
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The next day I left my four-star hotel in Schelm, a quaint Old World village, and trained 16 government employees of the Ennepetal City Hall. The government wanted their employees not only trained in detecting and deescalating hostile people that may enter the City Hall offices, “das Rathaus,” but also know how to defend themselves if attacked with empty-hands or a knife. More than that I taught them, step-by-step, what to do during an Active Shooter incident. This course was not the typical once-in-a-blue-moon lecture they receive, but an actual low-impact, learn-by-doing, hands-on, course. This is a course that every government office should provide for their employees, as well as any large corporation that deals with the public. After the course had ended Gerald and I were told that, “this course was exactly what we wanted.”
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A few hours later I taught another course, and that was Introduction to Knife Survival for 2 ½ hours. I had exactly 50 students, and it was held in a large gymnasium in the city of Warstein. I have to admit that it was the largest group that I had ever taught knife defense to, but Gerald and I managed, and everyone loved the course.
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The final day of my three-day stay in Germany was teaching the Introduction to Terrorism Survival course in Ennepetal held in a gymnasium, because we had 49 students in this course that evening. Most of these students were new, with a few from the Knife Survival course that came back.
As I had mentioned before, I had taught counterterrorism courses in Germany since 1999 (18 years), and my civilian Terrorism Survival course in Germany since 2005 (12 years), but this time around there was a much more serious attitude by the students toward this course. In the past many of my German students thought that the Terrorism Survival course was interesting to learn, and some outside of the system even mocked me, and my course, publically stating that they’d never know the horrors of terrorism like Israel as I was claiming. Now, because of recent events, my students knew that terrorism in Germany was a reality, and it wasn’t going to go away anytime soon. Thus the need for the Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection system.
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After breakfast I went to Solingen to meet with Böker president Carsten Felix and Tobias Leckebusch. We discussed the restart and selected dates for courses in November of 2017; coming up just six months from now. “There is a big demand for your courses. Not just from our customers, but government and security agencies as well,” Carsten informed me.
Next on the agenda was my latest knife design. Tobias showed me a prototype that had just been made, and I was very pleased with it. Unfortunately, I have to “keep it under wraps” for now, and the project will be unveiled when it is finally ready for manufacturing. It will be a great addition to the Jim Wagner RBB series.
Before leaving the Böker facility I greeted a few of the employees I had worked with over the years, and I bought a few products in the Böker knife shop located on the grounds. The good news is that I get a good discount on all products.
Gerald and I then drove up to the Schlossberg in Solingen (a medieval castle on the outskirts of Solingen) nestled in the hills that are covered in forests as far as the eye can see. This was, of course, for my continuing research on human conflict. It was also a good opportunity for two warriors to click a selfie in front of an ancient fortification (a great representation of a RBPP team).
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Paris, France Second Seminar
Early in the morning of May 19, 2017 I hopped onto three different trains to get back to Paris in order to be ready for my weekend seminars; the second round in Paris.
On Saturday, May 20, 2017 I, along with the help of Christophe Besse and Miryana Poljakovic, taught Handgun Survival. When I asked for a show of hands for anyone who had shot a real gun before only three hands went up: a Disneyland Paris employee, and two of my Czech Republic RBPP instructors, Martin Hradecky and Mario Tacheci of Akademie Aegis located in Prague. France is not a gun culture, and so I was not surprised that the majority of my French students had never handled a real firearm before.
The purpose of the Handgun Survival course is first, and foremost, to teach students and instructors how to be safe and effective in conducting realistic RBPP scenarios. Obviously the techniques and tactics taught in this course transfer over seamlessly to real handguns, which can come in handy if one were to pick up a dropped weapon or disarm a criminal or terrorist. Another benefit of Handgun Survival is that it helps educates students on methods that a criminal or terrorist might use in their attacks. As the ancient general Sun Tzu stated in his book The Art of War, “Know your enemy.”
“The Czech Boys,” although both firearms experts, told me that they had picked up a few new techniques from me that they had not seen before, and that they liked the way I explained certain things better than other firearms instructors. I had taught several courses in Martin’s and Mario’s self-defense school three different years in Prague, a live-fire pistol and assault rifle course for bodyguards one hour outside of Prague, and they have come to several of my courses in Germany. I was very pleased to have both of them in Handgun Survival course in Paris, and when both of them did their final scenarios shooting Airsoft pistols they outgunned their opponents. Martin put a “bullet” (a 6mm plastic projectile) right in the forehead (it bounced off the safety helmet), and Mario put one between the eyes of his opponent (bouncing off of the protective mask). Since it was their very first time in Paris I, and some of the other RBPP instructors, showed them around the city of Paris starting with the Eiffel Tower, and ending up in the Latin Quartier at the Café Latin near the Saint Michel fountain. After a tasty dinner we walked across the small street to have some fresh made crêpes for dessert. Mario, being a very generous man, paid for everyone’s crêpes, for which he was greatly thanked. It was a “sweet” way to end the evening.
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The next day, Sunday, was Improvised Weapons. Not only do students learn how to use a wide variety of common objects as improvised weapons (impact, flexible, and throwing), but this course takes students into the mind of a criminal or terrorist. Again, Sun Tzu.
After the course, and after the certificate ceremony, us three instructors (me, Christophe, and Miryana) had our own TO A SUCCESSFUL SEMINAR celebration in the evening, which is a yearly tradition, but not until we satisfied our hunger with a sushi dinner with invited guests, former RBPP students Silvia Rodrigues and Anabelle Almeida.
The RBPP France tradition called for a glass of French Bordeaux wine, a cigar, and a single broken off square of dark chocolate. The three of us toasted, took a few puffs from our cigars (Miryana doesn’t smoke cigars, but she did it anyway “for the team”), and nibbled on the sweet treat. It was a special moment for the three of us.
The next morning Christophe dropped me off at the Charles de Gualle Intenational Airport, and I boarded a plane for Bologna, Italy. Waiting for me when I landed was my RBPP Director of Italy Fabrizio Capucci.
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Ravenna, Italy
I had two days to relax and prepare for the four-day seminar in Ravenna, Italy. Each year that I teach in Ravenna I hook up with my Italian art teacher Professor Stefania Fanti, and this year she gave me a lesson on ancient and modern calligraphy. Good penmanship has always been something I’ve practiced since my youth. Professor Fanti had me study some fonts of antiquity, as well as some more recent ones from the 19th and 20th centuries, and then it was on to some technical writing drills. Once I was comfortable with the pen strokes I moved onto writing complete words. I look forward to next year’s lesson.
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Fabrizio, knowing that I like to visit new places of historical interest to continue my research on human conflict, drove me to central Italy to visit the quaint costal city of Sirolo. Although a medieval village, capped by an ancient church, the incredible view across the U-shaped cove is Monte Conero where there is a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) military facility responsible for the protection of the northern Adriatic Sea. The area is quite a contrast: old next to the new. Picturesque seascape contrasting with military might.
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Hosting my Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection course, beginning with Terrorism Survival on May 25, 2017 was Sky Dive Pull Out Ravenna Parachute School owned and operated by Lele Pini at the Aeroporto di Ravenna. Each year Lele provides me and Fabrizio with an airplane hanger to conduct my courses, which gives me and my students an incredible amount of space for the training, including simulated sniper attacks using Airsoft rifles.
The following day, Friday, I taught, for the first time anywhere in the world, my new course titled Terrorism Expert. It covers topics, techniques, and training methods that simply cannot be covered in the 8-hour Terrorism Survival course. Since the Pull Out facility has a large swimming pool I took full advantage of it by teaching my students, who came from the four corners of Italy, how to survive in the water if they were ever forced to jump into the water during a terrorist attack on a cruise ship, a ferry, or small vessel. I’ve had extensive training with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines, U.S. Coast Guard, and various Port Police agencies over the years in my career (Tactical Swimmer, Ship Assault, Search & Rescue, GOPLAT Assault, and tactical dive courses), but I’ve never had the opportunity to share some of these skills with my civilian students with hands-on training in the water. So, I was just as excited as they were to get wet.
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The weekend courses began with Crime Survival. Although my Terrorism Survival Camp is something that no other martial arts schools teach, my Crime Survival course is also packed with material also not found in most martial arts schools. My 20 plus years in civilian and military law enforcement gives us the edge over other systems. Of course, information, techniques, and innovative training methods are not enough, and so my teachings are backed up with dozens of realistic micro and full scenarios. In my course students are obviously not facing real criminals, but they are receiving actual true-to-life experiences placed into their memories that will be recalled should they ever face the real thing in the future.
The final course in Italy was Improvised Weapons; the same course I taught a week earlier in Paris, France.
Several years ago when I was training the U.S. Marines on a regular basis (for 9 years), I received a sweatshirt as a gift from my students who were MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program) instructors, although it was called LINE training at the time. The shirt displays a fist in the center flanked by a crossed M4 rifle and a K-Bar knife. The words above the logo read ONE MIND, and the words below ANY WEAPON. Well, my Improvised Weapons course embodies this warrior philosophy.
After this course my students can pick up any object, including a piece of paper, and not only turn it into an improvised weapon, but be victorious with it.
During the seminar I had the honor of designating Albert Caruso as an official RBPP Tactical Tutor. This means that he has been well trained by Fabrizio and me, and has made himself available, when his schedule permits, to teach courses and private lessons directly for us. His sole system for self-defense is RBPP.
Another honor was bestowed upon Carlo Erriu, who was officially made a RBPP Coordinator for Sardinia. He is a dedicated martial artist who has made teaching RBPP his mission. As such he will be hosting me next year in Cagliari, Sardinia and Fabrizio Capucci will be assisting me. But, that’s not all. My RBPP Coordinator of French Speaking Switzerland, Gaby Tornaire, will also be a part of this event, and several Swiss students will be flying down for the training and surf & sand afterwards. Sardinia, an island in the Mediterranean, is one of Europe’s “must visit” vacations spots.
After saying our farewells to our students, Fabrizio, Paolo Vezzali (one of our translators, and one of the first Italians to be RBPP instructor certified over a decade ago by me) went out to dinner with us at an Agriturismo farm restaurant, and afterwards we celebrated a successful seminar with a few sips of rum, cigars, and dark chocolates. The following morning Fabrizio and I had lunch in the center of Bologna, and then he took me to the airport where I caught a flight to Paris.
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Two Days Off in Paris
Christophe Besse let me crash at his place for a couple of days. To “calm my soul” I went to the Rodin Museum, which marked the centennial of the great French artist’s passing, and I enjoyed the fine arts. It’s not all about fighting with me. There’s a time and place for everything.
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Terrorism after the seminars
On Wednesday, June 1, 2017, I was back in my home in warm, sunny, Southern California. Two days later, like the rest of the world, I heard about the horrible terrorist attack in London where three radical Islamic terrorists drove a van into pedestrians on the iconic London Bridge. Then they bailed out of the vehicle and went on a stabbing rampage in the Borough Market area, which is a place people gather at the many restaurants and pubs. These three monsters wore fake explosive suicide vests to put even more fear into people and the responding police. However, the police were phenomenal in their response of just 8 minutes, firing 50 rounds at the suspects, and killed all three of them. Of course, right after the incident Islamic State made an announcement that they were responsible for the attack that killed 7 victims and wounded 48, 18 of which were critical.
Oh yes, I definitely wish to return to the United Kingdom and help make people A HARD TARGET. I have been teaching in the UK since 2001 (before the terrorist attacks of 9/11), first teaching their police and military personnel until a couple of years later when I then started teaching civilians.
Then, just six days after I had left Paris I was in my office typing this article about my seminars. I heard a buzz from my cell phone, looked at the screen, and from Fox News it read ATTACK AT NOTRE DAME, PARIS. I quickly turned on the television and watched the news. A with a hammer (an improvised weapon) cried out, “This is for Syria!” and hit a police officer in the head in front of the Notre Dame cathedral. The wounded officer fired at the suspect twice and wounded him. Two kitchen knives and “other unsophisticated weapons” were found on him before being transported to the hospital. For a few hours the entire island, Ile de Cité, and Notre Dame were on lockdown. People in the cathedral felt like they were “trapped.” The police had to make sure that there were no other suspects in the area.
Having been there days earlier, right where the incident had occurred, I knew that the police would have responded fast, and they did. The main police headquarters of Paris is literally 200 meters across the courtyard facing the cathedral, and there are always plenty of armed police or French soldiers on foot patrol walking among the tourists. Back when I was 20 years old visiting the same area it was not like that. Life was more carefree, but now it is the same feeling one has walking around a major city in Israel – visible armed security, all because of radical Islam. Oh yes, the world has changed, and I believe the terrorism, and conflict with certain Islamic nations, is only going to get worse based upon my training and experience. However, like the Brits say, KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.
I feel like I did my part to make Europe a safer place. In one month I had taught one Terrorism Survival conference, 15 courses, and a total of 194 students. This does not even count for the RBPP Instructors all across Europe teaching the same system.
BE A HARD TARGET
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ATTENTION SELF-DEFENSE INSTRCTORS: Terrorism is increasing, but very few self-defense instructors are qualified to teach people how to survive terrorist attacks. Now you can be instructor certified in the Reality-Based Personal Protection courses Terrorism Survival, Terrorism Expert, and Responding to Terrorism for Professionals. If you are interested in becoming trained and certified by me, teaching under the RBPP banner or independently without any ties to my system, then email me at:
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