FEATURED AUTHOR
RICK HERNANDEZ

Prof. Rick Hernandez began his martial arts training as a young boy in a very bad area of New York City's South Bronx, where he was introduced to the legendary Prof. Florendo Visitacion. "Professor Vee" immediately took a liking to young Rick and began training him privately. This training would continue until Visitacion's death in 1999.

"Growing up in the Bronx really exposed me to the harsh realities of street fighting," says Professor Hernandez. "You literally had to fight for your life on a daily basis. Even as a child, I experienced extreme violence and abuse. That kind of environment teaches you quickly to utilize only the things that work." And that, he says, is where his classical martial arts training came into play. "Professor Vee was able to balance the practical and classical aspects of my training. It gave me a way to systematically train in the things that were useful as well as exposing me to the more intricate things that really give you the upper hand in combat," he says.

At age 17, Hernandez went into the U.S. Army and later became an Army Ranger, instructing his recon unit in hand-to-hand combat, knife fighting, and firearms. Today, his time is equally divided between teaching and training in the martial arts of bagua, Filipino kuntao, Visitacion arnis, and jujitsu, and modernizing techniques and strategies for law enforcement training through his critically acclaimed company, T.A.C.S.A.F.E. International (Tactical Awareness and Control Strategies Against Firearms and Edged Weapons).

Developed by Rick and longtime friend and fellow martial artist Pete Pukish over the course of many years, T.A.C.S.A.F.E.'s emphasis is on providing the law enforcement community and large corporations that have security and protection concerns with a more realistic approach to hand-to-hand combat training.

In traveling around the country and providing training to martial artists, law enforcement, and corporate groups, Hernandez says he and Pukish became "very disenchanted with what were being offered and passed off as effective programs designed to teach hand-to-hand combat, edged weapons, and firearms skills." For years the two researched what was being taught, how the material was being presented, and how these groups were actually benefiting from the courses and programs offered. "As we filled in all of the necessary information, we put together our years of combined experience and teaching into what would become a program above and beyond anything out there on the market today," Hernandez says.

"All of the techniques taught in the T.A.C.S.A.F.E. system are approached with all tactical, medical, and legal implications in mind," notes Hernandez. He believes it is this pairing of a straightforward, no-nonsense curriculum with an emphasis on the medical and legal ramifications of combat--backed by his personal experience with military service and street survival--that has brought worldwide recognition to the new company in its first few years.

Recently, Professor Hernandez relocated to Atlanta to team up with Pukish in a single location. His move to the 3,000-square-foot Satori Martial Arts and Healing Center has enabled the longtime partners to centralize their operations and provided Hernandez with the perfect forum for educating people on all aspects of training through a variety of curriculums taught on a regular basis. "For years I was based out of the Miami area," explains Hernandez. "I was never interested in running a so-called commercial martial arts school and have always hand-picked my students. Pete and I were working over the phone, and trying to coordinate our efforts long distance was not allowing us to keep up with the demands of our schedule. I was always very impressed with the way Pete was able to run an extremely successful school, teaching both combative and healing arts, so we began looking into ways to centralize our operations. Now that we are together on a daily basis, we have combined many of our programs to create things like 'FIGHT BACK,' a women's self-defense course that we have offered to companies and private organizations throughout the entire country. The course is a combined effort, stemming from the original program I taught at Nova University in Ft. Lauderdale back in 1993. Once again, our no-nonsense approach based on practical, street-proven techniques, backed by our many years of combined experience, is proving to be a winning formula."

Because there are many different levels of understanding in martial arts, Hernandez strives to structure his teaching curriculum around meeting the personal needs of each student. "The needs of a first-time bagua student training to further his or her martial arts experience certainly differ from those of a group of SWAT team members with which I have only 20 hours to work," he explains. To accommodate such diverse needs and appeal to all levels of martial arts enthusiasts, he offers an extremely wide range of classes. "It's interesting," Professor Hernandez says, "in one week I may go from teaching three morning chi kung classes in Atlanta to teaching a hsing-i seminar in another state to a group of traditional Japanese martial artists wishing to learn more about the origination of their art to teaching a hostage rescue team in another part of the country over the weekend."

In addition to offering a broad-based curriculum with wide-ranging appeal, Hernandez has the unique ability to accentuate both the internal and external aspects of martial arts training in his teaching. "Professor Vee and some of my other teachers emphasized the internal arts, such as Taoist yoga and chi kung," Hernandez says. "Little did I know as a kid how important these arts would become later in life. If practiced correctly, these arts not only offer the benefits of increased health and vitality, they have unlimited benefits in the combative aspects of training as well."

Q & A

Paladin: How did you meet Professor Vee?
Hernandez: I met a student of one of Professor Vee's senior students. After some time I was able to get a formal introduction to Professor Vee. I had a private meeting with him in his house, and we started to chat. He asked me if I had any martial art experience, and I said yes. He asked me to perform some movements, and I did. I performed the circle walk from bagua and some hand movements. His eyed widened, and he got excited. He got up and started teaching me a knife fighting set, and the rest is history.

Paladin: You mention having had to fight to survive as a child. At what age is a child mature enough to learn the martial arts skills taught in T.A.C.S.A.F.E.?
Hernandez: This is difficult because, first off, a child must be guided by a responsible adult who will have to intensely monitor and evaluate each step of this process. This is different than a child taking a martial art for sport or social interaction. I don't teach children any element of T.A.C.S.A.F.E. because this is a tremendous responsibility not suited for a child. In my circumstance, I was being groomed to be a criminal by the adults around me.

Paladin: Instead, you chose to become a professor. Are you a college instructor? If not, how did you earn this title?
Hernandez: After several years of private study with Professor Vee, I had to demonstrate an ability to teach not only the academic elements of the arts but also go beyond. I had to write a thesis demonstrating my understanding of the principles taught to me. This included designing my own curriculum and teaching it back to Professor Vee, who then went over the material methodically with me and helped me to refine it. After I completed this, Professor Vee awarded me the title of professor.

Paladin: For those unfamiliar with Professor Visitacion, could you tell us about him? What was it like to train with him? What made him a legend in the Filipino martial arts community?
Hernandez: Prof. Florendo Visitacion was a legend in the martial arts because, despite his many years of training in various arts, he never stopped learning. Even as a senior citizen with decades of martial arts training, he sought out training from teachers from all over the world. He learned Japanese jujitsu, judo, karate, Filipino arnis, escrima, Hindu varmany, WWII combatives, Spanish fencing, Chinese internal arts . . . and many more. He was a genius because he took from these arts and ultimately designed his composition and made a fluid, beautiful, yet effective expression of the arts. He gave me the greatest gift of allowing and encouraging me to express and compose my own expressive rendition of what is ultimately our own ART!

Paladin: How is Filipino kuntao different from the original Chinese art?
Hernandez: Although kuntao is Chinese in origin, many Chinese immigrated to the Philippines, Indonesia, and other Southeast Asian countries and shared their art with selected individuals. What truly makes the difference is the culture of the particular country. In the Philippines there was a heavy emphasis on blades; this meant that the techniques of kuntao had to be adapted to the threat. Because of this threat, the movements had to be condensed, and fight often meant death.

Paladin: What are the movements and techniques that define Filipino kuntao--i.e., that set it apart from other martial arts?
Hernandez: I would say that what defines and sets the art apart is the way that principles are put together. For example, let's take an element such as locking the joints or striking the body. These are often taught as separate elements. Filipino kuntao teaches that these flow seamlessly together. This adds another dimension of sensitivity and ability to transition or change in motion.

Paladin: What makes the art particularly well suited to street self-defense?
Hernandez: The art is taught from the perspective of body state and intent. This means that from the beginning, the student learns a progression of the intent he or she will encounter when faced with a predator. There is an understanding that the predator is there to, at minimal, harm you, and his goal is to kill you. Students are carefully progressed through different levels of intent and are taught the various elements, such as their own body state and intent, to counter or survive violent situations.

Paladin: What would you say are the three most important principles to keep in mind to avoid getting cut in a knife fight?
Hernandez: 1) Get small, contract, and protect vital targets. 2) Use footwork to create timing and distance, use body state and develop the tools, and attack with everything in your arsenal. 3) Take the time NOW to train realistically and develop the proper intent--otherwise, either develop the ability to read everyone you encounter and alter their behavior by paranormal means . . . or just stay home!

Paladin: Is it reasonable to believe that you can use martial arts effectively to avoid being shot when threatened with a gun? Why?
Hernandez: Let's concede that if a person wants to shoot you from a distance, you are done--perhaps with a moment or two for prayer. But if an individual is in close proximity, this means that there is room for some sort of negotiation. Perhaps this negotioation just means giving up the money, but this is much more reasonable when you are trained and are physically and psychologically ready to make it reasonable. To me, a martial art includes the training and use of firearms. That considered, any one who has a complete understanding of what martial arts is, providing the circumstances fit, can avoid being shot.

Paladin: Could you explain how one would train for this based on the T.A.C.S.A.F.E. program?
Hernandez: First off, it's vital (if the individual is a civilian) to learn how firearms work and get basic instruction on the various types and their use. That said, when physically dealing with an armed attacker, the individual should not try to grab the weapon in an attempt to disarm or take the weapon away. This is the method taught by many, but there is too much room for error! The armed individual will resist, there will be a struggle, and the person defending against the attack (as well as any others in the line of fire) could end up getting shot. The T.A.C.S.A.F.E. program offers an order of operations that is simple to follow: 1. Get off the line. 2. Penetrate and shock. 3. Attack the individual's limb in a way that controls the whole frame of the body rather than trying to grab the weapon. (The firearm should be moving in a vertical manner rather than side to side to ensure that no innocent bystanders in the field of fire are shot.) The attacker must be shocked instantly to ensure that you are in control. 4. Once the firearm has been released, impact the attacker immediately to create distance between him and the firearm. At this point, depending on the situation, you can control the weapon or quickly access your own. This, of course, depends in part on whether you are a civilian, security, or law enforcement person. These steps must be trained over and over to ensure that the whole process is performed in a fluid manner.

Paladin: Have you ever been attacked with a knife or threatened with a gun? If so, what happened?
Hernandez: As a child, I was a witness to horrific acts of violence at home and out in the street. I have seen people get beaten, stabbed, shot, burned alive, hacked up, and more. I have been stabbed at several times and, fortunately, only got punctured in my inner arm. I have been hit with a firearm on my left eyebrow and have been shot at several times but, thank God, never hit. As a child, I suffered brutal beatings, but I feel very fortunate because there are many others who have suffered much, much more than I have.

Paladin: What do you mean by the reference to "free spirit" fighting in the title of your first video set with Paladin?
Hernandez: The reference "free spirit" comes from the idea that no one or nothing can ever control or limit your Spirit. This comes from The Chinese Boxer Rebellion. Although you may be imprisoned physically, the spirit can never be bound by any other but self.

Paladin: How important is mind-set when faced with an armed attacker?
Hernandez: Mind-set is what drives everything! It is said that whatever you believe at the moment of crisis is what you put all your effort into. Mind-set is something that you must train constantly! It's very important to understand that an armed attacker has already committed to harming you. Mind-set is the prescription for the disease called denial!

T.A.C.S.A.F.E.
Practical Filipino Kuntao Defenses Against Firearms and Edged Weapons
FILIPINO KUNTAO
The Art of Jing Shen Jie Fang Free Spirit Fighting