What is PDR?

Genetically wired and behaviorally inspired, PDR hinges upon Tony Blauer’s SPEAR System and Spontaneous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response (SPEAR) sums it up nicely. If you expect your self-defense system to work under the realities of violence, you had better start with what your body will want to do naturally. Use those innate actions strategically, hone them using patented learning drills and you begin to understand the superiority and uniqueness of SPEAR training. Add in other learning essentials like fear management, survival mindset and defusing tactics and you have the basics of the PDR program. Realize that you will then pressure test all of those skills during dynamic, reality based scenarios using High Gear suits and you will own the fact that there is simply no better way to prepare yourself for the worst case scenario.

Why PDR?

As a martial artist since age 10 and a former military and diplomatic security professional, I have been exposed to a great deal of what is out there when it comes to self-defense, defensive tactics and combatives. Unfortunately, my experience proved that most systems were lacking when it came to their application to the realities of high threat situations. When I set out to offer physical self-defense skills at Castle Defensive, my operational experiences compelled me to seek out a system that could help my students prevail if they encountered serious violence. I vowed that if I could not find one, I would develop it myself. Any self-defense system I would consider had to meet the following criteria:

• Take into account and be likely to work under ambush.
• Provide the defender space to determine an appropriate response level.
• Be quickly acquired so skills can be deployed in the near term.
• Capitalize on what my body did naturally (flinch) when confronted by sudden unexpected violence.
• Take into account Hicks Law of decision making and be doable under extreme stress.

I came to Tony’s tutelage schooled and experienced in real violent encounters from both my personal and professional life. I knew what I was looking for and wondered if his system or any system could meet my expectations. Not only did SPEAR and PDR meet every one of my essential criteria, but his system went far beyond them. Despite my background and training, I am a much better warrior and trainer having become a PDR coach. I trust my life to what I learned from him and so should you. That is why PDR serves as the core of almost every course offering at Castle Defensive.