In contrast to solely honing the ability to defeat an opponent in a physical altercation, we strive toward not being in such a situation in the first place. We do so by studying and training in skills in the following categories:
Protection, Detection & Avoidance, Evasion, Escape, Survival, First Aid, Leadership
Within each of these are various subcategories, many of which could serve as complete areas of study in their own right. The intent, however, is to gain introductory familiarity and a basic working knowledge and competency across the spectrum of these skillsets. This foundation can be deepened over time and according to personal interests, inclinations and needs.
We incorporate knowledge and skills drawn from a variety of sources, ranging from the boy scouts and parkour to the doctrines of contemporary military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
That said, we do not train in offensive tactics. Instead, we focus on preventing, detecting and avoiding or otherwise eluding threats before any hostile physical encounter can even take place, or escaping from and surviving one if it does come to that. The idea is to cycle through these various categories on an annual basis. For instance, in the warmer months we might practice basic wilderness skills alongside stealth movement in nature, relying on methods used by infantry, snipers and trackers. Then in cooler months, we could move to adapting police room clearing tactics for unarmed use in finding a clear escape route in an urban setting, or go into the streets of the Innenstadt or a shopping mall at Christmas time to practice the same surveillance detection and anti-surveillance skills that were refined into a science by spies and spy-hunters over the course of the Cold War. Conversely, we might simply sit in a café and observe human behavior.