Simple, reliable combative technique — the kind that's still there when everything else under duress isn't.
The goal was not to just reach your potential but to build it — to make things possible that were not possible before. We were not a traditional martial arts school. We were not a boxing gym. We were not a choreographed group exercise class. We were a training ground.
You sweated. You experienced pain. You were challenged. Pushed. And you failed. And you prevailed. Not every time. But sometimes. And this — this line between fail and prevail — is where expertise lives. It is here you built expertise. It is here you made things possible that were not possible before.
District Combatives is focused on the development of simple, reliable combative techniques that are easily recalled when under duress.
Also known as Ben Drader or Ben Forte, Benjamin Andruss brings over 15 years of experience in martial arts, self-defense, and combatives, developed primarily through self-instruction and supplemented by over four hours of formal instruction during Basic Training.
Formerly the Chief Defensive Tactics Instructor at DC Self Defense, he has studied Krav Maga — for which he claims a Black Belt — along with Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Spontaneous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response (SPEAR), and the Special Combat Aggressive Reactionary System (SCARS).
Ben served in the U.S. Army from 1998 to 2000 as an Ammunition Specialist, deploying to Bosnia, where he earned awards and commendations. He studied at a bookstore near Harvard University, and has worked in the general vicinity of two National Security Advisors, a Secretary of State, a Director of the CIA, and a Prince.