What is Combatives?

What is Combatives? A Brief Study of Hand to Hand Combat, Self Defense, Mixed Martial Arts and Beyond

The root word COMBAT - "to fight in direct contact," "active fighting between enemies," "any fight or struggle".

There are no specific country origins or techniques to define Close Combat, Self Defense, and Hand to Hand maneuvers. Based on historical fact and my 30 plus years experience in training, teaching, and understanding self defense, I present the following.

"The Roots of Close Combat, Self Defense, and Mixed Martial Arts"

There are comprehensive surveys and presentations of armed and unarmed combat. You will find a vast array of skills that deploy a diverse mix of "techniques." One truth remains; where people exist, there is a need for defense against aggression. Every culture has its own form of close combat, both traditional and unconventional, yet all have striking similarities.

In Ancient Greece, Pankration was a combined system of "all powers" combat, the equivalent of what is globally known today as Mixed Martial Arts.

The Samurai original fighting systems, Koryu Bujutsu, included a comprehensive catalog of both armed and unarmed skills. The unarmed combatives of the Japanese Bushi (elite warriors) also didn't limit scope or method. This "all in" system of fighting advocated grappling, striking, joint-locking, kicking, biting and any other means necessary to gain tactical superiority over your adversary.

Before the use of London Prize Ring rules and the Marquis of Queensbury (predecessor of modern day boxing rules) "pugilists" (the premiere boxers) used and relied on a great number of different grappling, striking, kicking, and gouging methods.

The Chinese have always maintained fully robust systems of "all-in" methods of combat. Shaolin monks employed such techniques to protect the communities that surrounded them.

Even original Okinawan Te (pronounced "Ti") a system of karate, included percussion methods as well as "tegumi" (grappling) and "tuite" (joint lock) systems. The idea being "Punch his lungs out if that did the job best, or grapple into a spine lock and use a neck break if you had to, just get the job done."

In the 19th century the West saw many methods of "combined" self defense systems begin to develop (Read: Mixed Martial Arts). The French combined elements of Chausson/Savate (French Foot Fighting) with Boxe Anglaise (Boxing), Parisian Lutte (stick fighting) and even the "newly discovered" Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. The British did the same. The "Bartitsu" of Barton-Wright (famous self defense writer) is a classic example. In the United States a number of self defense methods became available to the public that combined methods from Boxing and Wrestling. Even before any organized mixed martial arts systems were presented, men who fought even for sport used virtually any method they could to insure victory. Just read Elliot J. Gorn.

The Twentieth century saw even more "mixed" martial art combat systems. Any and all manner of grappling, throttling, kicking, kneeing, butting, biting, punching, gouging, stomping, and whatever other methods of mayhem could be employed were all "FAIR" when "fair" meant the difference between life or death, and it certainly didn't just end at "unarmed" fighting!

Only in the arena of sporting combat did this division of method, pitting one against another, become a somewhat popular past time. Matching wrestlers against boxers, either of the two against jiu-jitsu men or Savate Fighters against boxers was common place in any fairground or public spectacle.

In Japan, the founder of Judo, Jigoro Kano's nephew got involved in promoting these types of matches between western boxers and native Japanese Judoka. They were called "JU-KENTO," as in Judo, Jujutsu and "Kento" (fist-fighting). During this period, judo players interested in these JU-KENTO bouts sought out specific instruction in just how to make Judo work against boxing. An entire book on this subject was published in Japan in the early 30's. Remember that all of these bouts had strict rules and regulations of engagement. Few if any of these mandates would have had much bearing on what one could do in a real back alley brawl. As an example: Judoka (Judo practitioners) were almost always forbidden to use any methods of atemi waza (striking, punching, kicking, butting, and smashing). However, Judo experts of the time have advocated that striking would be the most preferable method of attack and defense in a serious engagement.

Karate legend Choki Motobu, when asked if his Kempo-Karate was "superior" to boxing after his Knock Out of a western style pugilist, said that in order for his method to be used against a boxer specialized training specific for that type of match would have to be undertaken. These "mixed matches" were done under a constantly varying set of rules, so that it became virtually impossible to ever really determine what method or martial art was superior. Even then, as some sportswriters of the time pointed out, "What did any of this have to do with real fighting when no rules applied?"

The foregoing should satisfy and fulfill anyone's definition of mixed martial arts tactics and techniques (even though Muay Thai or more accurately Siamese boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu were not included). But to be fair, there are English language books circa the late 1920's and 30's that detail Siamese boxing quite well. One manual details the favorite attacks of Siamese style boxers as being directed at the liver with brutal kicks and at the throat while grasping the hair with one hand and smashing the throat with the other fist (gloves were not worn at this time). One should note: the liver attack was lethal in many cases because of the widespread epidemic of malaria which left the liver swollen and distended. Deaths occurred frequently in these matches and were considered just a routine hazard of the "trade".

The bottom line is this: for use in a real violent assault no one, but an utter fool, would suggest an attitude or method approaching less than that of an all-in doctrine. In regards to deciding which martial art is best: nothing was ever, or could ever be, conclusively proven to be superior to anything else. At one time or another any of these various "methods" had both big and impressive wins and equally impressive failures.

The question is: What is the best Self Defense system? No matter what culture or style, when it comes to real fighting, the best system whatever got the job at hand accomplished in the fastest, most efficient way possible. The purpose comes first, the training came second!

You run into problems when you start to try and "fit" your style to any situation. This is where martial arts run into problems. In an effort to promote their systems to the masses, they are constantly trying to adapt sporting systems to non-sporting applications. Judo was the first to do this with "Goshin-jutsu". This is a series of techniques developed to demonstrate how judo would be applied to self defense situations. Most in fact all other methods followed suit and adapted this same model to "self defense". The problem with this is obvious, when you limit your scope of tactics to a particular style, you eliminate all of the other possibilities. Like the old saying goes, if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Self Defense to the Present Day
The advent of World War I brought warfare into a new and foreboding era of man to man killing and slaughter. Air power, mechanized warfare, chemical warfare, and the general widespread use of machine guns changed the face of battle almost completely. The static and stagnant lines created by entrenched warfare demanded new and innovative tactics and strategies. Among these was the advent of "raiding" parties: small groups of lightly armed men venturing behind enemy lines for the purpose of recon, probing, intelligence, prisoner grabs, and psychological demoralization missions. The nature of fighting under these conditions became popularized as trench warfare. This was close-in, knife to belly, hand to hand combat. For this manner of fighting, expedient methods of killing ones enemy, improvised close-combat weaponry were developed and deployed.

While technological advances were being made in all other forms of warfare, this particularly nasty and vicious man to man fighting reverted to the most barbaric, primitive, and bloody "methods" imaginable. Despite the changes in technology, one solitary fact remained, in the end it was still man against man in a desperate, brutal, and deadly struggle for survival. As a result unarmed hand to hand methods were drawn from every source of man-to-man combat. Boxing, wrestling, savate, jiujitsu, and any number of rough and tumble, gouge and kick back alley tactics were employed. Those charged with the task of developing such training programs were well aware of the fact that no one single approach to combat was sufficient in kill or be killed battle!

Punching, kicking, striking, butting, stomping, biting, gouging, throwing, tripping, choking, strangling, bone breaking, and the use of any and all weapons of close combat expediency were stressed. Fostered by this fact, most military forces researched, developed, and implemented comprehensive and rigorous training methods specific to close-combat and trench fighting. The bayonet, the knife (especially the trench knife), and hand to hand combat became prime training doctrines along with advancements in general physical conditioning and battle preparation. William E. Fairbairn is one of the credited pioneers of this study during his tenure as head of the Shanghai Municipal Police.

The years after WWI saw an increase in self defense "systems" designed for and marketed to the average citizen. Law enforcement organizations began to pay more attention to this area of training. This was part of a movement to increase the professionalism of law enforcement personnel in general. Virtually all of these systems advocated a well-balanced approach to personal combat.

Elements of boxing, wrestling, foot-fighting, and jiu-jitsu were put together in a toolbox of personal self defense tactics. The mixing of different martial art styles became quite popular. Even methods that relied primarily on western boxing and wrestling maneuvers acknowledged that a well rounded combatant must be able to both strike effectively as well as grapple.

Other methods of self defense touted "jiu-jitsu" as the singular answer to personal attack and defense. The reason for this is because most Japanese methods for self defense already included a comprehensive system of blows, strikes, kicks, and grappling methods. You should also note that it's difficult to pin down a particular style of jiu-jitsu because during this period any method of Japanese self defense was given this moniker. Combine this with an influx of Japanese immigrants and emissaries promoting judo, their culture and the individual's personal training and experience, it is impossible to determine a specific style or "ryu." Add to that the Japanese effort to promote Judo above all of these methods that most of the older systems became outdated or lost. The result is from the early 1900's forward most English manuals and books refer to any Japanese system of self defense as "jiu-jitsu", "jujutsu", or "judo".

There was virtually no "authority" or "expert" in the self defense field at this time who did not advocate the "all-in" doctrine of striking, kicking, joint locking, grappling, biting and gouging to survive hand to hand combat.

Allied Forces "Industrialize" Self Defense: The Evolution of the Modern Training System

The Battle of Britain began in early July, 1940. England was isolated in a war against the axis of evil. The miracle retreat from Dunkirk and the German "Blitzkrieg" across Europe, including the crushing tactical defeat of the famed French "Maginot Line" proved the Third Reich war machine to be virtually unstoppable. Hitler's plan for the invasion of England, named "Operation Sea Lion" was a daily focal point of danger and concern for the British.

Dunkirk had decimated the British forces and moral was at an all time low. Two recently returned veterans of British colonial rule in Shanghai, China approached the War Office and offered their services at this desperate time. William Ewart Fairbairn, retired as a ranking officer of the Shanghai Municipal Police and his partner Eric Anthony Sykes, a private arms dealer who served as a volunteer in the Shanghai Municipal Police and headed the sniper unit of the famed Shanghai Riot Squad, promised the War Office that their training and methods could in short order, make "any one man the equal of ten."

After the debacle at Dunkirk this was a most important and dramatic statement. Initially dismissed, these two men went on to prove the veracity of their words and convinced the brass as to the absolute effectiveness of their methods. Even if that meant that an over middle aged W.E. Fairbairn had to place several young bucks in the hospital to prove his point in an impromptu, but extremely realistic "demonstration", so be it. Those who "tested" Sykes fared no better. So the methods that these men had developed during decades of very dangerous work in Shanghai now became the standard of training for all British forces and Special Operations personnel.

In the United States, the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, coupled with the Imperial Japanese military's coordinated assault on all American and British forces across the Pacific Rim pulled the United States firmly in this world wide conflict. The United States was now fully at war with the Axis of Evil forces. Fairbairn, who was now in Canada, assigned to the infamous "Camp X", along with "unarmed combat" expert George de Relwyskow, a Brazilian Judo/Jujutsu expert, and Colonel Carl Eifler who was already undergoing training here, were ordered to assist the U.S. government agency known as "The Office of the Coordinator of Intelligence", the precursor of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services).

Eric Anthony Sykes remained in England and found the need for his services in great demand. He also found himself working under the auspice of the British covert force known as the Special Operations Executive.

The legend of Fairbairn and Sykes from the early days of Shanghai, up to and through the war years is an entire story unto itself and beyond the scope of this article. However it must be clearly understood that the contribution of these men had a profound effect and influence on all close-combat methods, tactics, and techniques for decades after the war (despite the often heard "argument" that we have somehow "evolved" beyond these methods). However, they were certainly not the only experts involved in this field. One of many examples would be A.J. Drexel-Biddle who studied and trained extensively in boxing, savate, jiu-jitsu, swordplay, knife-fighting and various bayonet methods.

As the United States geared up for war, a major factor began to be publicized both here and in Australia. The press made a great deal about the superiority of the Japanese fighting man. Part of this was, to be sure, rooted in fact. The Battle of Port Arthur, the turning point in the Russo-Japanese war, several decades earlier, had shown the world the tenacity and ferocity of the Japanese soldier, particularly in the area of close-in, man-to-man combat. Much was made of the large Russian soldier finding abject defeat at the hands of his smaller Japanese adversary when engaged in hand to hand combat (hence a very obvious need for the creation of Sambo). It was here that Japanese Jiu-jitsu was given world-wide attention and notoriety in this regard. The Japanese conduct and performance of the war in China also demonstrated to the world a seemingly invincible and unstoppable force. Japan was a force that was brutal and deadly in the extreme.

As a result, much attention was given over to the training of United States and Allied Forces in methods of personal self defense that would enable the average soldier to meet the Japanese fighting man on a somewhat equal footing. Every branch of the Armed Services began an intensive physical training program designed to meet these needs. Much of the expert instruction needed, particularly in the arena of close-quarters man to man combat, came from the civilian quarter as it still does today.

Men with tremendous and varied life-long experience in all forms of martial arts and self defense were tapped to create training programs that would give the Allied soldier sufficient means by which to engage their enemies at close-quarters. The Axis of Evil did the same of course. Japan being the obvious factor in this regard, but even Adolf Hitler proclaimed the absolute need for boxing and jiu-jitsu in German military training as it imparted courage and daring the average soldier to close the distance with his enemy. There were even manuals published and courses taught to "defend" against the methods developed by the Allied Forces.

In the United States there were a plethora of varied methods and training systems. Any attempt to narrowly define the methods from this era demonstrates complete ignorance and foolishness. Though the contribution of Lt. Colonel Fairbairn is great, as is the influence of Colonel Rex Applegate, there were dozens upon dozens of different close-quarters battle systems developed. From wrestling, boxing, savate, judo, jiu-jitsu, Chinese boxing, and even football and rugby methods were not only drawn upon, but entire self defense systems were advocated based on these individual methods. It may come as a surprise to many, but here in the Unites States, even Japanese Karate was used and found to be effective.

The problem they faced with creating a universal form of defense is that the experts often tasked with their development typically relied on their expertise too much. This made many unarmed combat courses too complex and technical. Wrestlers tended to rely on that method, Judo and Brazilian Jujitsu men on that system, Boxers on their expertise and so on and so on. You should note that each method can claim stunning success in actual combat. "After Action" reports showed that all of these methods had merit and could be used effectively in the rigors and stress of real battle. However, as the war progressed two major factors began to influence and change these training protocols. One was the fact that more and more men from all sorts of varied backgrounds were drafted into military service. The other was that as demands for more and more replacement troops began to rise, the amount of training time became reduced.

The approach that seemed most feasible and useful was one that combined the best or the most effective, efficient and quickly learned methods. These methods as it so happens, were the easiest to retain. The rudiment basics of boxing and wrestling were made part of an overall general physical conditioning program and unarmed combat became a specialized block of instruction. These courses in unarmed combat, hand to hand combat, combat judo and so forth again sought to combine the most advantageous holds, throws, trips, locks, strangles, blows, strikes and kicks from all the varied methods available. The only truly limiting factor here was the time element.

Other considerations were also important. The O'Neill (another Shanghai veteran and ranking Judo Black Belt) method is a classic example of a system specifically tailored for both the training environment available, as well as the nature of the combat engagement expected. There were even attempts made to instruct the military in actual Koryu (old school) Jujutsu systems here in the United States, however the most effective systems still sought to mix all the varied martial arts and focus on the most efficient and effect methods.

As the war progressed, more and more "After Action" intelligence gathered from the reality of battle helped shape and determine training priorities. Many methods of close-combat began to be trimmed down to only those fundamentals that proved most effective overall and most applicable to all trainees across a wide and varied spectrum of physical attributes and skill.

American Col. Rex Applegate was perhaps the most vocal of these advocates owing to his exposure in the INFANTRY JOURNAL and the publishing of the book "KILL or GET KILLED" was not without his critics from other martial arts experts, as was Fairbairn, due to the simplicity of the methods and tactics they advocated.

In fact, some courses were so short in duration that they involved only several hours of instruction, while others were quite involved and very complete in their syllabus content. Many are familiar with the Navy V-5 programs and the training at Fort Benning, but lesser known is the very extensive training at places like Fort Meade and at the Hawaii Jungle Warfare Complex. These locations conducted a very complete and mixed program of martial arts. From the CIC training center in Chicago to the Army training camps in Colorado, from Parris Island to the Ranger/Commando schools in the Hawaiian Islands, from the training bases in England prior to D-Day to the "Killing" school in Palestine, the methods taught ran the full gamut of man-to-man, tooth and nail close quarters combat. From the complex to the "instinctive kill" (a method designed to take full advantage of so-called natural "animal" killing instinct), these methods fall under the definition of combatives, self defense, close combat, etc.

Even the OSS personnel training at Area B were shown the methods of Siamese boxing (read Muay Thai), western boxing, wrestling/grappling, French "foot-fighting"(including Assaut Vite savate), Indian Varma-adi/Varmannie, Chinese boxing, "Roman" boxing, Japanese Judo/Jujutsu and Karate, Siamese boxing, Burmese boxing-Bando, western fencing, Filipino edged weapons and any and all systems (including almost every weapon known to man) deemed effective in dispatching one's enemies to the hereafter were studied, researched, implemented and trained. One WWII era United States hand to hand combat manual even makes reference to Indonesian methods.

So from a historical perspective, "What is combatives?" Combatives is a purpose driven method of defeating one's enemy by whatever means necessary. It focuses on the fastest and most efficient means to accomplish the task at hand and includes all manner of weaponry. It is void of ethics, culture and country, it is a tool for man on man conflict.

Train Honestly,
Damian Ross
The Self Defense Company








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Damian Ross is CEO of the Self Defense Company and developer of The Self Defense Training System, the most lethal and effective self defense system in the world, The Guardian Defensive Tactics Police Combatives Program, 60 minute Self Defense and the Family Safe Program. Mr. Ross also founded the Self Defense Instructor Program that helps people develop their self defense careers from the ground up. Mr. Ross is originally from Ridgewood, NJ where he was a High School Hall of Fame Athlete in football and wrestling as well as a varsity wrestling coach. He then went on to Lehigh University where he was a varsity wrestler and football player. Mr. Ross has 3 black belts, 4th Degree in Tekkenryu Jujutsu, 2nd Degree in Judo, 2nd Degree in Tae Kwon Do. In addition to his martial arts experience, Mr. Ross spent 8 years in the professional security and personal protection business. He is internationally recognized as one of the foremost authorities in reality based self defense.

You Only Have 2 hours

Two hours a week that's it. That's the average amount of time most adults have to dedicate to any type of activity outside of work and family.

Running a martial arts school we knew this. We knew that most people can come twice a week for about an hour at a time. The "quit times" are 3 weeks, 3 months and 12 months. Anything past 12 months is considered a long time. Anything past a few years is a lifetime. That's why most martial arts programs have promotions and incentives around each of these time increments.

Everyone wants to train forever when they start and I know you have the best intentions. I know you will train forever and practice 3 hours a day to become an awesome wrecking machine. But you won't. Something will pop up, your work, your health, your family, something will change your routine to throw you off your game. It's life and there's nothing you can do about it. But that's OK.

Chances are you will only have a few hours a week and be able to train for (let's be generous here) eight to twelve weeks. Along the line you're going to have to stop for one reason or another after the first three months.

Knowing that, ask yourself, what do you want out of your training? If it is self defense, how often do you think you're going train in actual self defense?

On the other hand, as an instructor, how much real useable self defense are you giving your students? Let's take a look at it.

A typical martial arts curriculum consist of warm up, calisthenics, form or kata practice (you can put striking the air in here), pad work, sparring or "randori" and what is classified as self defense practice.

Now before I continue I'm looking at this from a strictly self defense point of view and not a spiritual, sporting or cultural perspective.

From a useable self defense perspective there are only two aspects of your training that actually directly benefit real self defense: calisthenics and pad work.

Calisthenics promote over all fitness. The more fit you are the more punishment you can take and more important, the more punishment you can dish out.

Pad work promotes hitting with power and it conditions your weapons for actual contact. It teaches you to dehumanize and hit your target with force which is what matters in the street. Power is King so "Hail to the King, Baby"- a little shout out to Bruce Campbell.

Katas or striking the air has about the same tactical benefit of a cardio kickboxing class. You're basically doing the same thing, following a set pattern and performing moves in the air. The only difference is the music and the clothing.

Sparring presents its own set of issues. While it gives you some benefit of the stress of fighting another human being, it's really a detriment when it comes to combatives. Sparring forces you to wait and look for openings. It trains you to be patient and operate within the rules. You wouldn't be very successful if in each match you attacked your opponent with reckless-abandon as you tried to rip his head off. But in the street, this is exactly what you need to do. You need to end each fight as fast as possible by whatever means. The longer you wait the greater chance for him to use a weapon, have some friends join in or watch you simply slip and fall on the concrete. In combatives, you don't wait for an opening, you create and take them.

Self Defense practice in the martial arts class consists of two people standing in front of one another practicing prescribed defenses against predetermined attacks. This format has been the same since Judo, Aikido, Wushu and all the Aiki Jujutsu started doing it in the late 1800's. This same format has been adopted by Tae Kwon Do, Gracie Jujitsu, Krav Maga and any other martial art that has added self defense to their sign.

This self defense practice looks like this: bad guy attacks with one technique, then defender reacts with a specific counter to the attack. Attacker attempts another technique and defender executes another new and separate counter. Now when this drill is expanded to multiple attacker situations it appears like the defender in the middle is seriously kicking ass, but all that's happening is a well choreographed fight scene. The attackers don't attack with the intent of injuring the defender. They attack to allow the defender to succeed. In the street, attitude and intent go a long way. What you're watching is far from random let alone real.

The negative effects of this type of training are many. First it teaches you to let someone into your space and wait for them to attack you. Just by simply allowing someone to hold your wrist, puts you at a severe disadvantage. In the real world that initial grab is always followed by repeated punches or a stabs. Too close it too late.

Second it makes you believe that you'll be attacked by a single technique. You are NEVER attacked by a single technique. Not by anyone worth worrying about. A good street fighter will set you up, lull you into thinking it's all good and then attack you repeatedly. Thinking that collar grab was all he's going to do is your second mistake (your first was letting him get close to you!). He's going to grab you by the collar and repeatedly bash your face with his forehead and then he'll go to work on you.

This type of self defense practice leads you to believe there are a finite amount of ways you can be attacked. This notion is ludicrous. Consider all the factors: single, or multiple attackers, edge or impact weapons, firearms, empty hand, collar grabs, wrist grabs, head locks, body locks, in the parking lot, on stairs, in your car..the list goes on and on. Between where you could be assaulted, who or how many will be assaulting you and with a weapon or not, the possibilities can number well into the tens of thousands.

In the dojo, against people who have been trained to attack and fail, you can pull this off. But trying to do this while you're locating your car, after a long day and someone approaches you asking for the time or directions and then in the blink of an eye, it's on. You will not be able to recall anything.

Being in security for a number of years I've seen quite a few instances where martial artists were successful in the street. But they always threw an overhand right (reverse punch)and then used a hockey grab to drag to get them down to the ground. It was only after the guy was subdued was anyone able to even attempt any sort of joint lock, but at that point the guy would give up and you could pretty much do anything to him, especially when three guys have their shins bearing down on his back, neck and legs. It's funny, at the time, even the martial artists didn't realize what they did. But no matter, I sure as hell was paying attention.

Here's the thing, you need a self defense common denominator. Once you know it, every situation can be broken down to a few simple scenarios. Those common denominators are position, distance, momentum and balance. The techniques are almost secondary.
If I locked you in a room and had you reverse punch a makiwara (striking board) for 2 hours a week for 3 weeks and told you that if anyone who threatened you got in your way, you just reverse punch them the first chance you get and don't stop until the threat is gone you will win the overwhelming majority of your fights.

Damn, where did that wind up?!?!? Oh yeah, two hours a week. If you have two hours a week and you are looking for the benefit of self defense, martial arts are not the answer. In an hour class you're after warm ups (10 minutes), forms (15 minutes), punching air (10 minutes), pads (10 minutes), sparring or their version of self defense (10 minutes)...you get the point, in fact you were better off from a self defense point of view BEFORE you even stepped into the dojo. At least before you would freak out and do whatever it would take to survive, now you're just civilized.

Listen, if you're in it for the cultural, spiritual and community aspect, please, by all means, enjoy. But if you think for a second that your art is actually giving you self defense skills beyond a punch (which works great) you will be disappointed.

When we started what would become the Self Defense Training System teaching publicly in 1998 we did it knowing that most people would train with us for 6 months. We felts it was our obligation as instructors to give them something with in the first few minutes that they could use. Technically, after the first 6 to 8 months they would really have all they needed for self defense. At that point our ethical obligation was fulfilled. After that if they wanted to learn more about cultural martial arts and combat sports, we would teach them.

The purpose of the SDTS is self Defense. Every Self Defense Company instructor has their marching orders, give you the skills that you can use now. Listen, if you can't understand it in a few seconds and learn it in a few hours, you will NEVER REALLY LEARN IT. If you can't explain it in a few seconds and teach it in a few minutes, it will never be learned.

What you want is to know how to defend yourself and not have to dedicate your life to trying to do it. Martial arts starting getting complicated when people started making money at it. Don't let the samurai fool you either. During the Edo period there was peace. A paid army that doesn't fight finds itself having to justify it's own existence (hence all the haiku, painting, flower arranging, sword polishing, and tea ceremonies). This is why I find the art of Iaido so amusing (That's an inside joke to myself).

You will not train forever. Everything runs it's course. You can however learn skills that will last you a lifetime. Core movements don't leave. You can still kick a ball and ride a bike and you will still be able to throw an edge of hand and chin jab.

Case and Point...
Just a few years ago, a 70-year-old man exemplified the motto of the Marine Corp League, "Once a Marine, Always a Marine."

When three thugs boarded a tourist bus in the Costa Rican city of Limon armed with a gun and knives they must have thought the twelve senior citizens on board were easy prey. They were wrong.

After witnessing a young, muscle bound terrorist put a gun to a female passenger's head, Allen Clady, a former Marine made his move. The Semper Fi senior grabbed a hold of the thug and strangled the much younger thug with such force that he broke his collarbone and killed the man. This prompted the other senior citizens on
the bus to begin fighting back and force the other two assailants run off the bus.

So, how could a 70-year-old man could take on, and kill, a much younger armed opponent? The answer lies in his old-school Marine Corp training.

The Marines recently introduced a new system for close quarters combat called the Marine Martial Arts Program (MCMAP). This new "nicer" system is supposedly for peacekeeping operations in urban areas and theoretically allows for a wide variety of situations where a Marine needs to use non-lethal force. This is a HUGE MISTAKE and another fine example of politicians dictating tactics.

Prior to the development of this new crap, the Marines used more lethal techniques originally developed by Major Anthony Biddle. His techniques standardized close combat techniques for the Marines and were based on proven concepts found in bare-knuckle boxing, wrestling and fencing. In addition, Captains W.M. Greene and Samuel B. Griffith shared what they learned about martial arts from William Fairbairn while stationed in China.

And we all know where all that Fairbairn Stuff Wound Up >>>> its Here.

Time is precious, spend it wisely.

Train Honestly,
Damian Ross
The Self Defense Company








The Self Defense Company Global Network of Resources

The Self Defense Company Tactical Gear and Clothing Outpost

Free Resources

Up to the minutes Self Defense News from around the World
SDC Corporate Site
SDC Training Forum
The SDC on Face Book
SDC Blog
Free SDC Videos on Youtube
SDC on Twitter

Tactical Training Programs

SDTS Lethal Use of Force Training
Family and Community Safety
Basic Adult and Teen Tactical Training
Police, Military and Security Tactical Training
Instructor Certification


Damian Ross is CEO of the Self Defense Company and developer of The Self Defense Training System, the most lethal and effective self defense system in the world, The Guardian Defensive Tactics Police Combatives Program, 60 minute Self Defense and the Family Safe Program. Mr. Ross also founded the Self Defense Instructor Program that helps people develop their self defense careers from the ground up. Mr. Ross is originally from Ridgewood, NJ where he was a High School Hall of Fame Athlete in football and wrestling as well as a varsity wrestling coach. He then went on to Lehigh University where he was a varsity wrestler and football player. Mr. Ross has 3 black belts, 4th Degree in Tekkenryu Jujutsu, 2nd Degree in Judo, 2nd Degree in Tae Kwon Do. In addition to his martial arts experience, Mr. Ross spent 8 years in the professional security and personal protection business. He is internationally recognized as one of the foremost authorities in reality based self defense.

Self Defense is not a "Perk"

You gotta love the web, people who would normally run from you in the street all of the sudden grow a pair of cojones and give their two cents. Lately I got into with someone on Facebook about my statement the "Martial Arts Rip Off" on the SDTS Page.

It's obvious I have a love-hate relationship with martial arts. Hell, I have 3 black belts so there has to be something there. The problem that I have is when martial arts put "self defense" as an added benefit to their bullet point sales pitch. Truth is, my martial arts training almost got me killed. Until I stated training in the SDTS methods, I depended on my combat sports training in wrestling to save my ass. All of the self defense techniques I studied in Tae Kwon Do, Aiki Jujutsu, Bando hindered my ability to survive. Point sparring made me pull my punches and I never got attacked they way we practiced in the dojo. No one ever grabbed my wrist or came lunging at my throat with both arms extended. In fact, if it wasn't for my instinct and aggressiveness, I would have been crushed.

Getting back to our keyboard expert on Facebook, I asked him why he studied Aikido? He said it was because he wanted to get in shape, be a part of a group and it had the added "perk" of self defense.

The perk comment pissed me off.

But before I jumped to conclusions, I wanted to see if he had any other experience in any other martial art, tactical training or with real life confrontations? I was looking for anything that would have put him in a position to identify an effective method of self defense. He tried to deflect, but the answer was a big fat "NO". Other than what his Aikido Sensei told him, he had no idea what he was talking about.

Now the "perk" comment REALLY pissed me off.

The self defense "perk" has been listed as a benefit from Tae Bo to P90X. It seems like every time someone starts throwing kicks and punches, they are learning to defend themselves. When two middle-aged white guys practice wrist locks, they're learning self defense. Anytime you do something that resembles fighting, you're doing self defense. Self Defense has become the punchline of the martial arts world and THAT'S where you're getting ripped off.

What's typical about my Facebook friend (and I know a lot more about him than I'm letting on) is that he's a somewhat typical guy and he is exactly what is wrong with the martial arts.

He is smart, I would say an elevated IQ. He has never done a sport or much of really any other physical activity. He has never been in a real fight and would prefer to acquiesce before fighting. In fact he would probably NEVER be pushed to a point of fighting. He is middle aged and reached a point in his life of exploration. He has seen movies and documentaries about martial arts and chose Aikido because the thought of not having to hurt or get hurt appeals to his sheltered life of non-violence. In fact, the thought of him having to defend himself is an impossibility.

Yet in spite of his lack of experience, his intelligence and his inflated ego won't stop him from trying to justify his investment. He can't help it. So he posts of facebook and forums and makes statements he has no basis of reality to make. He does this because he is scared and deep down he knows the truth...he's a pussy and he will crap himself if he was ever faced with any sort of physical violence.

But this doesn't stop him. He continues to train and perpetuate the myth that what he's doing will work. With out any personal experience or historical fact he continues to make claims based on rhetoric and urban legend. Just as his instructor did and all the instructors that came before him. It is a culture based on bullshit designed to exploit your willingness to avoid conflict, pain, injury and any legal ramifications. It lies to you and banks on the fact that you are middle aged, middle class white guy who will always back down from a fight at whatever the cost. Knowing full well that the chances of you ever getting a life or death struggle are slim and none, but if you do the last thing on your mind will be blaming your style, you will be sucking lunch through a tube, or dead.

This is the martial arts rip off. In the end you're much better off training in a system that requires you to fight a 100% restive partner. BJJ, wrestling, Judo, Boxing, Muay Thai, Olympic Tae Kwon Do, Kyokushin Karate, MMA, or anything else that requires you to fight an opponent on equal ground is light years better for self defense than Aikido or any other cultural fighting art. The only reason cultural fighting arts still make any money is because of they perpetuate the self defense "perk".

Self defense is not a perk, it's a purpose. And if that's what you are looking for than that's what you need to focus on. It's not 15 minutes at the end of class or random moves thrown together. It's a tactical response to violence that requires a certain mindset and specific skill sets. It needs to be treated as a separate entity and NOT squeezed in between sparring and forms. It's the most important segment of your training and deserves a certain amount of respect.

FYI: Aikido defense vs. Two handed Grab From the Front


SDTS vs. Two handed Grab From the Front


Any questions?

Train Honestly,
Damian Ross
The Self Defense Company








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Damian Ross is CEO of the Self Defense Company and developer of The Self Defense Training System, the most lethal and effective self defense system in the world, The Guardian Defensive Tactics Police Combatives Program, 60 minute Self Defense and the Family Safe Program. Mr. Ross also founded the Self Defense Instructor Program that helps people develop their self defense careers from the ground up. Mr. Ross is originally from Ridgewood, NJ where he was a High School Hall of Fame Athlete in football and wrestling as well as a varsity wrestling coach. He then went on to Lehigh University where he was a varsity wrestler and football player. Mr. Ross has 3 black belts, 4th Degree in Tekkenryu Jujutsu, 2nd Degree in Judo, 2nd Degree in Tae Kwon Do. In addition to his martial arts experience, Mr. Ross spent 8 years in the professional security and personal protection business. He is internationally recognized as one of the foremost authorities in reality based self defense.

The 15 Second Legacy

Having children changes everything. When my wife gave me a daughter, I was happy. Daddy's little girl. At least now I know someone will be taking care of me in my old age. And when my wife gave me a son, I held him like Simba on Pride Rock. He is my son and he will be GREATER THAN I EVER WAS!!!

The one thing every parent wants for their kids is to do better, have a better life than you have. One of the ways you measure this is in sports. My wife and I both being athletic lived under the assumption that we would spawn children that would make the furor jealous. As we get on in age we look to pass the torch to our children so they may travel forth, swifter, higher, stronger!

One of the sports I've competed in was wrestling. I was fortunate enough to experience competition on all levels in High School and Division 1 College. I knew the competition was getting serious when the guy I was wrestling didn't speak English. So imagine my pride when he told me he wanted to wrestle. I began coaching in the program and love going to practice with him. I never push him. In fact, I was calculating this perfectly. If I tell him "No" he will want to do it. I am the master of reverse psychology and I'm going to create a champion!!!

Now I need to be honest here. If you ask any serious wrestler if they like wrestling, it's a love-hate relationship. When I was a kid I was working out at Bucky Rehain's camp when one of his star wrestlers came to help coach, his name was Tom Husted. Husted was a NJ state champ and all-american for Lehigh. When he told me he didn't wrestle live anymore I was perplexed. Ironic as it seems, I wrestled for Lehigh and it only took one season to understand exactly what Tom was talking about.

Wrestling on the Division 1 college level is a grind. There is no easy practice partner. The easiest guy in practice is your region final match. So there is a part of me that would rather see my son want to do something...like golf. But no, he wants to wrestle and I'm not going to stop him. After all, he's Simba.

But that being said, there is no better builder of character than the sport of wrestling. It teaches you about sacrifice, self reliance and is really like life. We are born alone, we die alone and we wrestle alone.

It's also the "fairest" sport in the world. Few sports will match you against someone of the same size and age. In America, it's the only high school sport that does that. You don't need to be fast, tremendously strong, hit a ball, shoot a basket or throw a touchdown. Plus, it's the only activity that will guarantee you will win EVERY school yard fight.

I don;t want to push my son. My plan is to let him practice and not compete until he's practically begging me. And this year was the year. This year he "told me" that he wanted to wrestle in matches. I first told him "No", but he begged me and I acquiesced. My master plan was unfolding according to plan. From that point forward I had him practicing moves on me, on his mom, on his sister, the dog. Friends and neighbors marveled at his skill. He practiced single and double legs. He threw the half with reckless abandon. In practice, no one could hold him down...he was an animal.

Come match day he was good to go, I mean really chomping at the bit. he couldn't wait to get out there and tear his opponent limb from limb! His opponent had no idea of what fate lay in store. I felt sorry for the kid; facing my son's pedigree and training, it wasn't really fair.

They called his name and he checked in and took his place on the mat. His got into his stance and looked mean. Now it's time for my boy, my son, to take his place at the table. The whistle blew and he shot a single leg, picked it up in the air and as he was going to trip his opponent and seal his fate, he put his arm across my son's neck. Upon feeling that my son was reduced to tears and began yelling that he was choked. The ref immediately stopped the match, but the damage was done. My son was inconsolable and could no longer continue.

My son is 6.

It's that moment I realize what every parent realizes, it's OK. No matter what you do it's OK. Do I wish he toughed it out, sure...I wish he kicked the kid's ass, but he didn't and that's OK. Because as much as your kid wants to please you, we want to love them.

Will he wrestle next week? Probably, but I already told him no and that he has to wait and he's begging me to do it because now he swears the choke will not bother him because he knows the defense. Which apparently is MY fault for not teaching him, of course.

Will he be the next great athlete? Who the hell knows, when it's all said and done, I just want him happy.

Train Honestly,

Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company


Damian Ross is CEO of the Self Defense Company and developer of The Self Defense Training System, the most lethal and effective self defense system in the world, The Guardian Defensive Tactics Police Combatives Program, 60 minute Self Defense and the Family Safe Program. Mr. Ross also founded the Self Defense Instructor Program that helps people develop their self defense careers from the ground up. Mr. Ross is originally from Ridgewood, NJ where he was a High School Hall of Fame Athlete in football and wrestling as well as a varsity wrestling coach. He then went on to Lehigh University where he was a varsity wrestler and football player. Mr. Ross has 3 black belts, 4th Degree in Tekkenryu Jujutsu, 2nd Degree in Judo, 2nd Degree in Tae Kwon Do. In addition to his martial arts experience, Mr; Ross spent 8 years in the professional security and personal protection business. He is internationally recognized as one of the foremost authorities in reality based self defense.

Damian Ross Kicking Ass with Dr. 90210

Just finished and interview on skype with Dr. 90210 (Robert Rey) and his co-host Natalie Day. They host a health and wellness program that primarily deals with nutrition, exercise, fitness and other longevity and looking good issues.

So how did a guy like me get hooked into a show like that? Well since January is "Self Defense" month. Yep, I forget it is every year (and I'm in the business) and it seems Natalie and the good Dr. are the only ones really doing anything about it. They elected to open their show and "let me in."

I have to say, it went well and I enjoyed the interview because they presented two perspectives, Natalie is a professional woman with no real self defense training other than what she has been exposed to by mainstream media and Dr. Rey who is an avid martial artist. When he had his Dr. 90210 show on CBS, he was a yellow belt in TKD, now several years later, he's a Black Belt in BJJ. Needless to say he has more martial arts experience than a lot of the general population.

The fantastic part of the interview was that they asked specific questions and really didn't let me off with a standard answer, they has real concerns. But both of them had the same misconceptions of people with their respective experiences in the world.

As an average citizen with a realization that there's a need for self defense training but doesn't have the time, or patience to go about it because she feels there is a long term commitment associated with it and then there's Dr. Rey who looks at each situation as if it were a sparring match. Both had some misconceptions fostered by the information they have been given over the course of a lifetime. Information that will cost them serious harm or worse.

Misconception 1: You have to defend yourself unarmed.
Most people feel that they will be facing an enemy unarmed, while their enemy has a knife, gun, club, etc. While we train for worst case scenarios, most martial arts programs spend little time on offensive weapons training. The problem this creates is that people don't think to arm themselves before an attack. Listen, you never bring a knife to a gun fight and you never go out of the house with an ace up your sleeve. Like we show you in the SDTS, that "ace" could be anything from a screw driver to a roll of quarters. But you should have and edge, the bad guy will. Even bad-asses like myself carry pepper spray. Don't you think that if I'm out with my family and some idiot tries to jack me, I'm not going to juice him and get the hell out of dodge? seriously, it's about winning and surviving at all costs, not style.

Misconception 2: You have to stick around.
Dr. Rey talked about going to a crappy part of town to fill up his car late at night. Well, if you know you do this and it puts you in danger, why do it? Change your habit and go someplace else. Some people feel that they have to "stand their ground" when in reality you want to pick your own battles and avoid exposure if you can help it. Why create a situation when it can be avoided. If you know that there will be trouble some place, change your routine and lower your risk.

Misconception 3: If I stand close to him, he can't punch or kick me.
Yes, but he can stab the shit out of you. Martial artists tend to put everything on their terms that's because they are trained to think one way, in terms of all they know. If you wrestled everyday, you would want to break everything down to a wrestling match.

Listen, in the SDTS we assume that every one is armed, had friends and is capable of injuring you. To that point, letting someone get close to you is a HUGE mistake. It doesn't matter how many belts you have, at that distance all the bad guy can just start stabbing you or one of his buddies can cold cock you. Even if it is just mano y mano, the first punch isn't a concern a good street fighter will attack first with a barrage of punches.

You should do the same.

In the SDTS we establish distance. The distance is far enough away so he has to shift his weight in order to attack me. This way you can react on the shift of his weight and then shift the momentum in your favor.

We all have a notion of FAIR PLAY. Martial arts helps perpetuate this notion. It's not an intentional fault of the martial artist since martial arts were designed to foster good sportsmanship and community. They're not designed to with a "WIN AT ALL COSTS, FAIR OR FOUL" mentality.

That's where we come in. "Hit with hate, hit to hurt". Look, the bad guys don't care, if you have something they want, they'll take it. There are only three things bad guys care about: getting caught, getting identified and getting hurt. It's up to you to create the largest opportunity of all three.

To listen to the show today at 5pm Eastern time go to:
http://www.voiceamerica.com/channel/246/voiceamerica-variety

To listen to the recording go to:
http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/58684/resolve-to-protect-yourself-against-attack-with-damian-ross-most-lethal-self-defense-in-the-world


Train Honestly,

Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company


Damian Ross is CEO of the Self Defense Company and developer of The Self Defense Training System, the most lethal and effective self defense system in the world, The Guardian Defensive Tactics Police Combatives Program, 60 minute Self Defense and the Family Safe Program. Mr. Ross also founded the Self Defense Instructor Program that helps people develop their self defense careers from the ground up. Mr. Ross is originally from Ridgewood, NJ where he was a High School Hall of Fame Athlete in football and wrestling as well as a varsity wrestling coach. He then went on to Lehigh University where he was a varsity wrestler and football player. Mr. Ross has 3 black belts, 4th Degree in Tekkenryu Jujutsu, 2nd Degree in Judo, 2nd Degree in Tae Kwon Do. In addition to his martial arts experience, Mr; Ross spent 8 years in the professional security and personal protection business. He is internationally recognized as one of the foremost authorities in reality based self defense.

Stop the Fisting!!!

In any military based system, the use of a fist is impractical and dangerous. Any system that advocates using a fist and is taught as self defense or in a military context should be re-examined as to it's authenticity in real world situations.

The reason that ko-ryu (old school) systems that were used to train samurai in hand to hand combat never used a fist and relied heavily on grappling and joint locks combined with limited edge of hand and heel of hand strikes when it came to hand to hand combat was because the person they were fighting was most likely wearing armor and the risk of injuring your fist to the point where gripping a weapon was impossible was a risk they did not take. Modern warriors both civilian and professional, should do the same.

Even the Okinawa fighting arts known for their development of the fore fist in the use of the reverse punch, avoided striking the head. Even though they advocated heavy fist conditioning, punching to hard areas of the body were ill-advised due to risk of severe injury or worse, infection. Before antibiotics and decent dental hygiene a cut on your hand from shattering someone's teeth may wind up turning septic and killing you. Even to this, traditional knock down karate restricts punching directly into the face. I realize that the modern reasoning for not punching the face has more to do with safety and sport, traditionally punching above the neck was avoided due to the a fore mentioned reasons.

Even western culture bare knuckle boxers from the Greeks and Romans forward would not only condition there fists by punching gravel and sand, but would go as far as to brine them to toughen the skin. The results were still not spectacular and the development of hand protection began to emerge to extend the careers of both the guy getting hit and the guy doing the hitting. After all, what good was a soldier who couldn't hold a spear if he broke his hand in training?

Once the glove came about, the physics of the punch changed completely. As glove technology evolved along with the use of wraps, punching became safer and became the number one mode of self defense in western worlds due to it's prevalence in modern sport. We live in a sporting society. Boxing, kick boxing and MMA all drink from the same fountain and to be honest, in the ring, with gloves, punching is the superior method. But in the street or in combat, it's a completely different story.

A soldier who is taught to punch in hand to hand combat is being lead down a slippery slope because the target you will be punching will be wearing some form of military gear, from a rifle sling to a helmet. I assure you that mashing your fist against either one of these is going to leave a mark and busting your knuckles in a fight renders your hand useless. Even a mild fracture will limit the use of your fingers and losing the use of even just your forefinger is a huge problem.

When you punch you focus on making contact with the first two knuckles of your hand, the index and ring fingers. When you break the knuckles of those two fingers (I know, I've done it three times) you can't grip anything with those fingers. That means you can't operate a firearm, hold a knife or a club. that hand is useless.
but it's not just the first two fingers that are exposed.

Your thumb can be easily dislocated as well. Anyone who has ever sparred with little foam gloves will complain about their thumbs being sore or injured. Make a fist and look at it from the front as if you were being punched with it. You'll see the top of the thumb is on the same plane as the punching surface of the fist. while you go through great lengths to make sure your knuckles make contact first, the thumb will almost always catch an arm, an elbow, the side of a cheek, anything other surface will take power away from your strike and place it on the back of your thumb, dislocating it.

Now imagine trying to rack a hand gun or even pull the trigger when even your index finger is broken. It doesn't matter which hand you break either since you still have to pull the rack to put a round in the chamber.

The edge of hand the obvious and time proven method for empty hand striking in real combat. There is still a chance you will dislocate a pinky or even the pinky and the ring finger, but even with that injury you still will be able to operate a firearm or hold a weapon because the forefinger and the middle finger are protected by being on the other side of the contact point of your hand. Whenever you engage in physical contact you run the risk of injury. The trick is to limit your exposure through methods that offer the lowest chance of injury to you and the most injury to your target. The samurai knew this and now you do too.

The heel of hand is another great method of striking. Here's a little test, go to a brick wall with a fist, start lightly (I mean really lightly) strike the surface with your knuckles. Increase intensity until you feel pain. Now do the same with the heel of your hand. You just answered your own question. Add to that the position of your fingers, pulled back and out of the way in a position that will allow the fingers to move and adapt to any change in surface level.

Sure, you will always run the risk of injury and yes, you can definitely punch somebody in the head and walk away, but it's the percentages that make a difference. The choice is yours, train in a way that runs a greater risk of injury, or begin to train practically and tactically in a manner that puts the odds in your favor. The truth is, most every self defense system from Krav Maga, Target Focus Training or "experts" like Jim Wagner and Kelly McCann advocate punching to the military personnel they train...I can't explain this.

The reason the SDTS was created was for one purpose only, self defense. If a fist was the most efficient and practical way of striking with the hand, we would be teaching it.

Train Honestly,

Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company


Damian Ross is CEO of the Self Defense Company and developer of The Self Defense Training System, the most lethal and effective self defense system in the world, The Guardian Defensive Tactics Police Combatives Program, 60 minute Self Defense and the Family Safe Program. Mr. Ross also founded the Self Defense Instructor Program that helps people develop their self defense careers from the ground up. Mr. Ross is originally from Ridgewood, NJ where he was a High School Hall of Fame Athlete in football and wrestling as well as a varsity wrestling coach. He then went on to Lehigh University where he was a varsity wrestler and football player. Mr. Ross has 3 black belts, 4th Degree in Tekkenryu Jujutsu, 2nd Degree in Judo, 2nd Degree in Tae Kwon Do. In addition to his martial arts experience, Mr; Ross spent 8 years in the professional security and personal protection business. He is internationally recognized as one of the foremost authorities in reality based self defense.

Tekken Ryu Jujutsu- Old School Philosophy, New School Tactics

Tekkenryu Jujutsu didn’t descend from heaven on a mountain top, nor was it unearthed with the Dead Sea scrolls. Unlike most martial arts, it wasn’t designed to boost national pride or to promote competition sport. Like its ancient Japanese ancestors, the style originated out of necessity. The necessity to train people in real world self defense and to encompass the life’s work of a passing legend.

Damian Ross, David Ellis, Yoshisada Yonezuka and Carl Cestari at Damian Ross's Black Belt Judo Promotion 2002

In the Edo or Tokugawa period (1603 to 1868) and years prior in Japan, jujutsu was for training Samurai who acted as the army and police force. Jujutsu schools were broken out by families or clans and usually had their specialty. Typically you would study or learn different weaponry and skill sets from different clans. All of these were extremely pragmatic until the end of the Edo period when there was peace in Japan as the country became unified and feudal lords stopped their civil wars.
Today a few of those jujutsu schools still exist, but they all focus on outdated and antiquated weaponry. The old school or Koryu systems are more for cultural exploration than self defense. In fact today most martial arts are not tailored for self defense at all.

Martial arts today can be broken into three categories: self defense, sport and cultural fighting art. Most arts today are either a sport or a cultural. If you look at the origins of most modern forms of martial arts you’ll find that they were developed to promote fitness, national pride, sports entertainment or a combination of all three. On the contrary, the purpose of Tekkenryu was more in line with traditional Japanese jujutsu systems where the application was strictly civilian and police self defense. This was what the founders, Carl Cestari and Damian Ross, had in mind when they put pen to paper and began the seven year development of Tekkenryu.

The main purpose behind creating the system was training. In all of their combined 62 years and 5 Black Belts in the martial arts, there was nothing that closely resembled what they wanted to focus on and teach. This was because there was nothing that was specifically self defense oriented. If you look at the creation of all martial arts they are either a cultural exploration or a combat fighting art. Many claimed a self defense component but when examined all were attempts to apply sporting or cultural arts to self defense. They took the opposite approach and began with self defense and then selected sport and culture methods that would only enhance that self defense aspect.

Tekkenryu Jujutsu was founded in 2001 by Cestari and Ross. Tekken means “Iron Fist”, “Ryu” means “system” so it is literally the “Iron Fist System”. The feeling was that through your training you forge your mind and body into iron. Both Cestari and Ross were large proponents of Makiwara training. This is the process of gradually conditioning your hands, feet and other body parts by striking a wooden plank (and other hard objects) over an extended period of time. They felt that if you were willing to do this, you were willing to go through anything. The “Iron Fist” also refers to Carl’s legendary knuckles that have been conditioned to pulverize anything they hit. The Japanese name is to pay homage to the primarily Japanese martial arts experience of both Ross and Cestari.
What they developed was a combination of World War II era military combatives and street fighting, Pre-World War II Judo, Knockdown Karate and traditional Akijujutsu.

The goal is to give the student the tools for self defense as fast as possible and then if they wanted to learn more about the martial arts and combat sport they could. The feeling was most people train for six months to a year and then stop. As instructors Damian and Carl felt that their obligation would be complete because anyone who studied in the system for even a brief period of time would at least know how to defend themselves since it doesn’t take a lot of training for someone to learn how to protect themselves and not everyone wants to devote their life to martial arts training.

The military combatives segment of training was selected because World War II was the height of hand to hand combat. This was before technology like night vision, precision firearms, smart bombs and superior intelligence gathering tools like predator drones and satellites. This is when the US and British were not technically superior to the enemy and hand to hand combat was a reality and not an exercise in teamwork and confidence building like it is today. It was a time of “attack and die” trench warfare and espionage when a soldier’s life depended on close quarters combat. It is without question that these methods by far are the most brutal, the easiest to learn, and the most effective when compared to all other methods. Carl drew on his study of military combatives in the mid-eighties when he received an Instructor certification from self defense legend Charles Nelson. He also interviewed dozens of people who both created and trained in these methods to ensure that what they were doing was correct.

Tekken Ryu BLack Belt Peter Barry demonstrates a chin jab, post with a follow through on fellow Black Belt Roger Jones


Judo was chosen as the sport component above all other grappling arts because its primary principles relate directly to self defense. Judo trains you to stay on your feet, gain a dominant position on the ground and end the fight as soon as possible. It demands that you “go for the knock out” as soon as you get the chance. The Pre-World War II Judo syllabus from M. Kawaishi’s “My Method of Judo” was chosen because it has all the neck dislocations, leg locks and other nasty techniques that are illegal in today’s sport competition. Judo also has in it an inherent sense of urgency to end the fight as quickly as possible which is crucial in self defense. In addition, Judo is a system with strong international roots and enables students to continue to participate at any age. You don’t see old boxer’s still boxing, but you see old Judoka still getting on the mat (when their joints don’t bother them too much!) Both Damian (second degree) and Carl (first degree) received Black Belts in Judo from Judo Master Yoshisada Yonezuka.

Damian Ross throws Roger Jones while filming "Combat Jujutsu in 2003

The Karate element was derived from Carl’s experience in Kimura’s Shukokai Karate (first degree Black Belt) and Damian’s Tae Kwon Do training (second degree Black Belt). The focus is a traditional Karate style consisting of as little kicks and punches as possible. The goal is to generate as much power as possible to promote “Ikken Hitatsu” or the “One Strike – One Kill” philosophy. To do this there was a lot of makiwara training along with occasional Bogu (complete body armor) sparring. Instead of training for points, students are demanded to hit as hard, as fast and as often as possible. Once a student gains the advantage he or she is encouraged to continue the attack until there is full submission. In order to do this and maintain safety, the sparring would consist of 15 to 30 second bursts to simulate the intensity, the violence and urgency of a real fight. Make no mistake you can’t do this every week. Only about once every four to six weeks.

The bow in before a typical "Bogu Sparring Session in the Pompton Lakes, NJ Dojo

Frank Scott delivers a knee to training partner Pete Barry in a live sparring session

Finally there is the Aikijujutsu component. Even though Carl did have a black belt in Daitoryu jujutsu, he chose the Danzanryu syllabus because he felt it was better organized. The purpose of studying Aikijujutsu is mostly academic and cultural. It gives students a deeper understanding of biomechanics, pain management and connects them with the Japanese heritage of the system. Even though it’s in the advanced belt ranks of the system it’s the least important.

Tekkenryu is a 10 kyu (10 level system). The first 3 kyus are the combatives portion of the training and usually takes eight months to a year of training one to two times a week for an hour to complete. The next 4 kyus consisted of knockdown karate, judo and basic Aikijujutsu. The last three kyus involved close quarters weapons offense, more complex judo and Akijujutsu skills. The advanced kyus were not “better” or more effective than the first 3 kyus. They’re simply a further study of more traditional martial arts.

Tekkenryu jujutsu, though extensive was not enough. The system had to be taught and field tested. Drills had to be developed to ensure that students were learning as fast as possible. The goal was to shorten time in training as much as possible. Most systems have class or time requirements. Tekkenryu did not. The only requirement is that you know the material. Development of the system happened from 2000 until 2007 when Damian taught hundreds of people from a variety of ages and backgrounds in three locations. Over the years the curriculum was simplified and drills were developed to get the desired effect. He discovered that the more complicated methods were indeed the least effective.

Over time only the most effective techniques for self defense along with the most effective training methods were retained. Later all of the culture and sport would be eliminated from Tekkenryu, leaving only the most brutal and effective methods, It was re-named to the Self Defense Training System (SDTS) and can be found here www.theselfdefenseco.com.

Carl Cestari died in August 2007 leaving behind a fragmented legacy that is so common among the martial arts world. Tekkenryu jujutsu is the only system of self defense Carl has ever founded. Damian Ross is the founder of the Self Defense Company and developer of The Self Defense Training System, the only living legacy of Tekkenryu jujutsu which is carried on through The Self Defense Company and its global network of instructors and legion training members.

This article was published by SDC Instructor Steve Drake in physique magazine, you can see the published article on the SDTS facebook page HERE