Shane Cassidy has studied martial arts and self defence since 1977 of which his first discipline was Zen Do Kai. He studied this form until he joined the Australian Army in 1983 and was allocated to the Royal Australian Infantry where he completed 20 years service and was discharged in 2003.
During the early years of his military life, Shane studied various forms of martial arts, from; Aikido, Tae Kwon Do, Kung Fu, Ninjutsu, Jujitsu and back to Zen Do Kai. During the last nine years of his service with the Defence Force, he was involved with Military Unarmed Combat with his main teachers being Major John Whipp (retired) and Captain Glenn Gardiner (retired). During these nine years, Shane was graded to Level B instructor in Military Unarmed Combat under Major John Whipp and later became a Senior Instructor and Qualified Assessor in Military Self Defence and Close Quarter Fighting. Shane has been a qualified Military Instructor since 1996 and has had a national trainer’s qualification since 2002.
During the last several years of his military career, Shane was sent to a Commando unit as the Unarmed Combat Instructor. Whilst in this unit, he was asked to develop the Military Self Defence program that could be used by the entire Defence Force and not be specifically only for Commando’s. Also during this time Shane was asked to co-author/proof read/technical advisor for the Close Quarter Fighting Course.
Shane viewed his moving around with the Defence Force as an opportunity to continually learn new techniques and systems from many excellent instructors which has helped him to create a sound curriculum for his system of Military Combatives.
Military Combatives was forged from the many years of study into martial arts and self defence training coupled with Shane’s military training and experience. Shane has taken the best from different military fighting arts from around the world and condensed it into a usable, easily trainable system for all members of society.
As well as teaching Military Combatives, Shane also is Degree qualified in Training Design and Development and uses these skills to create training courses in personal safety for private and public corporations.
Shane’s qualifications:
- Military Combatives – Chief Instructor
- Member – International Close Combat Instructors Association (ICCIA)
- Military Unarmed Combat – Level B Instructor (Military Qualification)
- Military Self Defence – Senior Instructor and Qualified Assessor (Military Qualification)
- Close Quarter Fighting – Senior Instructor and Qualified Assessor (Military Qualification)
- Self Defence Instructor (Nationally Recognised Qualification – 2012)
- Tactical Self Defence Instructor (Nationally Recognised Qualification)
- Defensive Tactics Instructor (Nationally Recognised Qualification)
- First Aid (Nationally Recognised Qualification)
- Fellow – Institute of Learning Professionals (ILPF)
- Graduate Certificate in Training Systems Design
- Bachelor of Training Development
- Certificate IV in Training and Education (Cert IV TAE)
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (Cert IV TAA)