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How abuse, death, and suicide all link together in my heart, and my message to all my loved ones that killed themselves.

My Love Letter to the Suicides

How abuse, death, and suicide all link together in my heart, and my message to all my loved ones that killed themselves.

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A warning about the potential negative implications of dumping your war trauma on a woman.

Sharing Your War Trauma: A Cautionary Tale

A warning about the potential negative implications of dumping your war trauma on a woman.

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The facts and fallacies that many people believe about how active Mexican DTOs intend to be in the US.

Will the Mexican Cartel Wars Come North?

The facts and fallacies that many people believe about how active Mexican DTOs intend to be in the US.

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A reflection on being consistent about your own standards when living a protection lifestyle.

Self-Defense, Flip-Flops, & Hypocrisy

A reflection on being consistent about your own standards when living a protection lifestyle.

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How we misunderstand what kind of system a crime organization is, and then use the wrong strategy to fight it.

How Targeting a Drug Cartel Structure can Backfire

How we misunderstand what kind of system a crime organization is, and then use the wrong strategy to fight it.

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How a knowledge of CQB Syntax can prevent errors in transferring to one-man clearing techniques.

CQB Syntax: One-Man vs. Team Tactics

How a knowledge of CQB Syntax can prevent errors in transferring to one-man clearing techniques.

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How building design guides human behavior, and how syntax, or clearing order, changes how we approach clearing rooms in CQB.

CQB Syntax and Adaptive Room Clearing

How building design guides human behavior, and how syntax, or clearing order, changes how we approach clearing rooms in CQB.

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A systematic analysis of the benefits of slicing a doorway at low-ready in CQB.

Low-Ready Slicing in CQB

A systematic analysis of the benefits of slicing a doorway at low-ready in CQB.

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How to practically use the

The Crime Triangle & Self-Defense

How to practically use the “Crime Triangle” from criminology to understand the structure of a violent crime, and assess your own self-defense response.

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How accepting praise from the wrong people feeds your ego but not your coaching development.

Praise Doesn’t Roll Uphill

How accepting praise from the wrong people feeds your ego but not your coaching development.

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Pre-assault cues in self-defense training are great but you might not be doing them right.

Abusing Pre-Assault Cues in Self-Defense Training

Pre-assault cues in self-defense training are great but you might not be doing them right.

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The powerful effect that social norms can have on our ability to act against danger.

The Violent Criminal Actor & Being Too Nice

The powerful effect that social norms can have on our ability to act against danger.

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Wrestling with combat PTSD through the eyes of Jihad and Kintsukuroi art.

Jihad, Japan, and the Combat Veteran

Wrestling with combat PTSD through the eyes of Jihad and Kintsukuroi art.

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A discussion of an extremely common phenomenon in CQB training that only comes out in real time.

CQB and the “Floating Angle”

A discussion of an extremely common phenomenon in CQB training that only comes out in real time.

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Myth vs. reality regarding where and how violent crime tends to take place in the city.

The Hood is Not Coming to Get You

Myth vs. reality regarding where and how violent crime tends to take place in the city.

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The secrets behind reading street graffiti to get a true baseline of the social climate, regardless of country.

How to Read Graffiti: The Street Hotline

The secrets behind reading street graffiti to get a true baseline of the social climate, regardless of country.

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Filthy lies we tell ourselves and our training partners to save our own ego, and how to fix it to achieve true mastery.

The Performance Failure Point and the Ego

Filthy lies we tell ourselves and our training partners to save our own ego, and how to fix it to achieve true mastery.

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A personal example about violent criminals and some of the misconceptions we have about them.

My Buddy Tito, The Violent Criminal Actor

A personal example about violent criminals and some of the misconceptions we have about them.

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Every instructor screams

“Mindset” Needs a Direction

Every instructor screams “MINDSET.” Let’s tease apart what that actually means.

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Some of the main things I would look for in a martial art I want to use for self-defense.

What is the Perfect Self Defense Art?

Some of the main things I would look for in a martial art I want to use for self-defense.

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  • Rob BrotzmanRob Brotzman 

    Dept. Head of East Coast Operations

    Rob considers himself a “student of the gun.” He’s always seeking out more training, techniques, equipment, and information to give him an edge, whether it be in competition or in a self-defense situation. Introduced to firearms for both sport and protection at a very young age, he is an avid hunter and outdoorsman, who excels at tracking wildlife as well as the occasional human.

    He makes his daytime living as a video engineer and a two-time Emmy-winning videographer, and is also a member of and the firearms trainer for Wolfpack Missing Persons Search and Recovery. His eye for the camera lens and knowledge of firearms and tactics make him a natural fit as the department head of East Coast operations.

    In his down time he enjoys competitive shooting, tactical training, hunting, fishing, and general outdoor badassery. He also enjoys taking long walks on the beach with his beard, and making his partner Nathan’s life utterly miserable at odd hours of the evening.

  • Nathan WagarNathan Wagar

    Executive Director; Core Material Coach

    Nathan joined the Army at 17 to escape a lifestyle in California gangland, and deployed twice to northern Iraq with 101st Airborne. He was selected along with other individuals from the infantry recon sections in the battalion as part of a special task force charged with kill or capture missions of high value targets. His experiences with violence have been tempered by his academic pursuits and interest in fields such as complexity science, and this eccentric background is probably what has led his friends to dub him the “Irish Cholo.”

    He is the owner of Black Mesa TFAC and has received professional trainer licensing and instructor certifications in CMD boxing, the CMD combat intelligent athlete program, EMP mental game performance coaching, and Red Zone Knife Defense, and was given permission to teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by his coach and friend Gustavo De Alencar.

    He was the creator of the official threat assessment method used by CMD Intl. formerly known as TARMAC, and the gun disarm method used by Red Zone Threat Management Systems. He has developed custom courses for both civilian active shooter response, and active threat room entry techniques as an adjunct SME at Shockwave Defense, and teaches protection methods to members of the New Mexico Secret Service assigned to the Albuquerque field office. He is in the process of undergoing an additional certification in Risk Terrain Modeling, the latest environmental threat assessment program developed by criminologists for LEO and security departments.

    Nathan’s outlook and focus is best described as mastering one’s environment, and this theme forms the thrust of his vision at Borderland Training. The seriousness with which he approaches his material is matched only by his astoundingly effeminate taste in coffee, and penchant for wearing Star Wars shirts and flip flops while teaching. When not coaching or working on a new project, he trains, hunts, and spends an obscene amount of time getting really, really pissed off at his hetero-lifemate Rob.