The Development of the Elite-Fighters
System of Martial Arts

The Early Philosophical Base
When I began research over 10 years ago for the Elite Fighter System, I sought to develop a training program that encompasses ALL aspects of combat in a single cohesive and scientifically based system. You see, most martial art systems focus only on a certain aspect of combat. For example, Tae Kwon Do (TKD) is primarily a kicking sport with the emphasis on sport competition rather than personal safety. TKD also lacks a full study of grappling and weaponry. American Kenpo Karate is primarily a theory-based self defense art, but its practitioners often lack the skills necessary to utilize these fighting methods properly due to the rarity of qualified instructors. In addition, there is no systematic training program for kicking, offensive skills, grappling, or modern weaponry. The typical American Kenpo student can talk “about” fighting but can do very little. Jiu Jitsu is predominantly a grappling art and lacks striking skills and modern training methods. Some martial arts (such as Tai Chi and Aikido) focus on Asian philosophical and religious training at the expense of practical combat training. I could go on, but as you can see the majority of martial art systems focus only on a certain aspect of combat and never approach combat training in a unified, cohesive, and logical system based upon sound scientific training principles. The Elite Fighter System is unique because ALL aspects of personal combat are organized in a scientific and progressive systematic structure. This system propels the student’s knowledge and skill level beyond what any other martial art is capable of doing.

The Addition of Professionalism
My background begins with Sports Medicine. As I was studying this science, I immediately saw that most current martial art systems lack professional instruction, a strong foundation in exercise science, and a training system based upon proven scientific principles.

It is not uncommon to see the head instructor of a school turn his class over to one of his green or brown belts while he steps out to smoke or go to his other job. Sometimes the instructor doesn’t even show up and one of his students must lead the class in instruction. I don’t know about you, but if I was paying good money to learn methods that may save my life, I want the most qualified person teaching me! What training have these people received? What makes them qualified to teach? Most people believe that simply wearing a black belt automatically qualifies you to teach and the more “degrees” of black belt that you can claim the better teacher you are! This is certainly not true. A professional instructor must have professional training. The Elite Fighter System has brought professional training to the highest standards in the martial arts.

We knew that to develop skills that are effective and beneficial in combat we must utilize training principles that will enable us to reach our goals. Most martial art training regimens are based upon tradition rather than science. Carrying on a tradition will also carry on mistakes. In the early 1990’s I began to modernize our classroom training based upon my formal education. The results were instantly noticeable. Our students increased flexibility, speed, and power in record time. Injuries were reduced to simple scrapes and bruises. Most importantly, the technical skills of our students were stunning. I would have easily matched one of our purple belts against any black belt. Since its first introduction, we have developed even more revolutionary approaches to martial art training that form the core of the Elite Fighter System.

In our pursuit of professionalism in the martial arts, the Elite Fighter System requires:

1. All individuals seeking to teach the Elite Fighter System must successfully complete and pass the Instructor’s Candidate Training Course and follow the guidelines and mandates of the Instructor Candidate Training Program.
2. The Instructor Candidate Training Program will train the individual in the education, teaching, training, and evaluation of students.
3. The instructor must maintain the highest ethical and professional standards while maintaining is own individual technical and tactical skills.

Modern Tactics and Weaponry
In recent years I have been able to train tactical weaponry involving urban combat under the direction of the Department of Defense. In my training and in my professional career, I have never been concerned with someone attacking me with a kama, nunchaku, or any other Asian farming tool, but I am concerned about facing blunt instruments, edged weapons, and firearms. Why? Because these weapons are the weapons of the modern age. A modern martial art should be concerned with the defense against and the offensive use of these modern weapons:

• Blunt Instruments (stick or baton)
• Edged Weapons (knives)
• Firearms (pistol and shotgun)

This is not to say that we have abandoned the study ancient and archaic weaponry. In fact, the study of historical weaponry is an essential phase of training in the advanced levels of the Elite Fighter System; however, we keep this training in its proper perspective.

It is our belief that if a philosophy, technique, method, or training exercise does not directly contribute to increasing a person’s tactical fighting ability, then it should be abandoned completely or shelved for historical analysis. Why waste your time learning skills that you can never use? Why live in a fantasy? Now, this is not to say that we do not respect the past. In fact, we do, but we keep it in its proper perspective. We use the past help us better understand the present and to prepare for the future, but we know that as time progresses, fighting methods change.

I have met many Medieval, American Revolutionary, and Civil War re-enactors. These individuals dress the part, they carry and use authentic weapons, and they even train and employ the same historical battle tactics. But I have never met a single re-enactor who had the delusion that his ancient fighting technique is better than or comparable to a soldier in the modern US military. If a regiment of Civil War soldiers faced a squad of modern US Marines, the result would be overwhelmingly in the favor of the Marines. Unfortunately, most martial artists believe that ancient fighting and training methods are superior to modern combat training. This is fine if you live in a fantasy or are an actor in Hollywood, but if you wish to live in the real world then you better learn real world training methods.

The Elite Fighter System trains with modern weaponry, instructs the student in modern fighting tactics, and prepares him for real-world personal combat. We are what others aspire to become.

Ruthless Honesty
One of the best pieces of advice I have ever received was to approach the art with “ruthless honesty”. I have used this approach in all aspects of the Elite Fighter System and in my personal life. I believe that it is essential that we examine every aspect of the art and ask ourselves why we study it, what is its purpose, is it effective, and can we find a better way? By taking this approach we have developed the finest martial art system ever devised. We also encourage our students to use ruthless honesty to evaluate their own skills. By doing so, our students are able to accelerate their training to levels that would otherwise be unobtainable. Most importantly, we insist that all Elite Fighter Instructors are honest in their approach toward students. There is no need to make up stories of how great you are, who you have studied with, or how many fights you have won just to stroke your own ego. The fact that you are an instructor for the Elite Fighter System is all the honor and recognition that you will ever need.

Honesty is the benchmark of a professional and the banner of an Elite Fighter.

If you are a martial artist that has been searching for meaning and direction in the arts, or if you are completely new to martial arts, looking for the right way to start without being sent down the wrong path, start today. Enter the Praetorium.

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