We Should Have No Illusions on the Street

Most participants of the training were policemen, soldiers and counter-terrorist agents, but many Hungarian and international practitioners of martial arts and combat sports also attended the course, among them the representatives of the Israeli Krav Maga and the cruel Russian military martial art Systema, which is a novelty in Hungary.

This time too, Hochheim arrived in the Hungarian capital at the invitation of Si-Fu (Master) Zoltán Juhász, and the faces of the new arrivals in the training showed that last year’s seminar by the American instructor was an influential one.

“Last year we arranged with Hock about his visiting Hungary every year from 2012 on to share all his knowledge with the students – counter-knife, impact weapons, unarmed combatives as well as his tactical experiences. He has practical experience of a kind that the martial artists do not have, including 23 years of service with the police, several thousands of arrests, a number of knife and gun attacks, firefight, VIP protection and contact with the Special Forces units. He exactly knows the types of training you need to prepare yourself for fighting someone who wants to kill you", Si-Fu Juhász said.

And indeed, more and more knife-attack crimes make the news in Hungary too. Tibor Támcsu, the representative of Tactical Operational Combat  attended last year’s training as well, and has since expanded his repertoire with the Russian military martial art Systema. Tibor has been training the policemen at the Budapest Police Headquarters and the students of the Police College for several years.

„You can find a lot of parallels between the Systema and Hock’s system. This system is very clear and popular. I think all military systems have the same goal, which is to neutralize the enemy. With respect to the police measures, the goal is to be able to complete the action without injuries. You should have no illusions on the street", Tibor said.

One great advantage of the seminar was that this time again, Hock started the teaching from the basics. The students had to fight opponents equipped with impact weapons and knives, and finally they had unarmed enemies. At this training too, Hock went round to correct the mistakes. If more than one students had the same problem, he explained the technique again to the whole training audience. According to Kali instructor Péter Németh, the American instructor has put together the best techniques.

“The techniques you can acquire here teach you how to defeat your enemies who may attack you with knives and sticks in a hostile environment. Hock always brings up one very important thing: you must know who is doing what, where and why", he said.

Counter-knife combatives instructor Mátyás Tóbiás – who has already conducted training for many Special Forces and police units – felt it was necessary to participate in the course for all his considerable professional experience. “It is very important to listen to him talking about his experiences and introducing the techniques from different aspects. During these three days he has introduced us to some very good perspectives and tactical methods to be used, for instance in case of knife attacks. I think the number of crimes committed with knives has recently increased in Hungary. By using a knife, even an untrained person is able to cause serious or lethal injuries. Hock has told us a number of such stories at the seminar", Mátyás said.

This time too, Hock did not hesitate to share his experience, drawing attention to a lot of things that a policeman or a soldier performing military police duties may take good advantage of. These include, for example searching the opponent for hidden weapons once he is taken to the ground. This is important because one has often to anticipate the enemy’s use of secondary weapons against the policemen or soldier carrying out the action. “Based on my personal experience, I can say I have already used these techniques. In the last six months I got involved in three street-fights willy-nilly, where the brutal and effective military solutions I had learnt here proved to be very useful. We live in a world where all kinds of men walk on the streets, equipped with all kinds of weapons. Many react to this by burying their heads in the sand, but this is a real thing nevertheless", instructor Richárd Darabos told us.

Walter Hock Hochheim is expected to visit Hungary again next year.

Photo: Judith Füzes