Editor’s note: Tony Blauer is a self-defense expert recognized in law enforcement for creating the SPEAR System (Spontaneous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response), a defensive tactics program rooted in the body’s natural startle-flinch response. Designed for close-quarters encounters, the SPEAR System is used by police departments and tactical teams to improve reaction time, situational awareness, and officer safety during sudden threats. Blauer’s approach emphasizes instinctive movement and real-world applicability, making it a valuable tool for law enforcement professionals seeking practical, science-based training.
In addition to the SPEAR System, Tony Blauer is known for integrating fear management and neuroscience into police training. His “Know Fear” philosophy helps officers understand and leverage their fear response to enhance performance under stress. Blauer advocates for scenario-based training that mirrors real-world encounters, aiming to improve decision-making, de-escalation, and use-of-force outcomes. His methods are widely respected across police academies, military units, and personal defense communities seeking to elevate officer preparedness and personal safety.
By Dr. Eric Cobb
Whether you’re a DT trainer or a cop on the beat, here are some of our more popular quotes to reflect upon and use to fuel that training spirit.
- “Experience is something you get, shortly after you need it!” – HIGH GEAR maxim
- “The superior fighter has no emotional attachment to any one range of combat.” - T. Blauer
- “If you face just one opponent, and you doubt yourself, you’re out-numbered” -Dan Millman
- “Training should hurt, but never injure…if there is no pain, there is no fear…if there is no fear, then you’re not really training.” - T. Blauer
- ‘The height of strategy, is to attack your opponent’s strategy” -Sun Tzu
- “You can only beat the opponent, who makes a mistake” - T. Blauer
- “It’s not who’s right, it’s who’s left.” - Unknown
- “You never know how much you can do, until you try to do more than you can.” -T. Blauer
- “Real fights, happen in the space of a phone booth” - T. Blauer
- “The MIND navigates the BODY.” – Unknown
- ‘Character’ is who you are when no one is looking. –Unknown
- “What you practice, is what you’ll do” Benny Urquidez
- “Be careful what you practice, you may get really good at the wrong thing!” - T. Blauer
- A really bad idea, embraced by millions of people, is still a really bad idea.” - T. Blauer
- “When the student is ready, the teacher appears….but when the student feels they are the teacher, the student in them disappears.” - T. Blauer
- “Control the mind and you can control the behavior”. - T. Blauer
- “There is no right or wrong in our system, only Desirable and Less Desirable.” - T. Blauer
- “Sparring, is NOT Self Defense.” - T. Blauer
- “Don’t look at the technique, or final action, look at the tenacity, the will, and the indignation that fueled the action.” - T. Blauer
- “Those who talk, can usually be persuaded to walk” - T. Blauer
- “Real fights are only the ones you can’t avoid.” - T. Blauer
- “Make your fighting stance, your everyday stance and make your everyday stance, your fighting stance.” - Musashi
- “DO more, KNOW more, THINK more, HAVE more and WANT more than your opponent.” - T. Blauer
- “Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style, or system.” - Bruce Lee
- “Failure to plan is like planning to fail.” Unknown
- F.E.A.R. – False Expectations, Appearing Real
- “If I am to lose, let me lose to the superior fighter. Let me lose because he was better than I was, not because I was worse than him.” - T. Blauer
- “Don’t do your favorite move, but rather, the worst move for your opponent.” Chess maxim
- “Do you want to BE good, or FEEL good? Truth before ego…” - T. Blauer
- “The way you feel, affects the way you think; the way you think, affects the way you feel; they both affect the way you move.” - T. Blauer
- “If you can’t think to do it in training, what makes you think you’ll think to do it in the street.” - T. Blauer
- “Never let FEAR, PRIDE, or EGO, dictate your next battle plan.” - T. Blauer
- “The longer you practice failure, the harder it becomes to recognize success.” - T. Blauer
Police1 is using generative AI to create some content that is edited and fact-checked by our editors.
