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Damian Ross and the Martial Arts Instructor’s Mistake

By Scott Carter, Staff Writer

Coming right out of college to coach at his alma mater Ridgewood High School, Damian had a whole host of new ideas…that were wrong. “I tried to teach them too much.” Ross recalls. “I focused on the techniques and NOT the core skills. I remember trying to catalog every possible move. I created teaching charts and curriculums so that these kids would not miss a move.”

Damian based his coaching on his martial arts experience. “We [in martial arts] tried to overwhelm with technique, I tried to do the same in wrestling…it failed miserably. It also made me realize that the widely accepted practice of martial artists trying to collect more moves, or secret tricks is wrong. Instead I looked back to my training under famed Lehigh University Wrestling coaches Thad Turner and Tom Hutchinson. BASCICS, BASICS, BASICS.

In college we broke it all down to positions: Neutral (both standing), Top and bottom. We began with being able to recognize when you got out of position and how to correct it. On your feet it’s balance and level. On the mat it was hip position and hand control, very grueling, basic and agonizing work.

Each position was offense and defense and you practiced about 5 to 7 offensive techniques and only about 2 or 3 defensive techniques. Each primary position had basic rules to follow and then you just drilled and practiced until you threw up. Anything in between was left to athleticism and instinct. This enabled you to adapt to any situation.”

Damian Ross then went back and reverse engineered the martial arts. From 1992 forward he approached martial arts and self defense instruction the same way he approached his wrestling coaching: break it down and teach people to adapt with in the confines of the circumstances.

“The problem was, I was searching for a model…but there was none. It was easier with wrestling because I lived it. But there was no one in the martial arts and self defense world teaching like this. Some talked about it and on the surface, looked promising. But after all was said and done, it was the same old stuff wrapped in a pretty, neat package. It was over complicated and non-systemized. Tony Blauer, Tim Larkin, Paul Vunak, Krav Maga…all of these guys are talented but the teaching model is way off base. Even my training with the late, great Carl Cestari was a collection of principles and ideas that had to be constructed into a learning format.  In the later years when he was ill, we would meet every few weeks and discuss what I was doing in teaching and training and what he was researching. We would talk about it and I would implement it to see what the response was. Some stuff worked and some things didn’t. It literally took about 7 years to formulate a real workable teaching curriculum in realistic methods of self defense. This has never ben done before and its what makes the Self Defense Training System so incredible.”

Damian Ross is not without his critics. Some say the program is too simple, it can’t be that easy. This is basic stuff. To that he says, “I competed on the top levels for wrestling, karate and judo and at the end of the day it comes down to BASICS. The difference between the champ and the chump is execution, attitude, conditioning and heart. We can teach you how to apply the tactics and techniques, we can show you how to practice them and get in shape but we can’t give you your heart, you have to want to do it.

Damian Ross is now the CEO and founder of the Self Defense Company headquartered in Saddle River New Jersey where he and his wife run the defensive tactics training and education business. You can visit their site at www.selfdefensecompany.com