Interview With PWA’s Combatives Lead Instructor Benjamin “Benji” Rosenfeld: Executive Protection Training, Real-World Combatives, and the Doctrine Behind PWA’s Training

Go inside Pacific West Academy’s combatives program with Benjamin “Benji” Rosenfeld, PWA’s Combatives Lead Instructor. No fluff — just how real executive protection combatives are taught, why protecting a client changes everything, and why serious students need more than techniques. They need a culture of training.

Executive protection combatives are often misunderstood.

From the outside, many people see fighting, firearms, martial arts, defensive tactics, and bodyguard training as separate skills. They may think the goal is to win a fight, overpower a threat, or prove physical dominance.

But according to Benjamin “Benji” Rosenfeld, PWA’s Combatives Lead Instructor, that is not the purpose of combatives in executive protection.

In real protective work, the mission is not to win a fight for ego. The mission is to protect the principal, create time, create distance, manage the threat, access tools if needed, and move the client to a safer position.

That distinction is at the center of the executive protection combatives doctrine Benji has developed and teaches at Pacific West Academy.

Benji is an active executive protection agent serving VIP and high-profile clients in Los Angeles. He is also the main combatives instructor training Pacific West Academy students on a near-daily basis. Through his work with Pacific West Academy and Advanced Security Concepts, Benji brings more than a decade of real field experience in executive protection, estate security, personal protection, and private security into the classroom.

In this interview-style article, Benji explains why combatives are not just martial arts, why no single fighting style is enough for executive protection, how students should think about protecting the principal, and why the most important thing PWA can give students is not only skill, but a culture of ongoing training.

Why Combatives Are Different in Executive Protection

Combatives in executive protection are not the same as martial arts in a gym.

A martial arts class may focus on the individual. Can you defend yourself? Can you strike? Can you grapple? Can you compete? Can you win against the person in front of you?

Those skills can matter, but executive protection adds a different mission.

The agent is not only responsible for himself. The agent is responsible for the client.

That changes everything.

Benji’s approach starts with a simple question: where is the agent’s body in relation to the principal, the threat, the exit, the team, the vehicle, the tools, and the environment?

In executive protection, combatives are part of a larger protective operation. The goal is not to stay in the fight longer. The goal is to solve the immediate problem in a way that protects the client.

That may mean avoiding the threat. It may mean creating distance. It may mean using a simple push, frame, kick, strike, or control position to create enough space to move the client. It may mean accessing gear. It may mean disengaging instead of getting pulled into a long physical exchange.

For students researching serious executive protection training, this is one of the most important distinctions: self-defense and client protection are connected, but they are not the same thing.

The Vision Behind PWA’s Executive Protection Combatives Doctrine

Benji’s vision for PWA’s combatives program is not to create students who simply know techniques.

The goal is to create students who understand how physical skills fit into the reality of protective work.

That is why PWA’s executive protection combatives doctrine is built around function, simplicity, decision-making, and context. The student is not being trained to look impressive. The student is being trained to think and move under pressure while protecting another person.

In Benji’s view, a protection agent must be able to ask the right questions quickly.

Can I avoid the threat?

Can I create space?

Can I position myself between the threat and the principal?

Can I move the client?

Can I access my tools?

Can I disengage?

Can I keep the situation from becoming worse?

Those questions are more important than collecting complicated techniques.

A serious executive protection agent cannot think only like a fighter. The agent must think like a protector.

Protecting Yourself and Protecting the Principal Are Connected

One of Benji’s core beliefs is that an agent who cannot protect himself cannot effectively protect someone else.

The attributes that allow someone to protect themselves are the same attributes that help them protect a client: timing, distance, positioning, awareness, hand-eye coordination, balance, and the ability to stay composed under pressure.

If an agent can block or parry a strike coming toward himself, those same attributes can help him intercept a strike or object moving toward the client.

If an agent understands body language, range, and timing, he has a better chance of recognizing danger before it fully develops.

If an agent has trained under pressure, he is less likely to freeze, panic, overreact, or fall into a bad position when something happens.

This is why PWA does not treat combatives as a side subject. It is part of the broader protective skill set.

The agent’s body is part of the protection plan.

Time, Distance, and Injury

In Benji’s doctrine, combatives often come down to three practical goals: time, distance, and injury.

If the agent can create time, he may be able to move the client.

If the agent can create distance, he may be able to disengage, reposition, or access tools.

If the agent must create injury, the purpose is not ego or punishment. The purpose is to stop the threat long enough to protect the principal.

The situation dictates the response.

If the threat can be avoided, avoidance may be the correct answer. If the threat has already closed distance, the agent may need to create space quickly. If a simple push or frame creates the time needed to move the client, that may be better than a more aggressive response. If the attacker is already on top of the agent or the principal, the situation may require a different level of force.

This is one of the reasons executive protection combatives cannot be reduced to one style or one answer.

The agent must be able to read the problem and apply the right tool.

Fundamentals Matter Under Pressure

Benji is direct about what usually happens during violent encounters: people lose sophistication.

Under stress, people often go back to the basics. They throw strikes. They close distance. They grab. They wrestle. They fall into some form of vertical grappling or ground grappling.

What usually does not appear under real pressure are fancy wrist locks, spinning kicks, complicated takedowns, or techniques that require perfect timing in a controlled training environment.

That is why fundamentals matter.

Students need to understand where their body is in relation to the client. They need to understand where the threat is. They need to understand how to recover if they end up behind the action or in a bad position.

Benji’s approach is to keep the skills simple, trainable, and relevant to protective work.

The goal is not to give students a long list of techniques they will forget. The goal is to give them a usable foundation they can continue to train after graduation.

No Single Martial Art Is Enough

One of the most common questions people ask is: what martial art is best for executive protection?

Benji believes that is usually the wrong question.

No single martial art takes priority over every other skill. The situation determines what is needed.

If the threat is at leg distance, a kick may be the right tool to create time, distance, or injury. If the threat is closer, hand skills may be needed. If the agent is already tied up, grappling may be unavoidable. If the agent is alone with a client, the decision may be different than if he is working with a full team.

The student needs to be functional across the fundamentals of fighting: striking, kicking, grappling, positioning, distance, pressure, and decision-making.

The goal is to avoid major holes in the student’s repertoire.

A student who only knows grappling may default to grappling even when grappling exposes the client. A student who only knows striking may struggle when the distance closes. A student who only knows drills may not understand what to do when pressure changes the situation.

A more diverse skill set gives the agent more options.

Why Grappling Requires Context in Executive Protection

Benji does not dismiss grappling. Grappling is important.

But in executive protection, grappling has to be understood in context.

Human beings naturally grapple. When people fight, they often close distance, grab, clinch, wrestle, and fall into some form of control battle. That may be natural, but natural is not always best.

For a solo executive protection agent, immediately getting stuck in a long grappling exchange can create serious problems. Grappling can take time. It can pull the agent away from the client. It can put the agent on the ground. It can expose the principal while the agent is occupied with one person.

If the agent is working with a larger team, the situation may be different. In some team environments, taking the attacker out of the equation may make sense because other agents can move the client. But if the agent is alone, the same decision may create risk.

This is why Benji teaches students to think beyond the technique.

The question is not, “Can I grapple?”

The question is, “Should I grapple right now, in this situation, with this client, in this environment, with this threat, and with these responsibilities?”

The Problem With Skill Demonstration

In Benji’s view, executive protection agents should not be looking for opportunities to demonstrate skill.

If an agent finds himself in a long physical battle, something has already gone wrong. That does not mean every situation can be avoided, but it does mean the agent should not be trying to prove how technical he is.

The job is not to win applause. The job is to protect the principal.

A protection agent should be looking for the fastest responsible way to solve the problem. Sometimes that means disengaging. Sometimes it means moving the client. Sometimes it means creating distance. Sometimes it means using force. But the purpose is always tied to protection.

That is one of the biggest differences between fighting and executive protection combatives.

A fighter may be judged by whether he wins the fight.

A protection agent is judged by whether the client is protected, whether the threat is managed, and whether the agent made the right decision under pressure.

Why a Culture of Training Matters

One of Benji’s strongest messages to students is that skills are perishable.

Combatives skills are perishable. Firearms skills are perishable. Defensive skills are perishable. Physical conditioning is perishable. Timing is perishable. Confidence under pressure is perishable.

Students may be effective on graduation day, but what happens six months later if they stop training? What happens after a year? What happens when life gets busy, they are working long hours, paying bills, raising families, and assuming the information is still “in them”?

Benji’s point is that human beings are not computers. People do not simply download skills and keep them forever.

The academy can give students a foundation. It can provide structure, pressure, standards, coaching, and exposure. But students have to continue training after they leave.

That is why Benji says PWA’s job is to put the train on the tracks. The student has to become the conductor.

There are no shortcuts to being effective.

The Difference Between Certification and Readiness

A certificate can show that a student completed a program. It does not automatically mean the student is ready forever.

Readiness requires continued effort.

This is especially important in executive protection because the job can involve unpredictable environments, high-profile clients, families, estates, vehicles, public spaces, events, and moments where a small mistake can create serious consequences.

Students need more than information. They need repetition. They need pressure. They need correction. They need to understand what their body does when things become uncomfortable.

That is why Benji’s doctrine emphasizes ongoing training, not just course completion.

A serious student should leave the academy with skills, but also with the understanding that those skills must be maintained.

Who Benefits From This Type of Training?

PWA’s combatives training applies directly to students pursuing executive protection, VIP protection, residential security, estate security, high-net-worth client protection, and other professional private security roles.

But the message is not only for people who already have an executive protection background.

Security guards who want to move beyond basic posts need to understand that higher-level private security requires more than presence. It requires judgment, communication, physical readiness, protective thinking, and the ability to operate under pressure.

Civilians without military or law enforcement experience can also benefit if they are coachable, disciplined, humble, and willing to build fundamentals.

Veterans may bring discipline, structure, mission focus, and stress exposure, but executive protection still requires adaptation to the civilian private security environment.

Former law enforcement officers, corrections officers, first responders, event security workers, bouncers, martial artists, and professional drivers may all bring useful experience. But each background has to be adapted to the mission of protecting a client.

Executive protection is not simply another version of a previous job. It is its own profession.

Security Guards Moving Into Executive Protection

For security guards who want to move into executive protection, Benji’s message is simple: basic security experience can be useful, but it is not enough by itself.

A guard card or security background may help someone understand responsibility, observation, reporting, and presence. But executive protection requires a broader skill set.

Students need to learn protective operations, movement, communication, professionalism, combatives, medical response, secure transportation concepts, and how to think around a client.

The job is not just standing near someone important.

Executive protection requires planning, positioning, restraint, awareness, and the ability to make decisions that protect the client without creating unnecessary problems.

That is why academy-style training matters for people who want to move from regular security into higher-level private security careers.

Civilian Students and Career Changers

Not every PWA student comes from the military, law enforcement, or a tactical background.

Some students are civilians looking for a new career path. Some are adults changing careers. Some are already working in security and want to move into a more professional area of the industry. Some are new to the field but serious about building a future in executive protection or private security.

Benji’s view is that civilians can train for executive protection, but they need the right mindset.

They cannot skip the fundamentals. They cannot pretend to have experience they do not have. They need to be humble enough to learn from the ground up.

A civilian career changer can become a strong student if they are coachable, consistent, disciplined, and serious.

The issue is not whether the student came from the military or law enforcement. The issue is whether the student can develop the skill set and the culture needed to keep training.

Students who want a structured academy-style path can review Pacific West Academy’s Certified Executive Security Specialist program and speak with admissions about requirements, scheduling, and available funding options.

Veterans and the Military-to-Civilian Transition

Veterans often understand the importance of a training culture because they have lived inside a structured training environment before.

But transitioning from the military into civilian executive protection still requires adaptation.

Private security is not the same as military service. Executive protection is client-centered. It requires restraint, discretion, communication, and the ability to operate in civilian spaces around clients, families, executives, staff, guests, and the public.

A veteran may bring discipline, teamwork, pressure management, and a mission-first mindset. Those qualities can translate well into executive protection, but they still need to be redirected into the private sector.

For veterans looking at career training, the question should be whether the program prepares them for the kind of civilian work they actually want to do.

If the goal is executive protection, residential security, VIP protection, or professional private security, the training should be connected to those outcomes. Veterans and eligible family members can also review official GI Bill® education benefits information through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Why Hands-On Training Reveals the Truth

Combatives cannot be learned only through theory.

A student can read about distance, but they need to feel distance. They can talk about pressure, but they need to train under pressure. They can understand body positioning intellectually, but they still need to move, fail, adjust, and repeat.

Hands-on training reveals gaps.

It shows students where they are uncomfortable. It shows them where they hesitate. It shows them whether they default to habits that may not fit the protective mission.

This matters because people often overestimate what they can do. They may believe they are ready because they attended a seminar, watched videos, trained in a style, or completed a short course.

But the body tells the truth when pressure is added.

Good training exposes weaknesses so students can correct them before they are responsible for protecting someone in the field.

What Benji Wants Students to Take From PWA

Benji does not want students to leave PWA thinking combatives are about being tough.

The goal is not ego. It is not aggression. It is not showing off. It is not collecting techniques.

The goal is protection.

Students should leave understanding that everything they do physically must connect to the mission: protect the client, manage the threat, create time or distance, make good decisions, and continue training after graduation.

If students leave with that mindset, they are leaving with more than techniques.

They are leaving with a professional standard.

They are leaving with a culture of training.

What Is Pacific West Academy?

Pacific West Academy is a professional security and executive protection training academy designed to prepare students for real protective work.

The school trains veterans, civilians, new students, and working security professionals who are looking to build serious careers in executive protection, bodyguard work, estate security, residential security, VIP protection, and the broader professional private security industry.

Through structured training, physical instruction, classroom work, scenario-based learning, and career-focused preparation, PWA aims to help students develop the skills and mindset needed for the realities of protective work.

Benji’s combatives doctrine is one part of that larger mission.

It reflects the same idea that runs through professional executive protection training: students need more than isolated skills. They need judgment, discipline, professionalism, physical readiness, communication, and the ability to make decisions under pressure.

Final Thoughts

Executive protection combatives are not about fighting for the sake of fighting.

They are about protecting another person when the situation becomes difficult.

That is why Benji Rosenfeld’s doctrine at Pacific West Academy focuses on fundamentals, simplicity, pressure, body positioning, time, distance, decision-making, and continued training.

A student can learn techniques anywhere. But techniques alone do not create a protection professional.

The real goal is to build students who understand the mission, respect the responsibility, and continue training long after the course ends.

Pacific West Academy can put the train on the tracks.

The student has to keep it moving.