Jimbo here bringing you a quick bio of yet another FightFast instructor.

On deck today is Derek Smith.

He’s served in THREE branches of the armed services — Navy, Air Force, and Army — which is very rare, (although I think my neighbor Ralph was booted out of all three branches, which is even more rare).

He was also chosen to protect the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Presidents (more than one)… and to perform the kind of undercover, counter-intelligence stuff that’d just plain scare the bejesus outta most mortal men.

I can’t even talk about the super-secret top-level government security work he was up to his eyeballs in. (Wait a second, I think technically I am talking about it now).

But it was classified stuff the government sometimes has to do, (and again, legally I can’t talk about the stuff that I’m talking about now).

• Air Force, Army, and Navy: The hattrick.
• The Fighter: Combat and Street Fighter.
• The Teacher: Fight training skills.

The Military Man:

All Three Branches

U.S. Navy

Derek began his military career as a Navy Seabee, (you know… the “Can-Do” guys able to build a sturdy tank-bridge out of match sticks and chewing gum), serving as a construction mechanic and machine gunner.

U.S. Air Force

After serving 2 years in the Navy, the Air Force snapped him up to serve with the Aggressor Squadrons — the flyboys who play the bad-guys in dogfight simulations, (remember “Jester” in the 1986 Top Gun? Yeah, that guy).

Derek then became a special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. The OSI exists to “Defend the Nation, Serve Justice, Protect the Air Force, and Find the Truth”, (something that’s become all too rare these days).

Derek served in Desert Sheild and Operation Provide Comfort, (defending Kurdish civilians fleeing their homes in northern Iraq). His mission was to identify, exploit, and “neutralize” (which sounds a lot nicer than it really is), criminal, terrorist, and intelligence threats.

Derek also served on service teams protecting military commanders, civilian officials, and celebrities visiting military bases, (because Islamic Terrorists just don’t like puffed-up Hollywood stars as much as we do).

U.S. Army

After 15 years in the Air Force, Derek then served with the U.S. Army for over 8 years — first in military intelligence as an interrogator and in counter-intelligence.

Later he became a special agent with the Criminal Investigations Command (CID).

(We tapped into these skills to have Derek put together a guide on how to become a “Human Lie Detector” for FightFast. It shows you clever ways to tell if someone is bullshitting you and even more clever ways to draw the truth out of them. And no… you don’t get to waterboard anyone).

As a CID agent, Derek investigated felony crimes and serious violations of military law within the United States Army.

He also spent many years as a bodyguard (in the military and as a civilian agent) where he was able to meet and protect such big-shots as Oprah Winfrey, Kevin Costner, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Hillary Clinton, Norman Schwarzkopf, among others dignitaries (who shall remain nameless).

After leaving the military, Derek was a special agent with the DIA, an intelligence agency of the United States federal government where his mission was to train members and perform law enforcement duties on all DIA premises.

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The Fighter:

Starts on the mean streets of Chicago.

Derek knows how to fight.

He has black belts in Hapkido, Shotokan, Kenpo, Tae Kwon Do, Shorin Ryu and has trained and ranked in over 12 other arts including Krav Maga, Eskrima, Ninjutsu, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Derek used his combat skills in lots of military and law enforcement situations… but it all began on the mean streets of Chicago where Derek grew up with 13 of his best buds.

They called themselves the Warriors after the classic “Warriors” movie.

Yes, that was probably the finest bit of movie-making ever created, (why this epic film didn’t sweep the 1979 Oscars is still a mystery).

Derek and his crew even had black t-shirts made up with the word “Warriors” across the back, (a clear infringement on copyright law, but apparently the studio was waay too frightened of Derek and his pals to do anything about it).

He recalls his buddies fondly.

“Little Daryl the street gymnast… Tank, who was on the wrestling team and built like a, well, a tank… and Pookie, his real name George haha, who was a brown belt in Karate and the instructor in our little club”.

Unlike today, they didn’t call themselves a “gang”.

Fist-fighting was a daily routine for Derek, (because this was in the good ol’ days when every scuffle didn’t end up in gunplay).

Turns out this street experience came in handy.

Over his long military, undercover, and private career, Derek has had a gun put to his head, a shotgun pointed at his chest, a samurai sword swung at him by a drug dealer…

…was cornered in a bathroom and attacked with a knife… had a knife put to his throat and two different occasions… and so many hand-to-hand encounters that he can’t even remember the exact number, (and yet he never broke a sweat).

Derek may be getting older now, but he still has some fight in him. He rolls several times a week with tough guys half his age, does Krav Maga, and trains in Kali.

Yep… the old man still’s got it.

The Combat Instructor.

The Guru.

As a special agent, Derek served extensively as a hand-to-hand combat and firearms instructor for a variety of agencies.

He’s also been a FightFast instructor for almost two decades.

Derek asked that I pass along eight quick lessons that’ll help you stay alive and protect your loved ones. (Heed these words because they come from actual life-and-death experience).

Lesson No. 1: Train as You Fight

“I have seen so many martial arts and self-defense courses being taught with attackers executing techniques that you would NEVER see used in a real-life situation, especially knife attacks”.

So don’t waste time training moves for situations that will never happen, (which would be like neighbor Ralph training in how to meet girls. Never gonna happen).

Lesson No. 2: Mindset Is Everything

“Having the mindset of a survivor is critical. I teach officers and civilians that being punched, shot, or stabbed is not the end of the fight. You can survive and still effectively defend yourself, but you must have the correct mindset to do so.”

Maintaining a survival mindset means you have to push harder than you imagined you could.

Lesson No. 3: Plan for What You Will Face

“Take the time to visualize scenarios of various types of attacks that you might face. Think about inevitable, likely, possible, and improbable threats you may face. Always be ready. If I am driving my car and a bunch of guys in the car next to me give me a strange look, I begin to mentally prepare”.

Reminds me of the time I cut off that old lady and she gave me such a dirty look. Man, I was sooo ready for her.

Lesson No. 4: What You Have Is What You Get

“Sometimes all you have to work with is what you have in your pockets, or purse (or man bag) or inside your car. Make sure you have the items to survive an attack anywhere you go. At the very least you should always have a knife.”

(I’m pretty sure he’s talking about our FANG knife too).

Lesson No. 5: Only Take What You Know How to Use

“You should only carry weapons that you know how to use. People have tried to defend themselves with a firearm they don’t know how to use only to have it taken away and used against them. And you would not believe the number of people who end up pepper-spraying themselves during an attack”.

My brother-in-law did this once when he mistook the pepper spray for breath freshener.

Lesson No. 6: Own Sturdy and Dependable Weapons.

“The last thing you need is to have your weapon fail on you in the middle of using it in combat. I saw once saw a stabbing victim grab the knife and snap it. He survived and sustained major damage to his hand, but my point is that he managed to snap the weapon in combat because it was cheap. Make sure your weapon is more sturdy”.

Again, sturdy like the FANG.

Lesson No. 7: Know When to Fight or Flee.

“Some may say that only a coward will run away from a fight. I have been in situations where the biggest and baddest shit-talking guys have folded when the bullets started flying. So you never know how you are going to react. However, if you find yourself in the middle of an attack, it is smart to make the safe move. There is a big difference between sticking around to get killed and leaving a situation to survive and regroup.”

Lesson No. 8: Never Fight Alone.

“Yes, there are historical accounts of military fighters who have completed heroic acts all by themselves. But those are the exceptions, and many end up dead. We always deploy more than the number of bad guys we expect to come up against.”

Alright ladies and germs, that’s Derek Smith. I’m proud just to know this guy.

If you’re interested in his now world-famous “Special Agent Combat Course” packed with some very nasty, vicious, and filthy fight moves… then check this out.

>> Derek’s Special Agent Combat Course. <<

This is more brutally effective than Japanese Ninjutsu… more vicious than Israeli Krav Maga… more lethal than Chinese “Poison Hand” Dim Mak… and way more simple than ANY of them (or anything else out there), because it can be learned in mere hours.

Simple. Quick. Easy. Perfect for U.S. “field” Agents who don’t have years to train some martial arts and don’t have time to screw around with something that won’t work.

Stay tuned… more “Man-Skills” to come.

More “Man-Skills” to come.

Stay Manly,

Jimbo, Editor
Man Skills