Civilian Tactical Training Association
Bridging The Gap Between Martial Arts, Self-Protection & The Warrior Mindset.
Preparedness, Protection, And Practical Skills For The Real World
C-Tac® is a civilian preparedness and self-protection training system that combines situational awareness, personal defense, everyday carry integration, emergency preparedness, and practical decision-making into one complete program.
What Makes C-TAC® So Different From Other Self-Defense Programs?
Most self-defense programs focus on one piece of the puzzle. Some teach fighting. Others focus on firearms. A few teach awareness. C-TAC® was designed to bridge the gap between self-protection, preparedness, everyday carry, legal considerations, and the mindset required to make good decisions under pressure.
De-Escalation & Soft Control
Learn how to manage conflict before it becomes physical and use control-based tactics when force is not the appropriate answer. In C-TAC, fighting is always the last resort.
Legal Knowledge & Considerations
Understanding when you can act is just as important as knowing how to act. Learn practical legal considerations and decision-making principles that help protect you physically and legally.
Keysi Shielding Methods
Develop the ability to protect yourself under pressure using the proven shielding concepts and defensive structures of the Keysi Fighting Method.
Pre-Conflict Awareness
Learn how to identify danger early, recognize pre-attack indicators, and use body language, awareness, and positioning to avoid becoming a target.
Vehicle-Based Defensive Tactics
Most altercations do not happen in ideal training environments. Learn defensive tactics for confined spaces, vehicles, walls, doorways, and other real-world locations.
Everyday Carry Integration
Integrate your flashlight, knife, firearm, and other everyday carry tools into a complete self-protection system that blends naturally with your empty-hand skills.
C-TAC® is more than a self-defense program. It is a complete civilian preparedness and personal protection system designed for the realities of everyday life.
The C-Tac Combat Blueprint
A framework for understanding violent encounters in their entirety rather than through the lens of a single martial art, weapon system, or training methodology.
Why The Blueprint Exists
Most training systems focus heavily on one range of combat while ignoring the others. The C-Tac Combat Blueprint was designed to ensure practitioners understand how striking, clinch fighting, ground fighting, edged weapons, firearms, and self-protection overlap and interact during real-world violence.
By studying these environments together, students develop a more complete understanding of conflict and avoid becoming limited by a single training methodology.
The goal is not to master one range of combat. The goal is to understand how all ranges connect and where problems are most likely to occur.
What’s Included In C-Tac University
C-Tac University gives members access to a structured online training library designed to support civilian self-protection, preparedness, everyday carry integration, and practical decision-making.
Online Training Library
Access structured lessons covering self-protection, awareness, EDC, preparedness, and tactical problem-solving.
1,000+ Video Lessons
Study a growing library of training material, drills, concepts, seminars, and program content.
Civilian Self-Protection Curriculum
Learn defensive tactics, soft control, shielding, movement, and real-world personal defense concepts.
EDC & Tool Integration
Understand how everyday carry tools fit into a complete and responsible protection strategy.
Emergency Preparedness Training
Develop practical preparedness habits for home, travel, family protection, and unexpected events.
Train On Your Schedule
Access the material online and continue developing your skills at your own pace.
Built for ongoing development. New lessons, training resources, and program content are added regularly to help members continue improving their skills and capabilities.
Who Is C-TAC® For?
C-TAC was created for responsible people who want practical skills, better awareness, increased preparedness, and a complete approach to personal protection.
The Responsible Citizen
You want practical skills to protect yourself and your family without becoming obsessed with violence, gear, or tactical trends.
The Everyday Carrier
You carry a firearm, knife, flashlight, medical gear, or other tools and want to understand how they fit into a complete protection strategy.
The Preparedness-Minded Individual
You value self-reliance, emergency readiness, planning, and developing the skills needed to handle unexpected situations.
The Lifelong Student
You enjoy learning, training, and continually improving your knowledge, awareness, decision-making, and overall capability.
You do not need military, law enforcement, or martial arts experience to benefit from C-TAC. You simply need a desire to become more capable, prepared, and responsible.
A Lifetime Studying Protection, Preparedness & Human Performance
Throughout his career, Alan has trained thousands of civilians, martial artists, instructors, protection professionals, and law enforcement personnel in practical skills designed for real-world application.
C-TAC represents the culmination of those experiences, bringing together self-protection, preparedness, awareness, decision-making, and everyday carry into a structured civilian training system.
“Preparedness is not about fear. It is about responsibility.”
There Are Two Ways To Engage With C-TAC®
Whether your goal is personal capability or professional instruction, C-TAC provides a structured path for continued growth, development, and real-world preparedness.
Build Personal Capability
Teach, Lead, And Build
Many members begin as students and later transition into the Instructor Program. Others join the Instructor Program immediately because they want access to the highest level of training, coaching, curriculum, and development available within the C-TAC system.
What Members Are Saying
When I look around today, I see fewer and fewer people willing to step forward when things go wrong. The world is filling up with bystanders. When the moment comes, and the situation turns bad, most people take a step back instead of a step in. The vision behind the C-Tac Association is to change that. Our mission is to develop modern warriors. Men and women who are prepared, capable, and willing to move toward the problem when everyone else is looking for a way out. If this sounds like the path you are seeking, then join us.
Alan Baker
Founder Of C-Tac
Ready To Become More Capable, Prepared, And Confident?
Whether your goal is personal protection, preparedness, everyday carry integration, or professional instructor development, C-TAC provides a structured path for continued growth and real-world capability.
Join The Student Academy
For individuals who want practical self-protection, preparedness, awareness, and everyday capability training.
Explore The Instructor Program
For instructors, coaches, academy owners, and serious practitioners seeking the complete C-TAC system.
Our Training Partners
The tactical training partners program gives members access to some of the industry’s top training instructors and facilities throughout the United States. Throughout the year, we will select events to attend with our training partners. These events will be open to anyone in the association and allow all attendees to train at an advanced level with these premier training facilities. For an affiliate introduction, please contact the C-Tac staff.
Designed for performance
This photo shows one of many pressure-tested options for driving an armed aggressor to the ground and transitioning to higher levels of force when the situation demands it. Not just theory or demo-only moves. They are trained, repeatable responses, refined over years of pressure testing by our team and delivered through an instructor cadre that prepares others for high-probability assaults.
In this program, you will study mechanics, sharpen your decision-making, and train until your responses are automatic under pressure. This is not a weekend certification. It is a long-term course of study for serious practitioners, built by high-level martial artists, firearms instructors, and experienced law enforcement operators.
The combatives industry is crowded with feel-good, low-value training that hands out paper after a single weekend. C-Tac is not that program if you are looking for an in-depth skill-building study, join us.
Weaponized Grappling
Designed For Reality
This photo captures one of many pressure-tested options for dealing with an armed aggressor or someone fighting to access your firearm. These are not theory-based ideas or demo-only moves that fall apart under stress. They are trained, repeatable responses that have been refined over years of pressure testing by our team and delivered through an instructor cadre that prepares others for high-probability, real-world assaults.
C-Tac integrates weaponry into all of its curriculum because that is the reality of modern violence. We live in a weapons-first culture. The bad guy is not planning to meet you on equal terms. He is going to show up with an advantage, whether that is a firearm, a blade, multiple attackers, or positional dominance. Your training needs to be built for that reality. C-Tac is designed to hardwire that mindset and skill set into your training environment so you and your students are better prepared for the kind of violence that actually happens, not the kind we wish existed.
EDC Focused
FAQs
Is C-Tac For Students Or Just Instructors?
C-Tac is for both.
If you want to train and develop your personal skills, you can join as a student through the Student Academy. That path is designed for people who want practical self-protection, tactical awareness, and a structured progression without needing to teach anyone else. You’ll be able to study the system, train the material, and build real capability step by step.
If you’re an instructor, coach, or academy owner who wants to teach C-Tac, you can join as an affiliate through the Instructor Program. That path is built for people who want to represent the system professionally, learn how to teach it the right way, and eventually offer C-Tac training under the association standards at your own location.
In short: students come to build skill. Affiliates come to build skill and earn the ability to teach the program.
Are the annual C-tac Camps included for Instructors?
Yes. We host three C-Tac Camps each year, and they are included as part of the Instructor Program at no additional cost.
We do this because of the principle of proximity. Alan is a strong proponent of in-person training, especially when it comes to developing instructors. Live training keeps standards high, sharpens timing and execution, and allows for real coaching, real feedback, and real accountability. If the goal is to build some of the best instructors in the industry, getting people in the room consistently is necessary.
What is inside the C-Tac Instructor Academy?
The C-Tac Online Training Academy is the central hub for your training, whether you’re enrolled as a student or you’re part of the Instructor Program.
Inside the Academy, you’ll find a deep library of support materials built to help you study, train, and teach the system correctly. That includes reference videos, structured curriculum content across the phases of C-Tac, instructor manuals, student reference cards, and exclusive footage of Coach Alan teaching and breaking down the material in detail.
You’ll also get access to real-world training content that shows how the system is applied and refined, including footage of Coach Alan working with top protection schools and training alongside highly respected firearms instructors. In addition, the Academy includes video from instructor camps, public seminars, workshops, and training events held around the United States, so you’re not just learning “what” to do, you’re seeing how it’s taught, trained, and pressure-tested in the field.
In short, the Instructor Academy is there to elevate your understanding, tighten your execution, and give you the tools and structure to represent C-Tac at a professional level.
What makes C-Tac different from martial arts
Most martial arts are built around a system. C-Tac is built around reality.
Sport training has rules, weight classes, evenly matched opponents, and a clean environment. That can be great for competition, but it’s not how real violence shows up. Real problems happen when the threat is bigger, stronger, armed, or not alone. They happen in tight spaces, against walls, seated, in and around vehicles, or when you’re already out of position and behind the timing. No referees. No do-overs.
C-Tac is designed to bridge the gap between martial arts, self-protection, and the warrior mindset. We train to create capable protectors, people who can step forward when it matters, not freeze and become bystanders. That means we focus on decision-making, mechanics, and pressure-tested responses you can actually repeat under stress, fatigue, and fear.
Another significant difference is the filter we run everything through. C-Tac includes de-escalation and soft control because fighting should be the last resort. We teach legal knowledge and considerations, reasonable-force decision-making, and the social and visual realities of modern life, because your actions will be recorded and judged. The goal is not just to “win.” The goal is to go home with your freedom and your integrity intact.
We also integrate weapons and EDC into the curriculum because we live in a weapons-first culture. The bad guy is not planning to meet you on equal terms. Your training has to account for firearms, blades, access and denial, and the chaos of real environments. C-Tac is built to hardwire that mindset and skill set so your training matches the world as it is, not the world a style defines.
What are the in-person training options for C-tac?
C-Tac has multiple ways to get hands-on training, depending on whether you are training as a student or as an instructor.
If you are in the Instructor Program, you get access to the C-Tac Instructor Training Camps. These camps are where we keep standards high, refine your teaching ability, and pressure-test the material in person.
You can also travel to Atlanta and schedule private training sessions with Alan or his staff. That is one of the fastest ways to tighten up mechanics, get coaching, and accelerate your progress.
On top of that, Alan is available for seminars, workshops, and camps hosted at your location through the C-Tac system.
And if travel is not realistic right now, Zoom private training sessions are also an option. Alan does these with students worldwide, and they are a solid way to get direct coaching, guidance, and training direction even from a distance.
What do I get as a student vs an instructor/affiliate?
As a student member, you get access to the C-Tac Student Online Academy. This is where you study the curriculum, follow the training progressions, and build real capability through the video lessons, drills, and support material designed for personal development.
As an instructor/affiliate member, you get access to everything at a much higher level. The Instructor Academy archive is vast, with deep curriculum coverage plus instructor-level resources like manuals, training outlines, and teaching support material. Instructors also receive access to the included instructor camps each year, which is a major part of the program and one of the reasons the instructor path is so effective.
You also receive additional benefits tied to direct development with Alan, including discounts on certain training opportunities and a much heavier emphasis on the proximity principle. Alan puts a tremendous amount of energy into his instructors because the mission is to build a cadre of high-level people who truly understand the system and can operate it under pressure.
And to be clear, you do not have to teach to join the Instructor Program. Many people join the instructor path strictly for personal training because it is the higher-level track with more access, coaching, and in-person development.
Do I need to carry a firearm or EDC to train C-Tac?
No. You do not need to carry a firearm to train C-Tac.
C-Tac teaches a simple truth: in the real world, anything you can get your hands on can become a tool, including the environment around you. Fighting is an art of war, and that mindset matters. Over the years, many martial arts drifted away from that reality. C-Tac brings it back by teaching you how to think, move, position, and problem-solve when the situation is not clean and the threat is not fair.
We do cover EDC and how to set yourself up, but we don’t force a one-size-fits-all loadout. Your EDC should match your lifestyle, where you live, and what level of force you’re realistically facing. The goal is to help you build a personal protection plan that makes sense for you, instead of following a rigid “this is the only way” approach. In a real situation, you need options, not limitations.
Do the Online Academies Get Regular Updates?
Yes. The Legacy Academies are continuously updated, and the library keeps expanding throughout the year.
Each January, we dedicate a focused recording block in which Alan and the team film new curriculum content. Beyond that, we add material year-round from real training environments. Instructor camps are recorded and uploaded, and many of Alan’s tactical training events are captured and added when filming is permitted. That includes range training days, private lessons with Alan’s instructors as he travels across the U.S., and private training sessions Alan teaches and records with students.
We also continue adding classes and training content filmed at the academy, plus new lessons, drills, and system breakdowns as the curriculum grows. The C-Tac Instructor archive alone is extensive, with thousands of videos, and it continues to expand as new events and training blocks are recorded.
Is C-Tac a month-to-month membership, and can I cancel anytime?
Yes. C-Tac memberships are month-to-month, and you can cancel anytime. There are no long-term contracts. Stay enrolled for as long as you’re actively training and using the material.
Is there a way for students to ask questions?
Yes. As a C-Tac Academy student, you can ask questions directly inside the Online Academy, and our staff will respond and help you as you work through the curriculum.
We built this in so you’re not left guessing or trying to “figure it out” on your own. If you hit a sticking point in a lesson, want clarity on a concept, or need help applying the material, you can post your question in the Academy and get guidance from the team.
Do I need any experience to join C-Tac?
No. You don’t need prior experience to start. C-Tac is structured so beginners can build a strong foundation step by step, while experienced students, protection professionals, and instructors can go deeper into higher-level tactics, mechanics, and decision-making.
If you’re brand new, you’ll have a clear starting point and progression that focuses on fundamentals and real-world applicability. If you’ve been training for years, you’ll find plenty of material to sharpen your skills, tighten your fundamentals, and expand your understanding of self-protection, awareness, and legally aligned responses.
How is the C-Tac Academy different from YouTube / online instruction?
The C-Tac Academy is not a pile of random techniques. It’s a structured training platform built around curriculum, progressions, and principles that connect the dots. YouTube can be great for ideas and inspiration, but most of what you find online is scattered, out of sequence, and missing the “why” that makes the tactic work under stress.
Inside the C-Tac Academy, the material is organized so you can build real capability over time, starting with fundamentals and moving into deeper layers of mechanics, decision-making, and pressure-tested application. You’re not just learning moves. You’re learning a training method and a blueprint for how self-protection actually works in the real world, including the legal and social realities that most programs ignore.
On top of that, the Academy continues to grow. We add new content from dedicated recording blocks and from live training events like instructor camps, seminars, and workshops, so the platform stays active, current, and evolving rather than stale.
Is there a ranking or certification path, and how does testing work?
Yes. C-Tac has a structured ranking and advancement path for both students and instructors, and testing is done in person so standards stay high.
Instructors test and advance at the Instructor Camps. There is no extra charge for instructor testing, it’s included as part of the program. This also keeps everything consistent, because you’re being evaluated directly by the association in the training environment where we develop our instructors.
Students have multiple options. You can test during private lessons, you can test with a certified C-Tac instructor, or you can coordinate to test at the annual conference with our association staff. The goal is simple: give students clear ways to progress while keeping the testing process legitimate and consistent.
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Out Of Position Fighting
This photo highlights another core piece of what we do in C-Tac: Dog Boxing and out-of-position fighting. Real violence rarely happens in a perfect stance with clean distance and angles. It happens when you are bent over, smashed into a wall, trapped between seats in a vehicle, tied up in a clinch, or pulled off balance while trying to protect a loved one. Dog Boxing training is built for those ugly moments when your posture is broken, your line of sight is compromised, and you still have to fight, think, and protect your weapons.
In C-Tac, we pressure test these out-of-position scenarios so they become familiar terrain instead of blind spots. You learn to strike, control, and access or deny weapons when you are seated, pinned, kneeling, or twisted in tight spaces. We train repeatable responses that have been refined through years of live drilling and scenario work, not just ideas that look good on video. The goal is simple: when the fight goes crooked, you and your students know how to keep thinking, keep moving, and keep making intelligent decisions in the chaos.
Dog Boxing
Tactical Medicine
This photo represents another critical component of C-Tac: tactical medicine. In real-world violence, people get hurt. Sometimes it is you, sometimes it is your partner, sometimes it is a bystander who was never part of the fight. C-Tac does not stop at striking, grappling, and weapon work. We train you to manage the aftermath in those first critical minutes when help is not there yet, and your actions will decide whether someone lives or dies.
Our tactical medicine training focuses on simple, high-value skills that can be performed under stress. Stopping massive bleeding, managing airways, recognizing shock, moving an injured person to safety, and communicating clearly in a chaotic environment. These are not theory-based lectures. They are practical, repeatable interventions refined through constant training and integrated directly into our scenarios. The goal is straightforward: if violence shows up in your world, you are not just a fighter, you are also a capable responder who can stabilize the scene until professional medical help arrives.
Tac Med
