Of yourself, your family, and your community. We teach combatives — not martial arts — and tactical defensive shooting — not competition shooting. Comprehensive personal protection for the modern world.
We teach combatives — not martial arts or combat sports. When violence is the answer, it is the only answer.
Tactical defensive shooting — not competition or bullseye shooting. We teach gun-fighting, not just shooting.
The body and mind are one. Functional fitness keeps you capable, resilient, and mentally sharp at any age.
Derived from special-forces hand-to-hand combat. Learn to manage fear, act decisively, neutralize the threat immediately, and disengage. Awareness, avoidance, and de-escalation are the foundation.
Mindset → Tactics → Skill → Equipment.
Merely carrying a gun will not prepare you. Learn stress management under fire, use-of-force decision-making, tactical movement, and use of cover.
General physical preparedness enables you to meet whatever challenges life presents — whether carrying something heavy, playing with your children, or fighting for the life of someone you love.
Violence should always be avoided whenever possible. But responsible people must be capable of stopping it when it cannot be avoided.
Most self-defense instruction begins after an attack has already started — blocking a punch, escaping a grab, countering a takedown. Combatives training begins earlier. With awareness. With avoidance. With de-escalation.
Because the best way to win a fight is not to be there when it begins.
Martial arts is something you do with someone; combatives is something you do to someone.
The combatives system I teach is:
The system originated in an elite U.S. Army Special Forces (“Green Beret”) unit. For a decade, I trained directly under Special Forces Master Instructors involved in developing the combatives system I teach today.
Training is conducted in a professional, safety-focused environment appropriate for responsible civilians. Instruction emphasizes awareness, judgment, and control — not aggression.
“I’ve taken classes at other ranges that felt like boot camp. Neil’s approach is different—intelligent, calm, and incredibly practical. I learned more about the legal realities of self-defense in two hours than I had in years of shooting.”
Personal defense is not about paranoia; it is about personal responsibility. No one is coming to save you. Everything is your responsibility.
With a background in traditional martial arts, military combatives training under Tier 1 operators, and decades of experience as a CrossFit athlete and coach, Neil brings a unique skill set to civilian personal defense and fitness training.
You do not need to be an EMT.
Violence is rare. But when it happens, it happens suddenly—and the consequences are serious.
Responsible people prepare for unlikely events with serious consequences. We keep fire extinguishers in our homes. We learn CPR. We carry insurance. Personal protection is no different.
The purpose of this training is not to turn ordinary people into fighters. The purpose is to help people develop the awareness, mindset, and practical skills needed to avoid violence whenever possible and stop it when necessary.
Violence should always be avoided when possible. But responsible people must be capable of stopping it when it cannot be avoided.
Training focuses on practical capability for real life:
Preparedness is responsibility.
This training is designed for ordinary responsible people—not professional fighters.
Most students are:
You do not need to be an athlete. You do not need martial arts experience. You do not need to be a “gun person.” You do not need to be a warrior.
But you should be capable of protecting the people you love.
No.
This training is designed for ordinary people with normal lives and responsibilities.
Better fitness is always helpful, and training can improve strength, mobility, and confidence. But the system does not depend on strength, size, or athletic ability. The goal is to develop practical skills that work for normal people in real-world situations.
No.
As combatives pioneer Kelly McCann observed:
“Martial arts is something you do with someone; combatives is something you do to someone.”
Martial arts and combat sports usually take years to learn and occur in controlled environments with rules, referees, and a single opponent.
Real criminal violence is very different. It is sudden, chaotic, and often involves multiple attackers.
Yes.
The combatives system is designed to be:
No.
The first principle is to avoid violence whenever possible. The best way to win a fight is not to be there when it begins.
Most self-defense instruction begins after an attack has already started—blocking a punch, escaping a grab, or countering a takedown. Combatives training begins earlier:
However, when violence cannot be avoided, you must be able to respond immediately, stop the threat, and disengage safely. Training also prepares you to manage fear, act decisively under stress, and deal with the aftermath of a violent encounter.
The system originated in an elite U.S. Army Special Forces (“Green Beret”) unit.
Although the system has military origins, the teaching is civilian-focused and accessible. The goal is not to make anyone an “operator”—it is to help ordinary people become more capable of protecting themselves, their loved ones, and their community.
Training is conducted in a professional, safety-focused environment appropriate for responsible civilians.
For a decade, Neil trained directly under Special Forces Master Instructors involved in developing the system.
His instruction also incorporates elements from a related system under which he was certified as an instructor, along with selected elements from his traditional martial arts background.
Training takes place at:
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I am an attorney with more than 30 years of experience working at senior levels in Fortune 100 companies. Today I run a solo law practice serving individuals, families, and small businesses, focusing on estate planning, business succession planning, and business law.
Law is my profession. Teaching and coaching are my vocation.
My work centers on a simple principle: Responsible people prepare to protect what matters most.
I have more than 20 years of experience as a CrossFit athlete and coach and hold a CrossFit Level 2 certification and a Bergener Strength weightlifting coaching certification.
My experience in martial arts, combatives, and firearms training spans decades. I hold firearms instructor certifications from both the USCCA and the NRA, and other instructors frequently invite me to teach the legal portion of concealed weapons license classes and refer students to me for advanced training.
My combatives and firearms training includes instruction under U.S. Army Special Forces Master Instructor John Holschen and other Special Forces instructors involved in developing the system I teach.
My teaching is also informed by traditional martial arts training under renowned masters including Yang Jwing Ming, Ken Lo, and Moy Yat, as well as additional training while living in China for several years.
That background — combined with my undergraduate degree in philosophy — also exposed me to the philosophical and meditative traditions that inform many Chinese martial arts, including Taoism, Buddhism, Zen, and internal training methods.
