MBC | Courses

MBC Course Descriptions

MBC – An Easily Learned “All-Purpose” System

The goal of the MBC method is the development of “all-purpose” defensive skills. Rather than learning a large number of specific techniques to defend against specific attacks, MBC focuses on perfecting a few proven techniques and learning how to apply them to literally hundreds of different defensive situations. Through this easy-to-learn method, students develop defensive proficiency very quickly and have both the ability and the confidence to employ their skills after only a brief period of training.

Unlike traditional edged-weapon training, MBC is not about “knife fighting.” Instead, MBC’s basic physical goal is to “learn how to fight effectively with a knife” – applying the attributes of the knife to the broadest possible set of defensive circumstances. At a more advanced level, the physical skills of the MBC method are also designed to form the basis for unarmed defensive skills – including unarmed defenses against knives – and the use of improvised and other purpose-designed weapons for personal defense.

Consistent with the professional commitment of both Masters of Defense and BlackHawk Products Group, MBC provides a responsible, ethical self-defense solution that emphasizes the concepts of tactical awareness, avoidance, and de-escalation. When these concepts are combined with the broad range of physical skills presented in the curriculum, MBC becomes a truly comprehensive, all-purpose self-protection system.

The MBC Curriculum

The MBC training program consists of four levels of instruction. Based on years of teaching experience involving hundreds of students of all skill levels, Michael Janich has refined the content and focus of these levels to provide a comprehensive, easily learned, progressive system of instruction.

The MBC Level 1 Course introduces the student to the fundamental skills and concepts of defensive knife use. It includes detailed, hands-on instruction in the following areas:

Martial knife grips
Angles of attack
Ballistic cutting and thrusting tactics
The use of natural body weapons in conjunction with the knife
The proven “Zone Defense” system that enables a practitioner to effectively defend himself against hundreds of different attacks by mastering a few basic defensive movements.
Reflex training drills that quickly develop spontaneous defensive reactions
Critical defensive applications
Inside tips on defensive knife selection and evaluation
Secrets of tactical folding knife carry and deployment
High-speed one-handed opening techniques

The MBC Level 2 Course

Builds upon the foundation of knowledge and skills established in Level 1. It introduces the student to advanced standard-grip training methods and reveals the tactical and physiological secrets of quickly disabling an armed attacker with a knife. This course includes targeted instruction in the following topics:

Advanced training drills to develop conditioned defensive reflexes to virtually any type of attack
Advanced combative applications
Coordinating empty-hand striking and “live hand” checking with the defensive use of the knife
“Speed Stops” – high-speed, fight-stopping tactics that will enable you to quickly, humanely and legally end a fight with an edged weapon
Combination cutting and the concept of cutting on retraction
“Speed strips” and spontaneous weapon disarming

MBC Level 3 Course

The focus of this course is high-speed, close-quarters knife tactics and the use of the reverse grip. These advanced techniques and reflex training drills develop the ability to defend yourself effectively at extremely close ranges and in confined spaces. They also introduce a different set of body mechanics and help expand the student’s knowledge and application of their standard-grip knife skills. The topics covered in the Level 3 course include:

Advanced live-hand checking skills and fundamental unarmed threat-management techniques
Advantages and disadvantages of the reverse grip
The tactics, leverage, and timing of extreme close-quarters knife use
Reverse-Grip partner training drills to develop conditioned defensive reflexes
Hooking, redirecting and trapping with the reverse-grip
Applied defensive tactics with the reverse-grip
Reverse-grip defenses from disadvantaged positions
Applying reverse-grip tactics to standard-grip defensive techniques

MBC Level 4 Course

This course puts it all together, combining the lessons of levels 1-3 with advanced instruction in knife deployment and unarmed threat-management techniques to create a complete defensive system. This course first teaches the student how to use the reflexive skills developed in levels 1-3 as a basis for effective unarmed defenses against all types of weapon attacks. These immediate responses are then integrated with high-speed knife deployment techniques to provide an immediate escalation from empty-hand tactics, to the use of the knife as an impact weapon, and finally to the use of the knife’s blade. Finally, this course presents rarely seen instruction in defensive knife tactics from disadvantaged positions, including the use of the knife in grappling situations. The topics covered in this course include:

Integration of MBC Level 1-3 skills into a comprehensive training methodology and complete fighting system
High-speed knife deployment tactics
Bridging from unarmed tactics to the deployment and use of the knife
Knife defenses from disadvantaged positions (mugging, grappling, carjacking)
Adapting MBC skills to improvised weapons
Using MBC skills as a basis for empty-hand tactics

Counter-Blade Craft (CBC)

CBC is an outgrowth of the MBC curriculum that presents instruction in practical, effective defenses against edged-weapon attacks. Based on the concept of "knowing your enemy," CBC uses the empty-hand aspects of MBC tactics as the basis for its technique. By drawing from the skills of the knife user, CBC becomes a powerful and extremely effective structure for the knife defender. Unlike Levels 1-4, CBC is a stand-alone course that requires no previous instruction in the MBC program. The topics covered in the CBC course include:

The anatomy of real knife attacks
Effective defensive actions against edged-weapon attacks
Natural body weapons and how to apply them
The three phases of CBC
Edged-weapon control tactics
Using an attacker's weapon against him
Knife disarming tactics
Use of improvised weapons to defend against edged-weapon attacks

Martial Stick Craft (MSC)

MSC applies the same principles and body mechanics used in MBC to the attributes of impact weapons like sticks, canes, and telescoping batons. Like MBC, it focuses on tactics and targeting designed to stop an attacker by destroying his ability to wield a weapon effectively and/or destroying his mobility. MSC courses can be tailored to meet the specific needs and interests of a student group and can range from traditional Filipino-style stick training (focusing on single and double-stick elements of Serrada Eskrima, Arnis de Mano, and Corto Cadena Eskrima) to law enforcement and security-oriented impact-weapon tactics. The key instructional elements of the MSC curriculum include:

Striking techniques and angles of attack
Single and double-stick training methods
Defensive responses with impact weapons
Locks and disarms with the stick
Accelerated striking methods
Reflex training drills
Weapon-specific tactics for use of the telescoping baton and cane

An Edged-Weapon Self-Defense System Developed by Michael D. Janich

Taught Exclusively Under the Sponsorship of Masters of Defense and BlackHawk Products Group

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