Tony Blauer

Tony Blauer is coming to London

31 January 2012
Thumbnail image for Tony Blauer is coming to London

On the 3rd March, Tony Blauer himself is flying into London to give a Be Your Own Bodyguard 1 day seminar at Crossfit Central London. I’ll be there, along with many of the other Personal Defence Readiness (PDR) Coaches from around the UK and Ireland. If you’ve never seen Tony teach his very unique brand [...]

Read the full article →

Video of CrossFit Founder Greg Glassman at SPEAR Combatives Camp 2011

29 October 2011
Thumbnail image for Video of CrossFit Founder Greg Glassman at SPEAR Combatives Camp 2011

Below are 2 videos of CrossFit Founder Greg Glassman giving a lecture at Tony Blauer’s Combatives Camp in Las Vegas earlier this year. I could listen to Coach G talking all day, but I particularly like his answer to the common question: “Which diet should I do, Paleo or Zone?” To which he said: “That’s [...]

Read the full article →

My new Personal Safety website: PDRManchester.com

20 October 2011
Thumbnail image for My new Personal Safety website: PDRManchester.com

For the last 6 weeks I’ve been working hard on building a new website and am very pleased to say it’s now ready for public consumption. As you may know, whilst I might be a mild mannered office worker by day, I have a super hero alter-ego as a self defence coach. Well maybe not [...]

Read the full article →

No Charges Against Man who Stabbed Burglar to Death

24 July 2011
Thumbnail image for No Charges Against Man who Stabbed Burglar to Death

It’s the classic nightmare scenario: it’s nearly midnight and you’re asleep in bed at home and hear noises downstairs. You go down to investigate and are confronted by 4 masked men in your house, one armed with a machete. In the struggle that ensues one of the burglars is stabbed in the chest. His 3 [...]

Read the full article →

Self Defence Lessons from Jaycee Dugard’s Abduction

11 July 2011
Thumbnail image for Self Defence Lessons from Jaycee Dugard’s Abduction

The astonishing story of 11 year old Jaycee Dugard’s abduction, 18 year captivity and eventual escape is so rare and so horrific that it’s been headline news throughout the world. It’s coincidental timing then that the same weekend that sees me assisting on another 2.5 day PDR self defence course with Tony Blauer, Jaycee launches [...]

Read the full article →

Disabled Gran Headbutts Teenage Mugger

22 April 2011

This you need a black belt to defend yourself from a mugging? Read this story (copied below) and think again: A disabled grandmother who fought off a mugging attack by headbutting a teenager has said she believes she broke his nose. The 49-year-old, who is just 5ft tall, said she retaliated as the youths tried [...]

Read the full article →

PDR Drill – The 3 Step Bear Hug, Demoed and Dissected

5 December 2010

As part of the warm up in our weekly Personal Defence Readiness™ (PDR) classes at CrossFit3D, we always do the 3 Step Bear Hug drill. For me, the 3 Step Bear Hug encompasses in a single drill many of the core elements of Tony Blauer’s S.P.E.A.R. SYSTEM™: A realistic training scenario. The flinch response. Starting [...]

Read the full article →

Another Cross Extensor Reflex Video

25 October 2010

A few weeks ago I put up a video of the Cross Extensor Reflex, which is what the SPEAR System calls the reflex we have to grab on tight to whatever is in our hands when we’re surprised. It showed a woman nearly getting mown down and running for her life, but not letting go [...]

Read the full article →

I’m a Certified PDR Coach

22 August 2010

I’m very pleased to announce that having got my certificate through, I’m officially a certified Personal Defence Readiness (PDR) Coach: If you don’t know what that is, it’s the general public side of Tony Blauer’s SPEAR system of self defence. But “self defence” doesn’t really come close to describing it, as that phrase implies it’s [...]

Read the full article →