Professor Leonard C. Holifield - 10th Dan



Career Highlights

10th Dan - Sikaron Karate
6th Dan - Hapkido
3rd Dan - Judo
2nd Dan - Karate
Former - Chief Combatives Instructor to the United States Army

Prof. Leonard Holifield has over 36 years of martial arts experience and is president and founder of I.A.E.P.S.D.T The International Academy of Executive Protection Self Defense Tactics and H.C.S.I Holifield's Combat Systems International. Organizations that offer specialized training in unarmed self defense for executive security, law enforcement, special operations and military personnel. Considered one of the country's leading experts in hand-to-hand combat, he is a published author and frequent lecturer on unarmed self-defense, executive protection and military combatives. During his military career he served as Chief Combatives Instructor to the United States Army from 1987 to 1997 and was instrumental in rewriting the Army's manual on Combatives (FM 21-150). While stationed in Seoul, Korea he and his team spear-headed a hand-to-hand combat training program that was taught throughout 2nd Infantry Division and 8th Army Command. His positions included Nuclear-Biological-Chemical Specialist, Combat Lifesaver, Master Fitness Trainer, Instructor Certified "H" Identifier, Inmate Labor Supervisor, Tac-Fire Operations Specialist, Military Police Officer and CQC/USD trainer to, Airborne, Air Assault, Air Calvary, Infantry, Field Artillery, Psychological Operations, (PIR) Parachute Infantry Regiments, (SRT) Special Reaction Teams and Special Operations. His work in the field of hand-to-hand combat has been featured on AFKN (Armed Forced Korean Network), WAKA Channel 8 Montgomery, WSFA Channel 12 Montgomery, the BBC (British Public Broadcasting) and in numerous military publications, to include Stars & Stripes, Soldiers, Army Trainer, Korus, and Military Police magazines and has been recognized by top military leaders to include former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Colin Powell, former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Gordan R. Sullivan and former Sergeant Major of the Army - SMA Richard A. Kidd. In March of 2000, he was voted Most Outstanding Self Defense Instructor by The World Martial Arts Hall of Fame and has received the coveted Executive Protection Award of Valor. A highly decorated veteran of the Gulf War, he was credited with capturing one of the first Iraqi POW's during Operation Desert Storm and trained countless soldiers in hand-to-hand combat while stationed in Saudi Arabia.

He is a graduate of ESI's (Executive Security International) Advanced Executive Protection Program (AEP) and Certified Protection Specialist (CPS). In addition to his extensive military and security background, he served as Executive Vice President of The World Martial Arts Hall of Fame from 1991 to 2003 and is President and Founder of The Sikaron Karate Federation. He has trained in several martial art disciplines to include Judo, Jujitsu, Aikido, Hapkido, Combat Karate, Shotokan Karate, Ninjitsu, Hwarang do, Knife-Fighting, Kung-Fu, Dim-Mak, Tameshiwari, Boxing and Grappling. He holds 10th dan, 6th dan, 3rd dan and 2nd dan black belts in Sikaron Karate, Hapkido, Judo and Karate, respectively.He is the founder of Fight-Flight-or-Freeze, a nationally recognized reality based women's self defense program and CETA (Close-Engagement Target Acquisition) a cutting edge fighting system developed specifically for security, law enforcement and military personnel.

He is the author of the best-selling book Close Quarter Combat "A Soldiers Guide To Hand-to-Hand Combat" Paladin Press and video artist for Panther Productions best-selling Hand-to-Hand Combat series "Close Quarter Combat". He has received numerous awards and honors to include Who's Who in America 2004 and Doctorate degrees in Martial Arts/Science from The World College of Martial Science and The American College of Martial Science where he serves as Dean of the Homeland Security Department. He has provided close protection for numerous high profile clients and is currently serving as Executive Security Officer and Deputy Marshal for the Alabama Supreme Court and personal bodyguard to Chief Justice Roy Moore - aka "The Ten Commandments Judge".

We are very pleased to have him as a member of the UFS Board.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af-RioWxRz0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etNg1biVKSQ



© 2005-2016 United Fighting Systems. All Rights Reserved.