UZIEL CQC featured in HARBINGER Magazine (March Issue)

Published by: The HALO Corporation

Author: Odhinn Kohout

I have written an article as well as an instructional video which will be featured in the March issue of

HARBINGER magazine. This lesson will focus on an escape from a hostage position involving a firearm (pistol).

The HALO Corporation was founded by former US SOF, National Security, and Intelligence personnel so we are very pleased to be working with them to provide cutting edge training to Military and Police personnel.

Contact The HALO Corporation at the link provided below to subscribe. The UZIEL Fighting System will also be featured in the April edition as well.

 http://www.thehalocorp.com/

Thanks Guys!

MILITARY CQC/ “Realism in the Classroom environment”

Author: Odhinn Kohout

Students don’t like to be tested…

It is a source of stress and anxiety but is much better than the alternative which is to be vulnerable in a critical incident where the life of their partners or their own is on the line. In looking at edged weapon training I like to divide the training into 5 distinct components:

  

 

One: Give a 10-15 minute lecture on anatomical weak-points that are easily accessed by a blade. Don’t know them? Research it. Use another Instructor as a template and point them out to the class. This is essential to your program and often omitted by Instructors because in truth, they can’t be bothered to learn it themselves. Laziness does not cut it when teaching CQC. We offer Military anatomical knife charts so contact me to order one: www.UZIELcp.com

Two: The demonstration of the technique should be clear and concise and also leave time for questions from the class. DO NOT SAY that; “because of the shortage of time today, we don’t have time for any questions…” MAKE THE TIME.

Three: Repetition is crucial to learning and comprehension. Observe your students at this time and point out immediately what they are doing wrong. Just as important is to praise them when they are doing it right as well. If you have plastic or rubber training knives this is the time (and only time) to use them to lessen the chance of injuries.

Four: Replace the rubber knives with a metal trainer so that their brain will assimilate the sight of a metal knife with a real one and ingrain a proper threat response. Get the Soldiers at this point to pick up the speed and go 70%. Keep all the techniques below the neck line to avoid chipped teeth and direct contact top the eye orbit.

Five: The last segment is testing with a “marking knife” of some kind. Tell the class that “Whatever partner is defending from the knife attack. I don’t want to see ANY red lines on a vital blood-flow area!” PDT Tech makes a great one that we use and endorse for Military training.

Good luck with your next training session and remember to train for combat!

Military: Ground-Combatives against the Blade

Author: Odhinn Kohout

Ground combatives has become an integral aspect of Military CQC over the last 10 years with Jiu-Jitsu specifically being used as a template. I have worked with many Military personnel over the years and noticed that knives are never introduced into their ground training. I find this a little perplexing as most places that Soldiers are deployed are knife cultures historically. It would stand to reason than, that a Soldier's Attacker would probably go to some sort of knife as a secondary weapon should his firearm go out of battery or run out of ammo etc. 

 

Things to remember:

Don’t wrap your legs around your attacker on the ground in a “Guard” position as it will expose your femoral arteries to a knife.

Placing one of your feet on the bad- guys’ hip in order to push back will create a reactionary gap even if it is for a second. Each second after all counts…

Your methods for defending slashes and stabs should mirror your approach from a standing position. I.E. Inside and outside blocks, strikes, locks and arm control. Don’t have a completely different way of fighting on the ground or it will be difficult to remember in a critical incident.

Get away from the central of 12 o’clock position making you in line with your enemy’s attacks. Offensive tactics that you employ should be left or right of center.

Use a shin to block his forward motion and to keep distance. This will also expose a holster for easy access making it easier to transition to a secondary weapon such as a pistol.

There are a whole host of arm breaks which you can use from your back and your hips can be added as leverage for these type of joint locks.

Use elbow strikes if your Attacker tries to pin your arms to the ground by holding you down by your biceps. Remember that your arm has three distinct fulcrum points. The shoulder, elbow and wrist. Experiment with these in your next class as counter measures.

Sweeps are crucial to survival. Your legs are much bigger than your arms so learn to use them to change the direction of your opponent. When a knife is involved the longer that you remain on the ground lessens your chances of surviving the attack.

Get back up to your feet as quickly as possible. Your ground training should ultimately lead to an escape position which results in you getting back in the fight from a standing position and going to carbine.

Be safe Gentlemen!

Military Training (Establishing your “Buy In”)

Author: Odhinn Kohout

Teaching Military personnel CQC  particularly those that have been previously deployed can be a very rewarding experience provided that you have done your homework prior to the class…

A few tips that will keep you on track with your group of Soldiers are:

. Find out as much information about the Unit that you are training I.E. What their role specifically entails and current ROEs (Rules of Engagement). A RECCE group will have different needs than combat medics so tailor your approach to what THEY want to learn.

.How much kit do they wear which will tell you how much mobility they have.

.Get feedback from them throughout your course and remain open to any concerns that they have or changes to your syllabus.

.Watch for safety issues because form my own experience they will go harder than other groups that you will train and the last thing you want is one of them injured as a result of attending your class. (Don’t expect to be invited back again if this happens)

.Your tactics will need to encompass 4 distinctive categories. Carbine, Pistol, Knife and empty hands. The ability to transition to less lethal to lethal force is essential. 

.Weapon retention cannot be overlooked as part of good combatives training.

.There will be many SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) in your class on a variety of topics who will bring a wealth of knowledge to the group. Don’t be afraid to call upon them and get them to share their experiences that are connected to the topic.

.If you have a good Instructor to student ratio, then break the class into groups so that they can be observed and tested on the curriculum. Retention is paramount to ensure proper cognitive function under stress.

.Know their current CQC program so that your material can be ADDED to it and don’t go in with the idea of REPLACING their training with your techniques. You will not make any friends with their Instructors by disrespecting their program.

.If you are teaching any ground-combatives stay far away…from the fancy stuff. I can’t stress this enough. Soldiers will think that you have no clue what their job is all about  if you try and teach fancy (MMA) style of ground-fighting.

. Focus on Gross motor-skills and not fine or complex manipulations.

Train Hard Guys!

Edged Weapon Training

“Using Various Types of Training Knives in Practice”

Author: Odhinn Kohout

In our Military edged weapon defense course today. We used a combination of metal training knives (UZIEL) for threat recognition and plastic marking knives (PDT-TECH) to keep the students honest. As you can see there is a great advantage to knowing where the slash connected because the "red-line" does not lie...

You can order both these products at:

UZIEL Fighting Systems

PDT-TECH

Train for combat Guys!