Become a Knife Defense Instructor!

ETI (Elite Tactical) develops hundreds of student and instructor courses in many areas of armed and unarmed combat. PSU (Phoenix State University) publishes these materials, and grants CMU credits for course completion through their Continuing Education division.

ETI CEO and Blade Combat author Tom Halstead is a nationally recognized edged weapons instructor. Tom testifies as an expert witness in officer-involved shootings when edged or other weapons were present. Tom grew up in the "mean streets" of Detroit, and was involved in hundreds of gang related knife attacks while commuting throughout Detroit to school. He was a military AIT edged weapons instructor and helicopter pilot, an alternate for the University of Michigan Olympic Judo team, and has achieved brown/red or black belts in Aikido, Tang So Do, Escrima, Kendo, Judo and Jiu Jitsu as well as Lethalo. After surviving hundreds of knife attacks with numerous wounds, Tom's #1 advice on the best style of knife combat: "Any style that tells you to avoid it or get out of there..." Tom and Joe have the unique distinction of being two of only a handful of instructors to study the African wrist knife system directly, one of the few blade combat systems still being used in daily fighting.

Tom was one of the first American black belt candidates and a frequent competitor in the nascent Gracie organization. Tom and Joe Moriera split off from the Gracies, and founded Jiu Jitsu de Brazil. Subsequently, Tom and Joe put their heads together on the much older "street knife" versions of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and with MMA input from Applegate/Fairbairn, Escrima, SOCOM, and numerous other Japanese, Israeli and other systems created the Lethalo Blade Combat system. Joe was a competitor in UFC II, an Olympic medalist for three years on the Brazilian Judo Team, and Captain of the highest medal winning team in Olympic Judo history. Joe and Tom both have numerous "real world" scars from knife, machete, and other street encounters. As the former President of the largest company supplying security and medical services to Prisons, Tom has additional rare experience with hundreds of prison attacks, and has consulted at over 300 CI's worldwide. Tom also is a consultant to the US DOD, has worked directly for the Secretary of Defense, is a multiply-certified firearms instructor, a police field training officer, and has graduate degrees from the Universities of Michigan and Wisconsin.

Tom, Joe and their instructors now dedicate their time to education of a new generation of blade combatants, and knife defense techniques (including the "get out of there" strategy!). Their students include law enforcement, military, mercs, bodyguards, civilians and other at-risk occupations. Lethalo and the Blade Combat series are combat, not competitive systems, and differ exponentially from "martial arts" systems as they exist today. As commercially rated military, police and contract helicopter pilots, as well as trainers, Tom, Joe and their instructors also work under contract for numerous State and Federal agencies.

There is no "bad" knife defense system, as long as it begins by letting you know that you are likely to get cut or killed, or end up in prison, if you don't include study of the legalities of the use of lethal force. Most "real world" instructors (ie: people who have been cut in the street) ALWAYS begin by telling you to get out if you can, even if you have a gun, and they have a knife! As Liberals try to curtail gun rights more and more, blade combat is often the only alternative, so we try to make it more effective than the typical overconfident gunner!

"Those that don't own guns, will always be the slaves of those who do..."
--Thomas Jefferson