BIG WEAPON/BIG TARGET.
Simpler, safer, secure.
In 1980, I had a big idea: I wanted to make the world safer.
My epiphany was that we needed to look at how humans moved — both the good guy and the bad guy.
That study inspired a way to weaponize the startle-flinch response, so it worked like an organic airbag, inflating to create a barrier between the attacker and the defender. The hands and forearms become tactical windshield wipers in the shitstorm that is violence, driving toward center mass. Hence, big weapon, big target.
One more layer to the metaphor: your car is your body, your mind is your strategy, and fear is the fuel. A sudden attack is a car accident you didn’t see coming — and the startle-flinch is the airbag that deploys before you even decide to brace. Your martial art is just the car you happen to like; your skill at it is your driving. But in the moment of impact, your driving skill isn’t the variable that saves you. The airbag is. Convert the flinch into a protective, then tactical response, and you’ve weaponized the one thing you already had built in.
Around 1987, while creating the SPEAR System®, I coined this phrase: “Behaviorally Inspired, Genetically Wired.” It became our filter for every drill.
I focused on natural, instinctive movement, hardwired reflexes, and intuition. Everything we built had to be based on credible threats and realistic scenarios.
Over the years I’ve studied a lot of martial systems, and I still do. But early on I noticed something that perplexed me: complex motor skills can be, well, complex. Outside of combat sports and competition, we rarely saw what was practiced in the training hall show up on the street during a real violent encounter. In fact, we often saw the opposite.
There’s actually a name for part of what I was running into — Hick’s Law. The more choices you give someone, the longer it takes them to decide. Add complexity, you add hesitation. That’s exactly why the SPEAR System® stays built on gross-motor movement instead of fine-motor technique.
So I spent decades designing a self-defense program around human physiology, physics, and psychology instead.
In reality, it’s real life that shows us what’s really needed.
Forty-plus years of that approach. Here’s what it’s produced:
An independent five-year study by Dorset Police in the UK found a 41% reduction in head trauma and a 29% reduction in use-of-force complaints — from a single four-hour training session, once a year.
We’ve trained over 500,000 people. Thousands of defensive tactics and combatives instructors have come through our programs, all over the world, and over a thousand certified instructors are teaching the SPEAR System® in the private sector right now.
If you want to bring it to your dojo, your martial arts school, your karate club, or your self-defense practice — check out our Level 1 certification. Our next one is August 22–23. If those dates don’t work, we’ve got more on the training calendar [here].
Stay safe,
Coach Blauer
BRING MY SYSTEM TO YOUR CITY
Many coaches, instructors, and CCW trainers already know how to fight. But many have not fully equipped their students to handle the startle-flinch, fear, and real-world pressure. We pioneered scenario-based training and fear management education. Adding startle-flinch conversion, the SPEAR System®, and High Gear® drills gives your people a way to pressure test and gain real confidence. Whatever your background, method, or style, this work complements it.
Keep scrolling — below you will find every way to train with me, and a few articles worth your time.
1️⃣ LIVE ONLINE — Tactical Garage Gym: Train live online. New members can use GARAGE50. Join here.
2️⃣ IN-PERSON — Elite Training Retreat: June sold out quickly. Register for October.
3️⃣ CERTIFICATION — SPEAR L1 Apply: Grow your business. Teach what works. Learn more here.
4️⃣ TRAINING LIBRARY — Tactical Library: 900+ classes. The vault is open. Join here.
GO DEEPER
Critics have been saying for years that the SPEAR System® is just Hick’s Law dressed up as self-defense. This piece is my answer — and it explains exactly why the flinch is not a flaw in your training. It’s the starting point.
THE MISSION
My mission is to make the world safer, one good person at a time. Everything I build — the SPEAR System®, Be Your Own Bodyguard®, Know Fear® — exists to give good people the tools to protect themselves and the people they love.
If this hit home, you probably know someone who needs it. Forward it their way.