In early 2009, Paladin Press went to Kelly McCann’s Crucible facility, arguably the most highly respected security management company in the world. We filmed hours of footage of Kelly and the combat-hardened staff at the Crucible, and the result is Kelly McCann’s Crucible High-Risk Environment Training Series, a six-volume set of instructional videos designed to give you the real-world skills required to keep yourself alive under a variety of hazardous situations.
The material presented in these videos isn’t based on theory or what their respective authors think should work: these men have been there and done that, and their livelihood is based on their ability to perform in combat and teach others how to not only survive the same life-threatening circumstances, but prevail.
Kem-‘ba-tiv Knife shows Kelly McCann’s knife fighting system, giving you only the tools you need to defend yourself with an edged weapon. There is nothing extraneous here, no frills, no complicated angles. If you’re looking for knife fighting instruction that doesn’t require complicated Filipino flow drills to learn to get yourself out of a jam, this is the video for you.
Pocket Pistols, by the Crucible’s Director of Firearms Training Phil Motzer, teaches you the pros and cons of using small-frame handguns in combat. He focuses on general pocket pistol tactics rather than makes and models, and shows what the different calibers can do on flesh when placed properly. Many times, it’s not the size of the gun that will spell the difference between life and death in a gunfight, but how and where you place your rounds.
Combative Conditioning is taught by long-time Crucible employee John Garman, who shows you how to develop the kind of cold-shot power you need on the fly when you’re faced with the horrible reality of street violence. From calisthenics to weight training to plyometrics and beyond, if you want to fight like the men at the Crucible, you have to work out like them, too.
Mission-Essential Off-Road Driving, presented by former Marines Ty Washington and Chad Morman, shows you how to get yourself and your vehicle from Point A to Point B no matter what the terrain. From outfitting your vehicle to navigating hills, ditches, and pits, if you’re behind the wheel in a high-risk environment, you need to know what they’re teaching.
Exploding Handgun Myths is Phil Motzer’s second video with Paladin, and in it he blows away the common handgun myths about stance, grip, multiple shots, trigger control, and the rest of the BS that keeps high-end firearms training schools in business, but has little to do with how you and your body will truly react under the physiological effects of imminent danger. If you want to know how to shoot for real, when your life is on the line, this video is a must-see.
Ground Kem-‘ba-tivz is the final video in the series. Taught by Kelly McCann, it presents instruction in real-world solutions to common MMA set-ups. You don’t have to learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in order to defeat a seasoned grappler on the street: McCann teaches you how to fight by your rules, not his. If you liked the material in his Jim Grover’s Combatives, you love this video: it goes far beyond what he showed there while keeping the same functional, simple, and brutal core of what Combatives is all about.
These clips represent a small sample of what the Crucible High-Risk Environment Training Series has to offer. Paladin has been an industry leader in video instruction for years, and we continue to raise the bar in production value and content. Want to learn from the best? You can find it at Paladin Press.
And while the Crucible High-Risk Environment Training Series is limited to these six volumes, it doesn’t mean we don’t have other videos planned with Kelly McCann and the staff at the Crucible. Check back often to learn more about what we have in store.