Who is Alan Bell?  
For many years now, the martial arts have been touted as a great forum for learning self defence – and while, in a few cases this may be true, generally it most definitely is not.



Most martial arts are dojo / classroom based, awash with rules and regulations. They invariably teach rehearsed moves and techniques which, if taken into a street fight scenario, just would not work. Techniques such as using your forearm to block a kick (for example, a Shito Ryu in Karate) or squeezing your attacker’s hand down against your head to release a hair pull (used in various martial arts including Tae Kwon Do) or how to get out of a bear hug.

Yes, they look great in a dojo where your attacker is conditioned to respond to your counter attack and they cannot deviate from their set moves for fear of breaching a rule or regulation but in reality you are likely to break your forearm if you try to block a full force kick and your attacker would not just grab your hair in a hair pull – he would grab your hair and drag you to the ground, leaving your hand squeeze ineffectual. And when is the last time you saw a bear hug used in a real-life street fight?

More likely, your attack from behind will be a strangle hold takedown or a strike to the back of the head – but a bear hug? Come on!!

 So why do so many martial arts teach ineffectual manoeuvres?

That is not to say that all martial arts are rubbish. They all have their place – in increasing speed, agility, strength, stamina and discipline. But whereas they may have been effective when first developed hundreds of years ago against invaders and ancient weapons, most have now become westernised, modernised, civilised and theatrical.

It is time to move into the 21st Century. Some martial arts are realising this and adapting, whereas others are stuck in traditionalism.

The new buzz word in teaching self defence is “street training” and it is this type of instruction that Alan Bell has been utilising for over a decade.

Alan has been teaching self defence since 1997 and takes his ‘streetwise’ training style from the training he received both in the military and in the bodyguard industry.

Alan began learning martial arts in 1979 when he first entered a Judo dojo. He then took up Karate before moving on to Kick Boxing, Ju-jitsu and Western Boxing. But it was during his military career that Alan learned the real meaning of self defence training. Alan spent 6 years with the Royal Military Police – originally with a Reserves unit before moving onto a Specialist unit and latterly the Special Air Service. Unfortunately, he was medically discharged after suffering a knee injury but he realised that there was an enormous gap between modern unarmed combat training using realistic scenarios and traditional martial arts.

After his military career, Alan moved in the world of Close Protection and became a bodyguard for business executives, celebrities and members of Royalty.

It was at this time that Alan became involved with ‘The National Federation for Personal Safety’, becoming an instructor and teaching with police officers in Scotland and with officers from the Metropolitan Police in London.


 As the new millennium evolved, Alan began to open his instruction up to the public instead of just police forces. He was also accepted by the ‘Self Defence Federation (UK)’, initially as an instructor, and latterly as both instructor and Regional Representative for the SDF (UK) in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

As with most modern self defence instructors, Alan is continually learning new systems and adapting his skills. He is currently studying new techniques from Defendo (a system used to teach Special Forces self defence during World War 2) and the Goshinkwai Combat System.

Alan’s reputation as an innovative, streetwise, self defence instructor has also grown and, as well as having taught individuals from many worldwide police and military units including Greek Special Forces, US Special Forces, German Special Forces and British Royal Protection Squads, he regularly instructs members of the public including doormen and martial artists and he teaches schools and businesses alongside officers from Scotland’s Northern Constabulary and Strathclyde Police.

Alan has also written articles for an array of magazines, newspapers and newsletters on a variety of self defence topics including Personal Safety for Women, Street Self Defence, Evasive & Defensive Driving Techniques, Personal Safety for Students, Self Defence during Pregnancy, Attack Proof your Children and Personal Safety in the Workplace (for your staff).

His Anti-Carjack training courses have also featured on radio shows such as BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio One as well as television programmes such as STV’s ’Scotland Today’ and ITV’s ‘Tonight with Sir Trevor MacDonald’.

Alan also manages to find time in his busy work schedule to fulfil his duties as Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Training) - however his main priority is the teaching of ‘real-life’ self defence to members of the public.
 
How is this different?    
So, how is Alan Bell’s Security And Safety training different from most traditional martial arts? Well, it is entirely based on real-life scenarios. Real-life attackers use fists, kicks, knees, head butts and weapons including broken bottles, baseball bats and knives.

Attackers in Security And Safety classes will not say when or what part of the body they will attack and will invariably be shouting abuse and acting in a threatening manner. Sometimes a defender can talk them down and de-escalate the situation – sometimes they can’t.

This, combined with instruction on the ‘Use of Reasonable Force’ and the ‘Law regarding Self Defence’ as well as the ramifications of using force in a self defence situation, forms the basis of Security And Safety self defence training.
Compared with traditional martial arts training – they really are poles apart.

Only a few months ago, Alan was instructing a female who attained a black belt in Karate.

So why was she taking part in a Security And Safety self defence class? ……….. She had been raped a couple of months before attending after being attacked from behind by a lone assailant.

This young lady could not understand how she, a black belt, could have been raped. She was confident that this was something that simply could not ever happen to her – but it did.

So make sure that when you are training, that you are training for today’s world. ‘Train hard, fight easy’ is a creed used in the military.

Never has it been so true as in today’s Britain, where our streets are, on the odd occasion, quite literally, a battle ground.
Security And Safety also employs other male and female instructors to teach personal security and safety. All are fully qualified, with years of experience in conflict & aggression management, self defence techniques and security skills. Most have experience in the military or police force.

All instructors are friendly and approachable with a good sense of humour which helps ease tension in what can sometimes be a difficult subject.

 
The Training The Candidates  
The key to your personal security and safety is Personal Awareness. Our training involves identifying body language to stop a confrontation escalating, effective voice control techniques and self defence. As already explained, we do not use martial arts moves in any of our training sessions as these moves only work well in a controlled environment, for instance a dojo, but do not work well in the street where an attacker does not abide by any pre-set rules.

We do however use simple techniques to teach course candidates the most effective way to defend themselves and break away from an attacker. These simple techniques can be adapted to any situation and, as they are so basic, candidates find them easy to remember.


 We teach self defence to small groups to maximise the effectiveness of the techniques. But we also teach individuals in private lessons and can conduct seminars in personal security and safety for large groups. Basically, we tailor each course to your specifications.

The candidates attending our courses come from all walks of life. You don't have to be super fit or a specific age to attend.

Our courses are designed for all - elderly to children, fit to overweight, strong to weak - it really does not matter. Personal security and safety is for everyone.
If you are a staff member and want to attend with other staff members - you can. We teach a wide range of staff from Police Officers to hospital staff, Council employees to volunteer groups. We even visit Universities and Schools to teach students (and sometimes the teachers as well).

In fact, our courses are for anyone who feels they may work in a dangerous environment or feels that they would benefit from knowing how to defend themselves.

But don't take our word for it - read some testimonials we have received or browse through our training courses and make up your own mind.
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