Contact Dominance Level 1
Measured, Repeatable, Approvable
September 15-19, 2025
Greater Cleveland RTA Police Department
Brook Park, OH
Too Many Options, Not Enough Time
If you only have 4 hours, what do you teach?
The biggest challenge most instructors have today is deciding what to actually teach.
You can go to as many classes as you want, but you still have a limited amount of time to pass on what you've learned.
One of the most valuable attributes of the Contact Dominance Instructor Class is that we will bring absolute clarity to the subject matter itself, and then assist you in developing a plan for your in-service program.
What are the primary goals of this course?
The goals of this course are simple:
- To place YOU into the top 10% of highest performing instructors in the country.
- To put your in-service training into the top 10% of all programs in the country.
A System...Not a Seminar
How are we able to do this?
By delivering an actual system.
Many instructor cert's are actually seminars in disguise. They offer up a smorgasbord of techniques or drills that have almost no relationship or connectivity within them.
Because of this, they are almost impossible to recall and then difficult to implement when it comes time to actually teach.
Continuity Counts
Contact Dominance is a system. It is cohesive unto itself, yet it has a Structure on which almost any other method or style can operate.
- It is easy to follow.
- It is repeatable.
- It is safe to train in.
- It appeals to almost every officer.
- It is approvable.
- It is rewarding to teach.
Who Is This Certification For?
Lets be clear on this...the Contact Dominance Instructor Certification course is for those instructors whose primary concern is the actual transfer of skills to the officers within their department.
Yes, it's natural to want to increase your own skill set. But if your honest intent is simply to enhance your own personal martial arts game, then this probably isn't the class for you.
In Subject Control, What is REALLY Best in Class?
Best in class is that which is most Serviceable, NOT that which works best in a cage fight.
As the department in-service instructor and program advisor, have you asked yourself these questions?
Has this course been reviewed by independent Subject Matter Experts in the Medical, Legal, and Tactical fields?
If you are teaching techniques or methods that have not been independently reviewed for LEG/MED/TAC Soundness then you are setting your department up for incredible liability.
The Contact Dominance curriculum has the highest level of independent subject matter expert review in the industry.
As a modern instructor, this is the firewall you absolutely must place between your officers and those who seek to hurt them (and you) through litigation.
Does this course offer a balance between safety in training and adaptation to real movement and energy?
Every class has a mix of both the officers who want to go 100% all the time, as well as those who are concerned about being injured or embarrassed in class.
Your job as instructor is to provide progressive amounts of energy and resistance to drilling, thus gaining the trust of the hesitant, while still satisfying the needs of the more motivated students.
Because the enemies of any class are injuries and boredom, the Contact Dominance class will show you exactly how to effect this balance.
Does this curriculum appeal to the "Middle 60"?
Almost any material can be taught to the top 20% of your officers. And there is likely a bottom 20% that will resist your training no matter how great it is or how well you deliver it.
But are the methods you are teaching being accepted, and more importantly used by the "middle 60%"?
If you follow the simple progressions we suggest, not only will your middle-60 accept what you're teaching, they will likely be asking you for more.
Has this course been adopted by any other major agencies or departments?
Yes. It is currently in use by the Detroit Police Department at both the academy and in-service levels.
It is also being used by various specialized units within the United States Military.
What is the Primary Influence or Style?
This is a common question, if not a misguided one.
Our goal from day one was to create a method that was built from the ground up to support the needs and environment of policing, NOT attempt to retrofit any given martial art and cram it into a 4 hour block of training (that never works out).
Needs First, Techniques Second
However, if you were to watch officers training in Contact Dominance, it might appear like a mix of some of the stand-up techniques from freestyle wrestling, with a bit of street Judo and some ground control from Catch Wrestling or BJJ.
But the key to success in DT is to never focus on technical perfection. That is a black hole that will destroy your class.
The key is to make officers confident and decisive. You do this by giving them strong positioning capabilities against real energy. If they have that, then they can apply whatever other natural attributes they have and bring the struggle to a safe conclusion.
Until the culture decides to give instructors more than 4-8 hours of DT/SC per year, this is the only practical solution.
Is There Any Post-Event Support?
We are constantly striving to provide the highest level of realistic support to our instructor-students. We do this through our online Learning Management System, Force University.
All teaching modules, techniques, conceptual material, and drill progressions from class are placed in an easy to access format on Force University.
Below are just some of the topics we delve into:
Just Some of the Training Modules on Force University
Where to Start: Clarity and Anxiety-Reduction by Defining your terms.
How and why to organize your training by Phase of Force, not by "standing/clinch/ground".
Developing the Fundamentals of 5th Generation Subject Control
On Techniques; how much is enough? And how much is too much?
Drilling by Dimensions, the key to progressive skill enhancement
Creating a Bulletproof Lesson Plan
How and why to think about your 3-year vision
Taking the pressure off of speaking in front of your peers
Managing the Class Disruptor
How to prevent injuries during drilling (and save the future of your program)
Mentoring; how to prepare your assistant to transition into your role
Some Of Our Recent Upgrades
As has been our practice since 2012, we at Talon subscribe to the adage that any service becomes obsolete the moment it is made available. This is because the culture of training changes so quickly, and the reason why we strive for continuous improvement through research and innovation.
How to Teach Proactive Ground Control to Officers Who Hate it.
No matter what you teach, there will always be a segment of officers who will fight you on it. And very few areas of training get more resistance than training on the ground. We will show you some very simple and easy to perform, proactive ground threads that almost every officer can use and enjoy.
How to Determine What is a Medically Sound Submission
Submissions are awesome, especially when executed properly. But when it comes to liability they are also a double edged sword. Let us help you determine which characteristics will be defensible and which will not.
How and When to Create Your Own Serviceability Review
In the end the only test of whether your training is successful is based on its Serviceability, i.e. does it satisfy the needs of every layer within the approval process. We will show you the exact steps we take to create a prudent, uniform, and measured program, so that you can develop your own Serviceability Review, and protect the integrity of your program.
Faq
Yes
There are no prerequisites, and the student should be relatively fit. We don't go crazy, but breaks are short and there is lot of repetition.
The Certification is valid for 3 years. After that you may attend a 3-day recertification.
