I joined the Police Service in 1976. I graduated in June of 1977 and was posted to Chatham. I spent the following five and a half years on Uniform Patrol. The first three of it was "Walking the Beat". The first lesson I learned was "Never Run" it tends to panic the general public. "Slow in, walk out, fast in, carried out". After an assignment with the Criminal Investigation Department I felt right for an onwards move. I applied for an attachment to the Support Group (SG). The SG was a group of Officers who were selected as an Armed Response to high risk operations. In addition, they provided Protection Duties for VIP's, including Her Majesty and the Prime Minister. I first became authorized as an Armed Officer in 1981 and commenced my SG tour in 1983.

During the late 1980's I traveled across the UK and in Europe, shooting and training with various Military Units. The experiences were priceless. I trained with SEK / MEK and UK Military RMP C.P. Teams in Germany. For a while I trained with former East German Special Forces. I had the chance to fly, jump out of aircraft, then blow holes in evacuated Russian Barracks.

In 1994, while training in Belgium, I met two times world champion in Wing Chun Kung Fu, François Toussaint. I struck up a deal with him, "Teach me to fight and I will teach you to shoot".  It was as simple as that, a chance meeting in Europe over a beer. When François saw the stance I shot from, he was suddenly interested in what previous Martial Arts I had studied. Very little was my reply. He insisted that I sit down and write out exactly what I was doing and why.

By this time I had left the SG and had become a Detective, working field duties. I was still shooting, in fact more than ever. I had already trained in the USA and was one of the first ASP and PPCT Instructors in the UK. I was researching better ways to shoot and how to get faster from the holster. In 1992 and 1993 I won the European Cop Shoot NATO Championships in Germany. I would guess that I shot about 1000 rounds a week.

I found myself in a position where I was able to travel to the USA and take time to write. In 1995, I was invited to enroll on an FBI Firearms Instructor School, being held in Tennessee. There I began to shoot and show the CAR system. Over the next four years I traveled between the USA and the UK, training and developing the system. I have met many people and began to research deeply into the human body and what we do under stress.  I took all the information I could get from Martial Arts, books, and range experimentation.

Since 1999 I have been instructing full time in the USA, UK, Canada, and Europe. I have been steadily developing the manual and system by tapping into the skills of the many fine trainers I have met. Every school I attend, Students offer their experiences and insights into the area of Officer Survival. Without the assistance of many people I could not know what I know now.

I continue to do research for the CAR system and am convinced that as a system, it simply out performs the traditional stances being taught around the world. When the CAR Active - Defense system is demonstrated and explained, Trainers and Operators can easily see the benefits it offers over traditional forms of shooting.

We have a duty to ensure that we continue to search for techniques that work on demand and at a moments notice. To resist new ideas, to discard new thinking, to turn a blind eye, is to put our ego in front of the safety of an Operators Life. The CAR System has been adopted as the primary weapon firing and retention system by many top Agencies. They know the benefit it offers. I believe in the CAR system. Try it for yourself, and make up your own mind.

- Paul Castle -