Redman Suit Training: How Real Is It?

William Pehush, The Self Defense Company

Since the dawn of time warriors have worked to make training as realistic as possible in order to better prepare individuals to survive combat and inflict maximum damage.  All kinds of training devices, practice weapons, and even sporting events have been used to simulate combat.  The goal has always been to teach while preventing death or serious injury, and in the realm of hand to hand combat the Redman suit plays a pivotal role in training.  The problem: as accurate as the suit is for helping students learn hand to hand combat in close quarters it still isn’t reality.  The fact is in a real personal combat situation where you’re fighting for your life you can’t limit yourself on where you strike and how hard.

For those unfamiliar with the Redman suit you only have to do a quick Internet search or talk to someone who teaches self defense training to learn what they’re all about.  The suit is designed to protect those who wear it by surrounding them from head to toe in thick red foam, and the pads are secured with elastic straps.  With the protection the suit provides the wearer they can take repeated blows from a training partner.  This let’s someone get used to striking an attacker during training, so in the real world when things become hostile they will strike with full force.  Over time a student will develop their reflexes and will strike hard and hopefully first without thinking.

There is a downside to using the Redman suit in training is what it does to the training partner or instructor wearing the suit.  You’ll sweat profusely in the foam suit which will require more frequent breaks even when the temperature is normal.  When you wear the suit your mobility is greatly reduced, and don’t even think about running.  You can grapple in a suit, but once on the ground it won’t be easy to get back up again.  Also by wearing the suit some people get a false sense of security and think they can absorb a lot more damage than they can.  It is up to the training partner to react to blows and act accordingly otherwise they could just stand there taking hits that would drive back or injury most attackers.

Another important thing to remember is there is no absolutely safe way to practice self defense techniques.  In a real fight you will attack an opponent’s neck, joints, and other venerable areas are key target areas, and while the suit protects many areas it doesn’t protect them all.  While these attacks can be practiced full force they shouldn’t be practiced on a training partner, but rather a training dummy.  A Redman suit is a great training tool, but it isn’t the same as real combat where even the winner gets hurt.  Train hard, but know your gear’s limitations.

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