Home ABOUT CST & TACFIT MEDIA VIDEOSTop of FormBottom of
FormMy Interview by TACTICAL MagazineFebruary 22, 2011 2:06
pmTACTICAL MAGAZINE: How was your interest for tactical training
born?Scott Sonnon:My father was in the US ARMY, and served in the
Korean War. When he returned, our family disintegrated. He wasnt
given the tools to transition from combative stress / chronic
hypervigilance, back into normal, civilian life. I did not
understand as a child why he was so angry, violent and unhappy; nor
did I understand why it eventually killed him with heart-disease.
This early childhood life steered me to study stress physiology,
psychophysiology, endocrinology and how it impacts combat
biomechanics.Normal, dojo martial art didnt impress me. I sought
out the early MMA styles, and found SAMBO. Because SAMBO was born
from the military and law enforcement, rather than from just sport
alone, it seemed the best study for me. There were few teachers in
USA, but I found the best: the US National Team Coach. After
becoming international champion, US Coach and President of the US
governing body for SAMBO, I petitioned to train in Russia as the
first foreigner to study combat science in the x-USSR.I became the
coach of the 1st US Police Sambo Team to compete at World Police
Sambo Championships held in 1999 in Kaunas, Lithuania; part of the
World Police and Firefighter Olympic Games. Because our athletes
were all across our big country, I had to develop standards of
training that all could perform, with minimal equipment.This data
provided the discovery I had been searching. As the US Sambo Team
Coach (amateur athletes) and the US Police Sambo Team Coach
(tactical athletes), there was one distinct difference: tactical
athletes could train with lower heart rate at higher intensity than
amateur athletes, BUT tactical athletes needed much more recovery
time than amateur athletes to prevent illness and injury. This
discovery formed the basis of all of my research for the next
decade.In military and law enforcement, we have effective methods
for acclimating soldiers and police to stress, but its literally
killing them. The average life expectancy of law enforcement
personnel is 54, and the greatest killer is stress-related heart
disease.What we need is not merely the ability to perform under
high stress, but much more importantly, the ability to recover the
fastest from high intensity effort. It is this maxim that has
created all of my programs: bigger, stronger, faster means nothing
unless you recover faster than your opponent; and without
fast-recovery, being bigger, faster, stronger, will only lead
quickly to the hospital, and then to the grave.TACTICAL
MAGAZINE:Thanks to Hollywood action movies our image about US
soldier is like Rambo or G.I. Jane or Full Metal Jacket. whats the
real conditioning training and the real fitness shape of the US
soldiers?Scott Sonnon:For the general military and state and local
law enforcement, the fitness level of most is unacceptable.
Super-sized, over-fat, and overwhelmed. They are given no
additional training support outside of bootcamp and the academy.For
special operations personnel and for federal law enforcement
agencies, the standards are higher, but most perform their duties
in spite of their fitness levels rather than because of them. They
do well and survive because they had the right spirit, not the
right training.But again even with effective preparation to perform
at high intensity, does not give soldiers and police the ability to
recover fast from high stress. Whoever recovers fastest wins. This
is my motto that I give the special units and agencies that I
train.TACTICAL MAGAZINE:What does TACFIT offer to military tactical
conditioning?Scott Sonnon:Combative encounters are unique in that
they require fine and complex motor skills performed at high
intensity.You lose untrained, fine motor skills at approximately
65% heart rate maximum. (Heart rate maximum is 220-age). You lose
untrained, complex motor skills at approximately 85% heart rate
maximum.Yes, you can increase how long you keep the skills, but
with each new situation, a new stressor. You can only adapt to
specific threats. So, you may be able to remain calm during
simulation drills but running up stairs, in the dark, carrying
40kgs of equipment, to an unknown threat, and you will be
surprised, you will make mistakes and you will feel overwhelmed.
The conclusion here is this: whoever can recover fastest from
surprise, mistakes and overwhelming odds wins.Some professionals
focus on how to minimize the reflexes to high, sudden stress. I
focus on training my units how to recover from WHEN they will make
mistakes, be surprised and experience overwhelming events.TACTICAL
MAGAZINE: Do you know if its possible to train also the mental, the
psychological resistance to stress for military, police,
firefighters, martial artists?Scott Sonnon:Your nervous system
cannot tell the difference between the physical threat and a mental
or emotional threat.Unfortunately, many professionals do not take
advantage of this, and instead, they merely abuse their units.
Whoever endures, stays. But that is not TRAINING. That is merely
WEEDING out those who are not yet trained for combative stress.To
TRAIN someone for stress, it must be woven into the conditioning.
This isnt a sink or swim approach. The focus of the training must
be upon how fast you can recover from a high intensity output. So,
there are multiple levels of a skill challenge, which allows the
recruit and the fire-eaters to train together and get 100% of the
benefits, without illness and injury.For instance, one fire
department reported that last year they saved in only one year
$110,000 in injuries and time off work, from switching exclusively
to my tactical fitness approach called TACFIT. The only change they
made was switching to TACFIT, and their firefighters state it wasnt
merely their fitness level, but rather that they were able to
access their skills under high stress which prevented them from
injury, illness and worseTACTICAL MAGAZINE:Many professionals talk
about functional training. Is TACFIT a functional conditioning
system?Scott Sonnon:All tactical fitness must be functional, but
not all functional fitness is tactical. The focus of functional
fitness is to balance the physiological form: muscular symmetry
without compensations or imbalanced musculature. Tactical fitness
must be balanced, but the focus is also on preparing high stress
through tactically specific movements.For example, a strict pullup
is useful for functional fitness, since the body needs and was
designed for overhead pulling (without which the body becomes
imbalanced.) So, this would be the basic level of TACFIT.However,
the skill must progress to more tactically-specific movements. So,
the next level would be a kipping pullup, to use full bodily power
output. Then, the keeping one-handed extension pullup to simulate
the need for climbing (climbing is a one-armed event, not two).
Then, the clapping kipping pullup to simulate the explosive power
to jump to the next ledge, fence or wall.Tactical is functional,
but functional does not mean tactical; just like soccer training
SHOULD be functional, but not all functional training is
soccer-specific.TACTICAL MAGAZINE:Tell us about the TACFIT method
and the difference between it and Tactical Gymnastic.Scott Sonnon:
TACFIT is a short-duration, high-intensity, fast-recovery workout.
The goal is to prepare the ability to work under high stress with
fast-recovery.Tactical Gymnastics is a low to moderate intensity
exercise program to increase efficiency of movement under stress.
TACGYM improves shooting platforms for firearms, as well as knife,
strike, kick, takedown and groundfighting structure.How well you
can transition from one position to the next often determines who
is standing, and who is dead; who is safe and who is hurt. Bigger
isnt better. Stronger isnt better. Faster isnt even better. Only
better is better. The goal is to move better. Size, strength and
speed are only valuable IF they supplement movement
efficiency.TACTICAL MAGAZINE:What are the difficulties which you
face when you for the first time a special ops team?Scott
Sonnon:The greatest difficulty with training special operations is
also their greatest virtue: theyre willing to go further, farther,
first. They are willing to sacrifice their body for the innocent,
for their brothers. They will do so without thought, and without
hesitation.Unfortunately, this is also how they approach their
training preparation. They will push themselves beyond safety into
over-training injuries and illness, and still keep going more with
injury and while ill.They have been told, and they believe, that if
they dont train beyond illness and injury, then they wont be able
to perform in combat beyond illness and injury.However, all
research and tests in the past 30 years has shown that with
intelligent training progression, training beyond illness and
injury DOES NOT guarantee the ability to perform beyond illness and
injury in combat. And furthermore, you can train without illness
and injury to insure that you can perform beyond illness and injury
in combat engagements.Why? How? Because the nervous system does not
know type of resistance, it only knows intensity. It only knows how
much stress. It cannot tell that the stress is from injury. It
cannot say a broken shoulder is a different pain, than the pain of
high intensity exercise like clapping pullups. It only knows the
degree of stress.The body cannot tell the difference between heart
rate maximum from exercise, and heart rate maximum from being shot
at. It only knows heart rate maximum. Therefore, whoever recovers
fastest from high stress in training without injury and illness,
will be more operationally prepared to perform in high stress with
injury and illness.Furthermore, training to injury and illness
means less operational readiness to deploy, means less
operationally effective in the field, and means greater mortality
of adding TRAINING-INDUCED injury and illness plus
OPERATIONAL-INDUCED injury and illness.The first goal of training
must be do no harm. This takes some mental paradigm shifting for
many hard-chargers. I honor them for their willingness to sacrifice
themselves, but they must not do this in training, so that they are
able to be so honorable in combat.TACTICAL MAGAZINE:What
inspirations do you receive from the special units to continue to
evolve TACFIT and Tactical Gymnastics?Scott Sonnon:For me, I am
still honoring my fathers sacrifice in the Army. He did more than
sacrifice his life. He gave up his family. He did not choose to
sacrifice more than his body; he didnt choose to sacrifice his
ability to be in a family.By working with soldiers and police who
are actually willing to run toward danger so that innocents can
remain safe, I surround myself by the best parts of my father and
repay his sacrifice, by training to help these soldiers, cops and
firefighters so that they can go home safely and live happily,
easily, with their families.Training with these warriors brings out
the best in myself. Who could not become a better person when
surrounded by the worlds best warriors? For me, it is a life quest,
a dream, and the biggest honor to stand with them.Tell us about one
of the most inspirational training experience youve had.Scott
Sonnon:There are too many. Please let me share the most recent
instead. Alberto Gallazzi of secutorcombat.com, and I were invited
to teach the Israeli Defense Force at Mitkan Adam military base in
Israel. This was one of the highest honors to even be invited to
visit, but we were invited to teach at the secret LOTAR
Counter-Terrorism School at Adam base.After running several of
their units, their training staff, and visiting trainers from other
units, through TACFIT and TACGYM, we were driving off-base, and our
convoy stopped at the firing ranges. Giving us a try on their new
rifle, the TAVOR TAR 21 from IMI. Great weapon.As we were leaving,
I remarked to the head instructor that Id love to get one of their
shirts at their PX shop. For Americans, we have to purchase our own
gear ourselves at the store on base. But for the Israelis, you
cannot buy the unit shirt. You can only earn it. I didnt know this,
because as an American, Im used to thinking I can just buy what I
want (it seems arrogant, I know, forgive me my culture.)The head
instructor takes off his tshirt and hands it to me. Literally gave
me the shirt off his own back. The honor wasnt lost on me. On
special occasions, I proudly wear the shirt to honor them for their
hospitality, their sweat and their sacrifices.Last month, I taught
at the NYPD Academy with Alberto. To understand what an honor this
is: the NYPD has 33,000 officers, the 1st largest police department
and the 6th largest standing tactical force in the world. The day
before, I was given a private tour of their secret training
facility called TAC-City - an artificial city built specifically to
train tactical units in urban warfare for police. While leaving,
one of the instructors shook my hand and said thank you. Thank you?
They gave me the private tour! He said, thank you for helping our
fellow officers go home at night, Coach. To be called Coach by
these warriors that is the greatest honor of my life.
1. 4 Responses to My Interview by TACTICAL Magazine2. Great
interview Scott, Please tell us your hinting at next program!the
tacfit programmes have been amazing and i managed to get the body
flow dvd before it went into the vault. A mix of these 2 would be a
dream come true.Byadam stevensononFeb 22, 20113. Good stuff, Scott.
Cant wait to help you carry your vision forward as I meld it with
mine. Lots of overlap in our disparate visions.ByPaul PerezonFeb
23, 20114. Outstanding article! Thanks for it.robertByRobert WonFeb
24, 20115. Awesome article!ByDonaldonJan 9, 2012You must belogged
into post a comment.
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