This is a question that defensive tactics experts and instructors have debated and continue to debate. But, in reality, the answer is simple. I don’t care what defensive tactics or martial arts discipline you train in or feel that you have mastered, the answer is the same. ALL experienced executive protection agents will agree that the best defensive tactic we have as agents, that will give us the greatest chance of survival and least chance of injury, is AVOIDANCE. Avoidance is our best defensive tactic.
This is not the industry you enter into to get a charge or to prove your manhood. As we like to say in the executive protection industry, “boring is good!” A boring day is a safe day. It means that we have done our jobs so well that an attack on our client wasn’t possible or was thwarted. So, back to avoidance and how it can help us keep the job boring. When we see a possible oncoming threat, avoidance allows us to go another direction, choose another route, pick another restaurant, etc. We live to fight another day. There is no loss of respect when an executive protection agent chooses avoidance over conflict. And, I can assure, whether you win or loose the conflict you will affect your client in todays sue happy society.
Now, there are times when avoidance is not possible and you must use defensive tactics to protect yourself and your client. In those instances, the defensive tactics that works best are those that you have practiced. Remember, defensive tactics are like anything else in life: it’s all about repetition! The way you train is the way you will perform. To achieve muscle memory in an effort to utilize tactics effectively, you must practice them thousands of times.
This is why ESS Global Corp’s executive protection certification course spends 2-3 hours on defensive tactics and utilizes the majority of the time teaching you executive protection principles. It’s because we know that there is no way, even if we used a whole day on defensive tactics, that you will be proficient enough to be effective utilizing those techniques in the field. We use those 2-3 hours as an eye opener to show our students that there are other areas of training available to make them better agents.
If you have any questions about defensive tactics, executive protection, security training or different martial arts disciplines, please inquire and we will give you our input. We hope this has helped, and until next time, stay alert and stay safe!
