Bodyguard Training 101
It’s day one at the farm and, under the tutelage of Dennis Martin and Lofty Wiseman, the bodyguard training 101 is underway. Every morning, before breakfast, we’re up for fitness work with Lofty. It involves log training, running, hill sprints, calisthenics, and slower 3 mile runs up the road and back. Not a problem for me due to the fact I was still a member of the Legion and this is a light warm-up by our standards. A couple of the other guys struggled though which came as a surprise. Why on earth would you go to a course like this and roll up out of shape? It never ceases to amuse me when we see the big, lumbering oafs looking after rock stars, who clearly couldn’t run 100 yards without dropping dead. How do you profess to be able to take care of your client’s body when you can’t take care of your own?
Hand to Hand Combat
After breakfast, it’s back to the gym for unarmed combat training. A lot of is stuff I’ve seen before in traditional martial arts and hand to hand in the Legion but there is a whole block of techniques that pertain specifically to the art of being a protection agent. Very cool. Let’s say you have to evacuate your client in a hurry from a $25,000 a plate dinner. People are panicking due to whatever and they get in the way of your egress route. You can’t just sidekick them or punch them in the throat to get them to move. We went over how to get them to move without actually hitting them. Neat stuff.
Another interesting approach was not redirecting a blade for example as we do normally. If I’m in front of my client and I sidestep an attack my client eats it. So, as you can probably figure out, you have to sacrifice yourself and try and smother the attack. What about paparazzi and being discreet? A lot of celebrity clients are going to be on film. You use some high-profile technique to an overzealous fan and you’re on the front page the next day. We had to learn a whole block of low-key techniques that don’t show up on the 9 o’clock news.
Tactical Medicine
Next on the agenda was tactical medicine. Unlike the usual first-aid training you get at the Red Cross, which covers CPR and low-key nicks and cuts, bodyguard training delves into the stuff we were likely to be facing as a protection agent. Clients get bombed, stabbed, and shot so your local Red Cross course isn’t going to cut the mustard. Lofty gave a great series of classes on the type of kit we’d need to carry at the house, in the car, and on our person, to be any good in an emergency. This was covered by lectures, films, and hands-on training. I’d planned to do my medical corpsman training in the Legion but missed the window due to being on another course when it was offered. If you’re ever thinking of executive protection as a career keep in mind the first person they’re looking for when putting a team together is someone with serious medical training.
Advance Work
Another hugely important facet of protection work is performing what’s called an “advance.” You’ve probably seen this in the movies. A team goes in ahead of the client’s visit and does all the groundwork. They’ll liaise with local law enforcement and see what, if any, cooperation they can get. Another task is to scope out the route to the venue, the hotel, the airport, and any other pertinent locations. Finally, they’ll find out where the nearest hospitals are, what they’re equipped to deal with, and so on. You might remember me talking about my doing this with my client Emma Sams before her wedding in my book “How To Be Your Own Bodyguard.” The advance is an art unto itself and guys who are good at it are worth their weight in gold. Some team members specialize in this and it’s all they do. A good one can make your job as the lead agent real easy. A bad one can cause you nothing but headaches. A lot of it will also depend on your budget and who your client is. I’ve worked gigs on my own so there’s no real advance other than what I can glean by phone and online. The US President however has entire jumbo jets full of agents who fly on ahead and weld manhole covers shut for example. Must be nice.
Last Part Next Time
This is getting long so I’ll go over the other elements we covered in bodyguard training 101 in the next installment. If you have any questions about the specifics, don’t hesitate to ask.