Recently we published a Whiskey5 article on NLB Tactical. Understandably, some readers were skeptical as few people outside of a relatively small circle have heard of this company. But, they’ve been training the Detroit Police, as well as others, for years, so when I saw this testimonial, I thought it was worth a share.
This is amazing story of officer survival from an EDP Emotionally Disturbed Person call. Please read and share! This story will have you on the edge of your seat and very proud of those who serve us.
To : Whom it may concern
From: Police Officer Edward A. Pawlowski III
Detroit Police Department
While attending the Detroit Police Academy in 2016, I received a knife defense class designed by NLB Tactical / No Lie Blades. Little did I know that within a year of this class, I would use what I learned to save not only my life, but the life of one of my fellow officers…
The class itself was very easy to pick up. It taught various ways a knife can be used against you, and several easy movements to defend each attack. The class also had a realistic set of scenarios of surprise knife attacks by academy staff, headed by Corporal Hunt of the Detroit Police Department, that helped the class apply the techniques to real life situations. Now on to where it helped me…
Shortly after the New Year in 2017, I was dispatched to a run on the south end of the 10th precinct in Detroit. The only details we had on the run was that we had a suicidal female who kicked her roommate out and she was threatening to blow up her house. Once we arrived on scene, I made contact with the female from the porch of her residence, because she had barricaded herself inside of her house. I advised her multiple times that we just wanted to get her some help and we were not there to hurt her. She began screaming that the only way we’d get her to a hospital was to “shoot her in the head and drag her out of the house dead”. Multiple back-up units arrived.
Once more officers were on the porch, the door began to open slightly and officers slowly approached the open door. The woman then lunged out the door, stopped only by her own barricade and swung a pair of open scissors at another officer, just missing his face. At that point another officer tried getting into a window behind her, and she came running to that window, swinging the scissors at the other officer, just missing his midsection. Pepper spray was used multiple times, with no effect on her.
Finally, officers were able to distract her long enough at the door, that my partner was able to enter the house and grab onto the woman. I entered next, just in time to see the woman attempting to stab my partner in his back with the scissors. The training from my class just kicked in without thought. I was able to approach the two struggling, deflect the arm of the female away without getting cut and without my partner getting stabbed. We were then able to get the female to the ground, pin her arm down, get her to drop the knife, and get her into handcuffs with no injuries to her or the officers involved.
During that situation, I was able to just act without thinking and defuse the situation, without having to resort to deadly force and without anyone getting hurt. And I have the training I received to thank for that. With just the short, one day of training I received designed by NLB Tactical / No Lie Blades, defending that knife attack was almost like an instinct for me. I wish I was able to get more training designed by them, because I can only imagine how many other situations they can better prepare me for.
So, I would like to say thank you to NLB Tactical / No Lie Blades for the training course they designed. For not only preparing me for the altercation, but for saving my life and the life of my partner that day. And I look forward to the day another round of their training makes it to my area, because I will be first in line to receive it.
Sincerely,
Police Officer Edward A. Pawlowski III
Detroit Police Department
NLB Tactical can be found online at
Websites nlbtactical.com
Websites nolieblades.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/nolieblades
Phone 610.442.5539
email info@nolieblades.com
You can also acquire NLB training services on GSA through their Prime vendor partnership with MJL-Enterprises at www.mjl-enterprises.com/tactical-training.
Tags: No Lies Blades
Where did the instructor get the Irish DPM shorts from? They don’t look like Irish army pants that have been cut
They appear to be cut off Irish army cold weather Goretex pants.
I’m glad it helped him and everything turned out alright but…umm…why are we wrestling with a person with a cutting instrument? I will ALWAYS
I’m glad it helped him and everything turned out alright but…umm…why are we wrestling with a person with a cutting instrument? I will ALWAYS bring a gun to a knife fight. Must be a way different milieu up north that apparently puts officer’s lives in more danger than is warranted.
Always good to resolve a problem without escalating the violence, but certainly a risk to the officer.
Because dealing with ambiguity is what separates exceptional officers from the rest. Because escalating use of force if possible (especially when dealing with someone with obvious mental health issues) is a good way to earn public trust.
Looks interesting. but pointless websites with zero links to anything resembling a training calendar or ways to register. Good business strategy.
Hello Cris,
To respond to your query, NLB Tactical is generally contractual based through either police units, or military units. As such, we don’t have a training schedule for a specific location or training facility. In general, our courses are designed around available time for units. We are currently working on a plan to increase our marketing through a Youtube platform as well, but at this point we are mostly word of mouth which is why we are not widely known outside of specific circles at this time, as the beginning of the article stated. Occasionally we do offer open enrollment courses where civilians/individuals are allowed to attend, however we don’t have dedicated schedules for those, and when they are scheduled we advertise via Faceboook, and again word of mouth. If you are interested in more information about individual training, or training for a unit you may be in, we can be reached at the contact info on our website TrainingKnives.net, or through our Facebook page No Lie Blades.
Thank you, and I hope that provides the information you were looking for.
This is Cpl Brandon Hunt of the Detroit Police Dept. I, along with Cpl Sean Wayrynen, Cpl Howard Sweeney, Cpl Mark Greer, Cpl Brenda Hawkins & PO David Gonzalez, were the NLB instructors that taught the class PO Pawlawski attended and spoke of in his letter. This class was taught to academy recruits, and due to state required recruit classes, was not our usual 3 day course. The fact that PO Pawlowski was still able to use the fundamentals of the system speakes volumes about the simple, but practical applications. I highly advise every LE department to contact Hank Hayes for training in NLB Tactical! The instructor course is a hardcore military Special Forces grade type training that can be utilized for any weapon system.
As a level 2 instructor for No Lie Blades and a full time combatives instructor at my own gym in the Chicago area, it is easy to endorse No Lie Blades training and their training knives to anyone serious about learning to survive a knife attack. We use the training knives and the knowledge on a daily basis. It is comical when I hear someone say ‘I’ll just shoot someone with a knife’ when they have never experienced or trained for that chaotic and life threatening moment, knowing that one mistake could be their last. No Lie Blades training tests what you think you know by doing it real. Anyone can do fancy techniques when your attacker is submissive, slow and pauses at the last second so you can apply some Hollywood ninja technique on them, but when someone is wielding a 10 inch kitchen knife and is the poster child for PREDITORIAL VIOLENCE and wants nothing more than to dig your heart out of your chess, you had best have the right mindset, skills and luck or you might not make it till the end of your shift and go home to your family. Hank Hayes with No Lie Blades brings this knowledge and skillset to the training deck every time he trains and he has a fantastic ability to pass on this knowledge to his students. Great Job Hank for keeping the training as real at it can get and for helping the men in blue as well as for the 1000’s of military men and women who have had the honors to train with you over the years.
Excuse me sir. I have been trained for those situations and have faced them and come out on the other side unscathed. Knife, bat, stool, what have you, I will not wrestle someone with a weapon. I will not put myself or my officers in danger more than is necessary just because it looks good on the news. If they have a weapon I will have a better weapon. A barricaded suspect requires SWAT not an officer wrestling someone to the ground with a knife. Don’t assume because I disagree with this action that I don’t know of what I speak. I am all for more training. Don’t get me wrong. And if this was a last minute thing and he was defending a sucker punch knife attack from close in I have no issues but that whole scenario just seemed like a bad idea from the get go. Sorry but we just have a fundamental disagreement about how to deal with armed and/or barricaded suspects. I’m glad you are an instructor and you have your own gym and all but I have done it for real on the street for the last 17 years and managed to never get cut or banged over the head or seriously injured. I think I will go with my methods. Thanks anyway.
Walter,, I totally agree. Having a gun in hand against a crazed knife wielding attacker is by far better than having no weapon, and ‘wrestling’ with someone an edged weapon can be suicidal if you don’t shut the attacker down immediately. However, there are times as an LEO or Military person where you don’t have the luxury of having a firearm with you (beach, school, stadium, etc), there is no stack team behind you to cover your six, and there are times when Mr. Murphy sticks his ugly head in and causes misfires, misfeeds or other weapon malfunctions. These are the times when this type of training can save your life. Think of it as ‘The last resort’, it’s insurance that you wish you never need to use.
I had the pleasure of meeting Hank Hayes at a local shooting competition. After he learned of my background with martial arts and firearms training, we decided to meet for lunch and discuss his company NLB Tactical. His passion for training and helping to provide a simple but extremely effective system for Law Enforcement and Military to defend themselves peaked my interest and I signed up for his instructor course. The first day we did a simulated knife attack using the No Lie Blade with marking agent, and white T-shirts. Embarrassingly, I did not do as well as I had expected with my previous training. I knew all these fancy moves, but under intense pressure from my partner, I was unable to execute a lot of these due to sweat, speed, momentum, etc. We then went on to learn a very simple solution that was not only effective, but able to be remembered under extreme training stress. It took my defensive thought process and skills to what I would say is a new level that I truly believe in. I had the privilege of helping instruct my first 2 day seminar recently, and hearing the accolades and revelations that these students of varying backgrounds provided solidified my trust in this system. Then this article comes out with real world application proving that this system works under real world scenarios makes me proud to be a part of this organization.
This is truly great. Something that is extremely effective at zero cost to life. The proof is in the article! Having gone through this course, I can say that I am beyond confident for any situation such as this to be handled properly now. N.L.B. Has been proved to greatly reduce and prevent the loss of life. Great job!
I have seen many systems over the years and have marveled at the fluidity of movement in systems like Kali, etc. I certainly would never disagree with anyone who has experience in threat management. Having said that, after working with the NLB system first hand, I can honestly say that the instruction provided and the simplicity of the techniques absolutely gives you the best chance to go home safe at the end of your shift or workday or day out with friends and family.
Just because you did bring your gun to a knife fight, doesn’t mean you will get a chance to employ that weapon in a situation where an edged weapon has come in to play. It’s great to say, but not always all that easy to do.
Stay safe and train for the real world.
No Lie Blades, Hank Hayes, Tactical training is taught on a contract basis to groups in the Military and Law Enforcement. Last month NLB held one of it’s rare open enrollment training in Va. Beach, Va. and I was the host. To attend, one needed to be vetted and while this was a weekend training event the normal training is 5 days. To find out more about training opportunities I would suggest following the FaceBook page for announcements.
The NLB training is practical and based on real world application. While keeping distance and using higher levels of force when encountering a knife is justified and almost intuitive, sometimes time and distance requires reaction and defending to be a hands on approach.
Recently in NC a court case involving a Taser resulted in an unfavorable outcome for Law Enforcement and suggest a hand on approach first before using a Taser. There are times when being able to access other tools on the belt becomes very difficult and having the ability to go hands on with proven concepts of training may be the difference that allows one to go home afterwards. When someone states I have a gun and do not want to go hands on then I ask what if you can not access your gun in time. If in an elevator or confined space it may not be possible to access other options. NLB training is conceptual and using gross motor skills. TNT or Threat Neutralization Tactics. These are things that work as this testimony from Police Officer Edward A. Pawlowski III has stated.
Edge weapons are very common and edge weapon attacks happen. Plan for the worst and hope for the best. May luck be with you in nay encounter. The harder you train the luckier you get.
I have been training for close to 25 years. Police Officer for 28 years,16 of those with SWAT, Martial Arts Black Belt, Combatives Instructor, Jeet Kune Do Full Instructor, Law Enforcement Firearms and Defensive Tactics Instructor. 2012 BlackBelt Magazine Instructor of the Year/ Hall of Famer.
This past March I was in Va.Beach with Hank Hayes for the Civilian NLB program. The program was active from the first minute you walked on the floor. The curriculum was easy to learn and to remember. No fancy techniques that were useless like in some martial arts!! Hank has found the “missing link” in tactical knife defense. I walked away with a good amount of very valuable information on that weekend.
As far as a gun being brought to a knife fight! Well, I not only use the NLB in my knife training but also Simunition Marking Rounds. We do a drill from 30 feet away where the student with the gun must draw and shoot the attacker when the attacker starts to move toward him with the knife. Most don’t get the gun up on the first attempt!
A lot of Hanks drills are up close where the attack actually happens! An arms length, not across the street or at any other given distance. Up close and personal, at the sticking point.
WOW!!!! I just checked this feed and I’m blown away by all the support for the effectiveness of the NLB system.
Our fanatical mission is to give every United States Military and Law Enforcement operator the serves, the chance to receive world class explosive training that will keep them alive.
Basic and simple.
Thanks for the support.
H
Hank Hayes
NLB Tactical / No Lie Blades
hankh@nolieblades.com
610.442.5539
NLB instructor course for 2017 .Date set for the week of OCT 9, 2017 in Virginia Beach.
We’ve now for the first time in 18 years opened the instructor course to the protection professional civilian sector. Prerequisite must be vetted by NLB and must a current verifiable combat or Martial Arts instructor.
Contact info@nolieblades.com or call 610.442.5539.