Instructor of The Month / Dec. 04

Phil Tobey - Minnesota Bulletman

Since I began training in the Martial Arts, I have always felt uncomfortable about self-defense. I loved sparring, but when it came to learning the traditional self-defense moves, I simply shut down. The studio that I trained at had variables that numbered into the hundreds for every imaginable hold you could think of. Of course we practiced on each other in a friendly environment.

When I opened my studio, I taught some of them with a verbal disclaimer. I knew that on the street they probably would not work unless they were practiced thousands of times. I was attending the NAPMA convention and attended the Krav Maga, CDT, and RMCAT clinics. The first two again were too complicated for the average person or martial artist to master.

Then I watched the RMCAT demo and felt the heart rate go up, hand slightly shake and realized I was adrenalized just watching it. It was simple, used verbal skills and a few basic but effective techniques. I had finally found what was lacking in most studios. Our studio was one of the first certified in FAST DEFENSE. It has become a big part of our studio and our lives We do classes with a passion that we feel can only be accomplished with this type of training. The feedback we receive at the end of classes and our observations of how the student is transformed from the beginning to the end keeps us going.

We feel FAST Defense will be the leader in the self defense arena and will continue to grow in popularity. We have benefited from the organization and appreciate the assistance that is always available to us. My group has become close and we relate and work well together. We all feel positive about what we do and agree that of all the related areas we teach, this is what we love to do the most.

Phil Tobey - Owner Northwest Martial Arts, Rosemount, MN