About Us
Dave is the founder and Director of the US Fighting System, the first true American Fighting System that has been designed by real world warriors with over a combined century or real world experience who have been teaching the US Military, law enforcement agencies who protect our streets and the borders and the corrections officers who monitor our inmates and safeguard our prisons, and the security professionals who are armed or unarmed who have the responsibility of ensuring the safety of their others – way before anyone in the industry started using the words reality based training. We have trained the real world professionals to stay alive in the street and safety go home to their families and their agencies for the legal litigation that closely follow the application or any use of force. We have decided to focus our training to a specific target group.
If you are wanting to learning about preparing for a sporting event or martial arts tournament we are not for you, if you are wanting to learn the traditional aspects of a specific martial arts – we are not for you – if you are serious about learning the ultimate fighting system that will prepare you to win your encounter then we are for you. Our students do not have the options to be 10-2-1.
Dedication, vision, experience, and instructional skills are the criteria by which a physical-confrontation and personal -safety-awareness instructor should be judged – and Dave excels in all of these attributes
Dave is recognized as one of the nation’s leading tactical instructors and is an expert in the art of survival, weapons and winning in physical confrontations. Dave combines a unique blend of physical expertise, teaching know-how and a hands on approach to tactics training, using anatomically correct techniques. He leads the class from the front and is an instructor that demonstrates how to survive – rather than just talking about survival. Dave uses a true integrated use-of-force training approach that allows all students to learn how to smoothly transition up and down through their intervention options.
His background is so diverse most people in this industry who meet Dave are amazed. Not only did he studied and practice many different styles of martial arts unofficially he had to apply what he learned on Monday-Thursday every Friday through Sunday. Experience is the most accurate way to learn and realize that even the best applied techniques will not work under the most controlled set of circumstances. This allowed Dave to learn, apply and correct. “I had the best and the worst of the phrase emotional impact training.” Growing up in Hialeah, FL during the 70-80 was a difficult time for people especially if you lived in one ethic group location and you were the other.
Dave’s professional experience includes being a corrections and law enforcement officer in the state of Florida, gate sentry, patrol officer, watch commander, investigator, Special Reaction Team (SRT) Team member and commander in the United States Marine Corps. He has participated as a control system designer for both military and civilian authorities.
Dave serves as a defensive tactics consultant for numerous police and correctional agencies throughout the United States in disturbance response strategies. His Ground Defense Program exemplifies how to apply known defensive tactics techniques to new applications while emphasizing personal Safety. Dave’s programs are on the cutting edge of personal defense training and the first of its kind.
His ability to create realistic training programs is unmatched in the industry, and has been doing this since 1982. Utilizing the most advanced duty and protective training equipment, his students are able to “test” the techniques they learn in their actual working environment.
Students respond to attacks in day and night time environments. Students are attacked while doing some of the most common daily chores like walking to their car, sitting at a bus stop or shopping in the store. His students are exposed to real-life situations.
In addition to his presenting and teaching abilities, Dave is viewed as one of the foremost experts in the research and testing of protective equipment, non- lethal and lethal weaponry. He has personally conducted and supervised the evaluations for numerous manufactures, police and correctional agencies and branches of the armed forces both domestically and internationally.
Dave Young brings reality to training in order to create a believable environment that allows his students to experience the stress of real world confrontations in a safe learning format. This approach gives his students confidence in themselves, their tactics, and their equipment.
From 2005-2008 Dave hosted a special television series for National Geographic titled, “Crash Test Human.” This unique television show focused on Dave’s expertise with product testing and evaluation – and included Dave surviving a head on car collision, being trapped in submerged car, and spending time in a hyperbaric chamber.
In recent years Dave has taken his background and expertise and applied it to developing programs for civilians — including parents, students, educators, martial artists, and executives. In 2010, he formed Vistelar Training Group with two other nationally-recognized defense trainers in order to create more focus to these efforts.
These civilian programs focus on personal safety awareness and how to respond when things go bad. To learn more about Dave go to: http://armatraining.com.