Geoff (Tank)Todd, the Todd Group Current Master-Chief was originally trained by the late Harry Baldock, a World War II New Zealand Military Army Unarmed Combat and Military Self-Defence chief instructor who learned his skills from British WWI military unarmed combat instructors. Harry instructed in New Zealand from 1927 until his retirement in 1982 when he turned the facility and all the intellectual property over to Geoff Todd. Geoff Todd travelled to New York on Harry Baldock’s advice to train under Charles Nelson, a veteran of the Guadalcanal campaign and a US Marine Corps WWII hand to hand combat instructor of over ten years. In Charles Nelson’s retirement from the Marine Corps he opened his School of Self Defense in New York City, specialising in self-defence based on his military hand-to-hand combat training. Charlie instructed civilians, police officers and serving and former military personnel. This was the first self-defense facility in the United States instructing military combative and military self-defense skills.
For over 15 years Geoff travelled internationally for extensive training in European Military close combat systems including the Applegate and the Nelson systems. Geoff was instructor certified by Charles Nelson and is one of only a select small group of life members.
During Charles Nelson’s time in the Marine Corps he was trained in the hand to hand combat and self-defense system of Pat O’Neill by a fellow USMC hand to hand combat instructor SGT Patrick Kelly, who served as an instructor with the Shanghai Municipal Police under Fairbairn. He also learnt of Fairbairn’s skills from SGT Kelly. Charlie was instructed by Col Biddle in the USMC in bayonet combat and knife and sword combat as well as hand to hand combat. Geoff gained from Charles Nelson 60 years of battle proven wisdom and skills that he’d been taught by some of the evolutionary pioneers and further developed and refined for the tough streets of New York.
Geoff was later trained by the legendary Colonel Rex Applegate of OSS (Office of Strategic Services) fame, the WW2 US trainers to spies and assassins. Colonel Rex Applegate combined with the forefathers of European military close combat William Fairbairn and his assistant Eric Sykes were responsible for a lot of allied forces armed and unarmed combat development during the Second World War. It was the greatest honour and privilege for Geoff to be trained and instructor qualified by the legendary Colonel Rex Applegate himself. Geoff received considerable specialist tactics and skills knowledge from Colonel Applegate including access to his restricted files before they were destroyed. Col Applegate welcomed him to his Oregon home, introduced him to his country club friends and invited Geoff to tradeshows as well as having him present and deliver his armed combat to a military special operations force.
Learning all he could of the Applegate system and that of the systems of the Fairbairn & Sykes from Col Applegate was very important to Geoff as he wanted to be trained by the best of the best in their systems and the systems of their instructors. Colonel Applegate was for over ten years until his death his greatest military special operations close combat mentor, adviser and source of information. To be certified as an instructor in the Kill or get Killed system of Colonel Applegate and to work with him up until his passing in 1998 was truly the greatest honour and learning experience anyone could ever hope to achieve from a leading Pioneer of European military close combat. Col Applegate said Geoff was not one of the ‘flowing robe brigade’ and that pleased him.
Col Applegate was a proponent of lethal European military close combat and not traditional fighting arts-based styles, like the title of his book reads Kill or Get Killed and this is what he was fully committed and dedicated to.
Some of the specialist practices not included in Col Applegate’s books were revealed to Geoff by Colonel Rex Applegate to ensure his work was protected and continued. Some such tactics and skills had been shrouded in secrecy, being restricted since the days of World War II.
Geoff wanted to be involved in every aspect of the close combat tradecraft including tactics and skills development and the design and invention of close combat training equipment and weapons.
Col Applegate assisted Geoff with his pursuit of knowledge and encouraged him to be involved with all aspects of the close combat trade-craft.
Always hungry for more knowledge Geoff has been trained and certified up to Master-Instructor rank by some of the modern-day military Master chiefs of close combat as well. These modern-day Master-Chief Instructors include the late Captain Ben Mängels, a former chief instructor to the South African military elite. Geoff was also Special Forces Combative Master-Instructor certified after being Instructor qualified by US Army Special Forces Master chief instructor SMG Lawrence Jordan, now retired.
From research, connections and training with exponents trained by New Zealand’s former elite forces close combat Chief instructor, the late Shocker Shaw who was trained by British Unarmed Combat expert Brigadier Mad Mike Calvert, Geoff has preserved a valuable part of New Zealand’s close combat history. After over 40 years of training, instructing, testing and qualifying combined with total dedication to research and development Mr Geoff Todd is the only living individual to be collectively trained by Colonel Rex Applegate, Charles Nelson and Harry Baldock.
Combined with his training and qualifications from the modern-day military close combat experts Mängels and Jordan as well as his association with the leading international instructors of the International Close Combat Instructors Association, Geoff Todd has a pedigree and lineage in military close combat and military self- defence of no other instructor. From military unarmed combat and military self-defence exponent and instructor training under the late SMG Harry Baldock through to hand-to-hand combat and specialist self-defence training under the late Platoon SGT Charles Nelson and special operations armed and unarmed combat under Colonel Rex Applegate to passing his Special Forces Combative instructor qualification course and achieving Master-Instructor rank, Geoff Todd has moved up through the ranks and has been trained and qualified by some of the world’s best, past and present.
He was and is the only civilian to be accepted for the military combative testing and achieving of the rank and status in European military elite close combat that he has achieved.
He has military Master-Instructor certification from the militaries of three allied countries.
The Todd System of Close Combat is a combination of the best of the best, past and present and includes over 40 years and over 100,000 hours of his full-time commitment to the military trade-crafts of military armed and unarmed combat and military self-defence. He is the care-taker of the doctrine and training and management packages as well as being responsible for developing tactics and skills that are based on the most current battle proven means of threat neutralisation. He considers the Military CQB/CQC/MSD tradecrafts to be a military science not an exact science but an over kill means of deliberate threat neutralisation and objective achievement. The Todd system includes all the required specialist skills sets for military close combat objective achievement roles and duties. The specialist skills training packages are made up of primary current and proven best means of threat neutralisation.
The Todd systems worth has been proven operationally including in urban actions on and battle field actions on. The Todd systems are known for their best of battle proven over kill means and methods of threat neutralisation. They consider their military combative roles as the ‘bullets, blades and boots brigade’.
The Todd System have been and continues to be instructed to military elite forces to this day. Following in the direction of his former instructor’s Geoff Todd realises his responsibility to the service personnel he trains and takes this responsibility most seriously. He works for the love of his trade-craft and has a second to none commitment to that trade and the people he trains. A heavy weight rests upon his shoulders when you consider those that he trains life or death may well depend upon his commitment to excellence. He considers himself a caretaker of the close combat doctrine at this point in time and is fully committed to the continued research development and improvement of his close combat system to keep it current. His duty is not only to ensure the best in tactics and skills but also to ensure the continuation of the close combat practices and teachings at the highest level. He has selected trained tested and qualified a small select team of fellow CQC/MSD lifers to ensure the tradecraft is future proofed and his work is continued at the highest level into the future.
There is nothing Geoff considers more deadly, close or terminal than battlefield military CQC/MSD and his motivation and commitment is to the preservation, advancement and continuation of excellence in the field of true military close combat.