This is the information page, containing the background, purpose, past and future events of the "Hardened Target" Personal Protection Systems, "Tom Sipin's Training Solutions" and Four Winds Martial Arts After earning his Black Belt in Traditional Taekwondo he started managing several schools in 1972. He left those schools in the mid 1970's, starting Four Winds Martial Arts with the idea of combin
ing the Filipino weapons with TKD. Gathering several other Instructors that had been managing or teaching in other schools and systems- including Black Belts in Judo, Kung Fu, Karate and students experienced in Collegiate Wrestling and Boxing, they started cross-training together, long before "mixed martial arts" was acceptable. Starting side-jobs in security and as a "bouncer", he learned that there was a big difference between success in the school and competition, and what worked against "non-compliant" and combatitive subjects. Several Police Officer students perked Mr. Sipin's interest in becoming a Police Officer. While in recruit school, he was "recruited" to become a Defensive Tactics Instructor, at a time when Policies, Procedures, Training and Legal Standards were becoming more important, and LE curriculum was quickly becoming more standardized. This in turn opened up whole new areas regarding the use of force, and training within the law. In the early 1980's, hearing about Doce Pares Eskrima, Mr. Sipin invited Dionisio Canete to Milwaukee. Sipin's father and conducting his first seminar at Four Winds, Canete stated the Four Winds students were as- or more advanced than any Eskrima group he had been working with in the U.S. Sipin went on to become one of the three prominent figures in D.P. Eskrima in the U.S., as well as a founding member of the World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation. In 2003 GM Canete stated in an interview in "Filipino Martial Arts" magazine, "His students are one of the best groups in the whole world in terms of their skill, discipline and knowledge. They have cultivated a very strong environment of friendship and brotherhood". Continuing with all of the above: experience and training in the LE / Security field, the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) and Personal Protection have provided the basis for a philosophy and system that Mr. Sipin has taught to Instructors, Civilians, Military, Law Enforcement, Security Officers in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The “Hardened Target Personal Protection System” is based on your legal rights, and your duty and responsibility to yourself and your family. The “HT” instructional template is based on methods that have proven effective in teaching officer survival. It makes use of a persons’ natural response to stress, body mechanics, and power development and most importantly, the techniques and tactics are limited to what is easy to learn, retain, and effectively perform by the average person under stress, and under the conditions they’re likely to be used. Unarmed striking, ground tactics, O.C. (pepper spray) impact, edged, and improvised weapons along with basic firearms training and tactics are all part of the “Hardened Target” curriculum. "Training Solutions" started as a concept in 1980 when Mr. Sipin was first accepted and certified as an Instructor for Police and Security Officers by the "Justice System Training Association", then the premier organization for training in the U.S. The Director was Dr. Kevin Parsons (CEO of A.S.P.), who was also responsible for developing Wisconsin's statewide training standards - one of the country's first. Starting in 1979 when Mr. Sipin became a LEO, realizing that using force for Defense / Protection, Control and Apprehension under strict laws, standards, policies and procedures and with increasing options and equipment (both as a benefit and a hinderance) he started attending advanced tactics and instructor training that was available. With previous and continuing ("moonlighting) experience with "hands-on" private security and crowd control, added to Police Patrol in a cruiser, on foot, a boat and a bike - as a Training Officer, SWAT team member and Rangemaster - on the street, checking policies and procedures, testifying in depositions before commissions and in court - from first aid through deadly force - that experience is passed on in our programs.
