Keep Jim Wagner out of the UK!
Jim Wagner
First, let me start with a story. The story is about two shopkeepers. One was a bitter rival of the other. The bitter shopkeeper spent each day keeping track of his competitor’s business. If the bitter shopkeeper got a customer, he would smile triumphantly at his rival.
One night an angel appeared to the bitter shopkeeper in a dream and said, “I will give you anything you ask, but whatever you receive, your rival will receive twice as much. What is your desire?” The bitter man frowned and then said, “Strike me blind in one eye.” This is jealousy of the worst kind.
“Keep Jim Wagner out of the UK!” was one of the rude comments made on an Internet martial arts forum in the United Kingdom. Just two weeks before my scheduled Reality-Based Personal Protection courses that I was to teach in the United Kingdom, from September 29 October 2, a slew attacks against me poured into this forum. One would have thought it was just a bunch of disgruntled Brits causing the trouble trying to keep the competition out, but the source originated from an American named Nick Huges of the Krav Maga Lake Norman school in North Carolina– the United States of America; a fellow citizen. I wouldn’t have even known about the libel had it not been for Gary Dell, the RBPP Director of the United Kingdom, who not only alerted me, but had a war of words with those blatantly lying.
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For those of you familiar with the attacks, it was the same old stuff – “Jim Wagner was never a sergeant,” “Jim Wagner was never a counterterrorist,” “Jim Wagner lied about his background,” and on it goes; the cut and paste text taken directly from Hock Hochheim’s website (an American competitor that has been trying to torpedo the system since 2004). I wonder if there is any connection with the sudden attacks about my seminar in Devon, United Kingdom and Hock Hochheim’s posted upcoming seminar in Nottingham, United Kingdom on November 20th? Then, one of my own Facebook friends, a Chris Wilson, a Brit, was parroting the same old lines on this very forum; “with friends like this, who needs enemies.” Gary Dell was so fed up with this armchair warrior that he basically offered the seminar to him for free. I offered the seminar to him for free, which I have never done before. I wanted him to come and evaluate the system for himself. I’ve been teaching in the UK since 2001, including loads of police officers, soldiers, Royal Marines, and martial arts instructors from practically every system on the Island, and so I knew that he would find no fault with what I teach. After all, there’s a reason I still have governments around the world having me teach their units. Chris Wilson turned down the offer. Apparently he had the time to make comment after comment on somebody he doesn’t even know, me, and my system, but not enough time to come talk to me himself and check out the system. Oh yes, for I did land in England, and the courses did in fact take place. Just before leaving the States I also wrote Nick Hughes in North Carolina to ask him why he was spreading libel about me on this UK forum. I made my comment directly on his business Facebook wall. Apparently he didn’t want his own students to know about the attacks he was leveling against me, for immediately he stripped my comment from his wall. If you’re interested in knowing a little bit more about this incident CLICK HERE.
Of course, many of my British students were aware of the cyber-attacks against me. Gary and I have nothing to hide, and we made our students aware of the attacks on day one of the seminar. Since some of the students in the week were going to be instructor certified under me I let them know from my very first announcement the first morning that my enemies will become their enemies if they make public their association with me. As usual, it didn’t bother any of them, like all the countries I teach in, but I still feel it is my obligation to warn them about the sleaze balls out there if they are unaware of the “dark side of the modern martial arts.” I even took up the very line that the forum publicized and make a point of it and expanded upon it, “Keep Jim Wagner out of the UK! Yes, keep me out so people won’t learn how to survive an office massacre, school shooting, or terrorist attack. Keep out the Hand Grenade Survival technique that I’ve been teaching to thousands since 2003 and watch other people die like the two female police constables that were killed last week with hand grenades. Keep people from learning how to survive a criminal knife attack and just discard my jail and police patrol experience. Keep people from learning how to survive a criminal chemical attack or a sniper attack. After all, there are plenty of UK schools teaching this. Keep Jim Wagner out so people won’t learn about criminal surveillance or where to sit in all the forms of public transportation to survive a bombing. Who needs that? Who needs to learn the Israeli Run & Stomp technique or the how to give a proper physical description of a suspect after a violent crime? Keep people from knowing about Terrorism Survival as the Middle East and North Africa is on fire right now. These forum people would like to keep me out of the UK, and keep you from learning the Reality-Based Personal Protection system. You have to ask yourself, “why?”
I then asked the question to my students, “Where else in the UK are you going to find all the techniques and tactics that we cover in this Level 1 seminar? What other civilian courses offer this much? I’d really like to know. I’m serious. Please tell me so that I can go to these courses myself. I still want to learn more and grow. Where?”
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Few self-defense instructors get to travel around the world like I do, and even few yet are invited to teach their police and military like I have been. It’s because I know what’s out there on the market I gave my little soap box speech. I’m sure some of my students sensed the slight irritation in my voice, for I do get irritated with those ignorant of the system, and especially those who try to discredit me simply to try to eliminate me as a competitor from the field of self-defense instructors; as if there is not enough room for everyone. Well, I’ve been teaching self-defense since 1981, that’s a good 31 years now, and this January 21, 2003 is the 10 th anniversary of the Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection system. For the past decade I have trained literally thousands of people and certified a couple hundred instructors; not to mention influencing police agencies and military units. So, for the enemies of Reality-Based who have recently tried to throw a roadblock up, “it’s too late. The system has revolutionized self-defense, and has been doing so since I wrote my first article for Black Belt magazine in 1998. The system is already had its influence in the United Kingdom. And, the system will continue to make its impact upon beginners, professionals and instructors with or without me.” It’s people like Gary Dell, Fabrizio Capucci, Peter Falk, Christophe Besse, Nick Serna, Tim Stenson, and many others that will make sure of that.
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Like all past UK seminars the people in this one were highly motivated, which made it a pleasure to teach. Like last time I also lived the British life: I had my favorite pasties at lunch time and the the token fish and chips at least once, coming “home” and overlooking the English Channel from my Bed & Breakfast each evening after a hard day of training, and having great dinners with good friends like Gary Dell and Paul and Heather Drury. In fact, it is Paul Drury who hosted this year’s seminar like last year at his school called Paul Drury’s Black Belt Academy located in Dawlish, Devon.
With all my courses combined I had a good mix of beginners, martial arts instructors, and even a bouncer. This mentioned bouncer is probably the most professional bouncer I have ever met before and I even learned a few things from him as well. This was one of those rare times where I had no police or military personnel in the course. I had five Royal Marines signed up for the course, but one week before the first course they were suddenly deployed overseas. Our contact, who attended my KNIFE CAMP in April, also was shipped out, but to a different location - the Indian Ocean. There went six good students just like that. It would have been great having them in the course, for they would have been quite a challenge for the other students, but things like this happen from time to time. I just pray that they will all be safe on the missions that they are doing right now, and that I will see them at the next seminar.
For the Crime Survival course I took my students to the center of Dawlish; a quaint English city on the coast. We started our training near the Dawlish train station that is literally right on the beach. It was there that I ran my students through counter-criminal surveillance techniques (some of which can be found on my YouTube video titled Jim Wagner my self-defense instructor: Criminal Counter-Surveillance). I taught them how to pie a corner in an urban environment, how to get away from the bad guys if being followed, and overall how to Be A Hard Target. Gary Dell also pointed out the area where Dawlish has been experiencing a rash of muggings.
One of my dedicated students, Andy Crowe, pulled away from the group and bought an ice cream cone. When his fellow students asked why he did this he answered, “I’m just trying to make my cover more convincing.” Well, he had a point, because just earlier I had my students pretend that they were a terrorist cell in the deployment stage of the attack to see if anyone would report us to the police. There were a lot of nervous people around, but nobody called the police. There were a lot of nervous people looking at us, but nobody took action. It is always like this. I have done this same exact experiment in the center of London, New York City, Paris, and other large metropolitan cities, but nobody has ever reported our suspicious activity. Even as terrorist attacks flare up here and there around the world people still lack Situational Awareness and don’t want to “bother” the police with their suspicions. My students were quite surprised themselves with this routine experiment of mine. When we got back to the classroom Andy continued, “Jim, I have to admit that I was extremely nervous out there doing what we were doing. Extremely nervous.” Even my own Director, Gary Dell said, “I’m still nervous every time we do this.” I admit, I always feel a little uneasy using the public to illustrate my point, but the only way my students are going to have certain lessons sink in is to actually be on the streets, not just talk about it.
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The end of Level 1 always ends with Terrorism Survival, and this one was really good. Although we had some good Airsoft weapons Anthony Russell brought in his fully automatic rifle for us to use as well, which was much appreciated. I decided to be one of the victims in a couple of the “airport terminal terrorist attack scenarios” and got stitched up with that fully automatic rifle a few times. I told my students, “See, I’m willing to take the pain as well.” I had a few nice 6 mm welts all along my side and back. But, that’s how I teach my students how to survive small arms terrorist attacks, by actually having “terrorists” enter a room and start “massacring” people. With my background in counterterrorism (and yes, contrary to my critics lies I was a counterterrorist with the American government) I set up true-t0-life scenarios and use various dynamics to teach my students valuable survival lessons. Much of what I teach can be passed on to school children so that they can survive a future school shooting or to co-workers to survive an office shooting (some of this is also on my YouTube video titled Jim Wagner my self-defense instructor: Office massacre & school shooting survival).
When the seminar ended Paul and Heather Drury presented me with an official Paul Drury’s Black Belt Academy T-shirt with my name printed on the back of it. I was deeply honored and told Paul that this shirt would be mounted to the wall in my school in Solingen, Germany. I often mount gifts, patches, and photos that schools, agencies, and organizations give me. They remind me of the great people I have met in this fantastic career.
Paul Drury and I did a publicity video for his Facebook to plug the upcoming Saturday course taught by Bill “Superfoot” Wallace. Of course, I had no trouble endorsing Bill for my very first martial arts instructor, Alfonso Uceda, was one of his students. Years ago I had the privilege of meeting Bill, and he is a really great guy; not to mention being one of the legends in the martial arts who has influenced many people to learn self-defense. When I was a teenager the very first martial arts book I ever bought was one of his. Paul relayed a message from Bill to me wishing me well. If you are anywhere near Devon this Saturday, then you can still sign up for the seminar.
Be A Hard Target.
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Becoming A Highlander
Jim Wagner
Although I celebrated my 50th birthday a few months ago, taking a trip to Scotland for a mini-vacation was my “last birthday gift.” Yes, I spread it out, for after all it was the BIG FIVE ZERO.
Jim Wagner is not all about fighting. Growing up I never learned how to play a musical instrument. It was one of the areas lacking in my life. A few years ago I was in Ireland teaching and I bought and Irish Tin Flute. I learned how to play it and read music. I’m not good at it, but it did help me appreciate music more as a result.
American police departments have pipers play the Scottish bagpipe at formal ceremonies and at the funerals of police officers; American fire departments have this tradition as well. It’s one of the many British traditions we have that we inherited from our country’s forefathers that carried over after our independence. I served as a civilian police officer from 1991 to 2002 and I get goose bumps every time I hear the bagpipes played. Well, needless to say, after learning the flute I had a desire to learn how to play the bagpipes. I tried a few times on my own, but I just wasn’t getting the hang of it. Therefore, I wanted to go to Scotland and get proper training from a Scottish teacher.
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Four days before I was scheduled to teach in England I took a flight up to Edinburgh, Scotland. At first I didn’t think I would be able to make it up there, for a terrible storm was passing through that area and northern England with hurricane like winds and a month’s worth of rain in just one day. I was afraid my flight was going to be cancelled and I’d be sitting in a hotel room missing out on what I had planned. However, despite the rain I went to the Exeter airport first thing in the morning and asked them if my flight was still going. The airline told me that by the time the plane leaves the runway the weather will have died down in Scotland. Just as planned the Dash 8 twin propeller plane landed in Edinburgh airport and I was able to start my adventure.
The first night, heavy with rain, was just learning the lay of the city and buying a few souvenirs. Then in the morning my prayers were answered and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I went to the Edinburgh Castle that sits on a hill in the middle of the city. Up there I toured the medieval castle and worked on a video project. This is a video project that I have been working on all summer in France, Germany, and wrapping it up in Scotland.
I then went to the bagpipe shop called bagpipes.co.uk where I bought a new Chanter, tutor book, and a few items I needed for my bagpipe back home. I also asked a lot of questions to the owner of the shop who helped me out immensely. Before going there I had called him asking him if he could recommend any good pipers. He gave me the phone number to Neil MacClure and told me that he was one of the best. I had called Neil telling him that I was in his city and if it was possible for a private lesson. He said that it was and to meet him at his home at 5:00 pm.
I then took two buses through the heart of Edinburgh and pushed Neil’s door buzzer at 5:03 pm. He invited me in and asked me if I wanted tea. I did, and a few minutes later we dove into my very first music lesson ever. Neil was a fantastic teacher, and gave me a most informative crash course. After the lesson I slapped down some British pounds and a tip, and walked out of there with the confidence that I could learn this instrument at home now that I had some expert guidance. The first song I plan on learning is Amazing Grace; a Christian classic.
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Feeling a bit hungry after the lesson I had a good cold pint of beer and some traditional soup at a pub. It was an experience hearing the “funny accents.”
The next morning I had to rise early in order to catch a tour bus I had paid for. Since I was in Scotland I could not miss the Highlands and the famous Loch Ness; home of the Loch Ness monster. The tour was 12 hours long. It was definitely a full day of tourism, but I was looking forward to it.
The tour bus driver was fantastic. It was his 43rd year driving, and in his career he had driving two million miles. As he drove he spoke into a mike and told us significant historical events. For those places that required a stop he gave us, there were about forty people on the tour, a time limit “or I’ll leave ya here.”
I saw the William Wallace monument, the birthplace of Marie the Queen of Scotts, the United Kingdom’s largest oil refinery, and the beautifully rugged Highlands, and then finally up to Loch Ness.
Just before arriving to the William Wallace monument the bus driver asked us, “Have ya all seen the movie Braveheart?”
We all proudly said, “Yes” knowing that we going to actually going to get to see where the story took place. The bus driver, knowing our excitement said, “Well, what a bunch of rubbish that was.”
We all bust out in laughter knowing we had been baited, and knowing that Hollywood had probably duped us once again.
The bus driver added, “I’ll tell you the real history.” And, he did. By the time he was done it hardly resembled the role that Mel Gibson had played. The movie had made it seem like Scotland was under English rule at the time, but they were not. Scotland did not come under English rule until 1707 when they formed the alliance that became known as the United Kingdom. The movie made it appear that William Wallace’s new bride was killed when in fact it was his wife and children during an English raid. The bus driver admitted that atrocities were committed by the Scotts as well, raiding northern English villages to kill and plunder, and so it wasn’t all one sided.
And, speaking of “the United Kingdom,” the bus driver pointed out a small island out in the middle of a loch (the Scottish word “loch” simply means “lake”) where 78 people of the MacDonald Clan is buried. They were killed in what is known as the 1692 Massacre.
In 1692 all the clans (clan means “family”) agreed to sign King William’s document that would unite England and Scotland. The MacDonald Clan was the last to sign. The man who was to sign the document, Alastair Maclain, rode to the village, but was delayed due to a fierce snowstorm. The king’s clerk, known as the Master of Stair, was advised of the delay, but was reassured that the MacDonald Clan was going to sign it. This particular government clerk had a grudge against the MacDonald Clan and sent a message to King William that Alastair Maclain was refusing to sign the document as agreed upon. The king was outraged and hired Scottish mercenaries from the Campbell Clan to go wipe out the MacDonald Clan. The mercenaries went into the Campbell village on February 13, 1692 and killed 38 people in their beds. Those that escaped, mostly women and children, ran into the nearby hills, but because of the harsh winter, and unable to take adequate supplies with them, 40 of them died due to exposure. Their bodies were collected by survivors and buried on the island. A total of 78 people were killed by the Campbells and was known as the Massacre of Glencoe.
King William eventually heard that his gevernment clerk had lied to him about the MacDonald Clan’s real intentions to sign the document and had this liar hanged. This weasel sounds a little bit like some of the people I have to deal with, doesn’t it. These types are in every generation and in every corner of the globe.
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There is a part of the Highlands that has been untouched since the ice age, and I got to see it. There are no roads or structures on it of any kind. It is a national park to be preserved for all generations. When I was looking upon it I said to myself, “If only I could do a little wilderness survival out there.” That would be quite an experience, but life is short and one can’t do everything. My problem is that I have too many ambitions and not enough time.
Loch Ness was just as I expected. I long beautiful lake with an ancient history. It is 24 ½ miles long by 1 mile wide. As we were driving to Urquhart Castle, where one of the most famous photos was taken of the Loch Ness monster, or affectionately called “Nessie” by the locals, I did scan the waters hoping to see a glimpse of the prehistoric creature scientist believe to be a plesiosaur that was trapped in the lake when waters receded after “the Great Flood.” If you look at a topographical map of northern Scotland, and where the lake is situated, it is quite possible that a great sea creature was trapped in there.
When the bus stopped above Urquhart Castle I took the opportunity to not only take a few good photos, but I did a quick segment for the video I was working on in Edinburgh. How the Loch Ness and self-defense tie in together, you’ll just have to wait and see when I post it on YouTube in the near future.
One interesting stop we took was in the town of Spean Bridge. Near this town is a monument dedicated to the Royal Marines who once had a training camp there. There were never any permanent buildings built, but it was a tent city for the warriors. In one of the hotels in the town there is a small museum that explains the history and quite a few military artifacts lining the walls. Of course, I took quite a few photos there and found it quite interesting.
The rest of the trip home was mostly in the dark, but I arrived in Edinburgh at a decent hour for dinner. I found a good restaurant and put away a good meal. The next morning gave me just enough time to have a hearty Scottish breakfast and hop into the taxi to the Edinburgh airport. I wish I would have had another day or two to run around Edinburgh, for it is a very warm and welcoming city, but I had to get back to England to teach the next day.
When I arrived at Exeter airport Gary Dell, the Reality-Based Personal Protection Director of the United Kingdom, was there to pick me up. We went into Teighmouth to buy a few things for the seminar and had a tasty fish & chips dinner. Well, actually, I had the fish & chips and he worked on a big juicy steak.
For many years I have heard people tell me how great Scotland was, and now I know why they had recommended it. Scotland is a must for the adventurer to see, and I am glad that I can now cross it off of my bucket list.
Be A Hard Target.
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