The Founder

Lawrence N. Nadeau is an honorably discharged United States Marine, who served as a military police officer from July 4, 1980 to July 4, 1984. Upon leaving the Marine Corp. Larry entered the civilian law enforcement profession, working in the Virginia state university police system for five years, and then served for many years as a sworn police officer in the city of Poquoson, Virginia until March of 1998. While with the Poquoson City Police Department, he served as the Department Training Office and Field Training Coordinator in addition to his patrol duties. In 1989 Larry founded Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) Systems and served as the organizations Executive Director until June of 1998, when he turned organization management over to four of his senior female Staff Instructors. Today R.A.D. is a nationally recognized alliance of self-defense educators dedicated to enhancing defensive options for women and children, while developing their abilities to manage aggressive and violent behavior. R.A.D. is the largest organization of its kind and it is the only such organization or program ever endorsed by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA). Larry now serves the Executive Board of R.A.D. Systems as the Director of Instructional Development, where he continues to guide and oversee all system Staff Instructors, Instructor Trainers and active R.A.D. Instructors within the alliance. Larry’s self defense philosophies have been taught at over one thousand colleges, universities, city, county and parish police departments nationwide and in Canada, in addition to being taught at numerous sexual assault resource centers. While still the Executive Director of R.A.D. Systems, Larry formed a panel of experts to assist him in the development of the radKIDS System. This program has certified hundreds of Instructors in the United States and Canada, who teach children from 5-10 years of age and their parents, safety and awareness strategies.

Larry was the first male Executive Board Member of the American Women’s Self Defense Association (AWSDA) from 1992 to 1995, and now serves on the Advisory Board of the National Self Defense Institute (NSDI) located in Miami Beach, Florida. He is also the Director of Training for NSDI, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing awareness information about personal safety and self-defense.

Larry holds a 3rd Degree Black Belt from the International Hapkido Karate Association (IHKA), given to him by 9th Degree Grand Master Lee Jung Bai of Seoul, Korea, who personally trained him in the martial art of Hapkido.

Larry is a nationally recognized police defensive tactics instructor and has been one of the few instructors responsible for teaching Instructor Certification Courses for the Commonwealth of Virginia from 1989 to 2001. In addition Larry was an Adjunct Instructor for the International Training Division of Heckler and Koch (HK) located in Sterling, Virginia from 1996 to 2001. With his professional ally, Gary T. Klugiewicz, Larry designed and taught the RedMan Simulation Certification programs for HK and RedMan Training Gear from 1996 to 2001.

Larry was also a member of the RedMan Advisory Board (1995 – 2001) and remains a consultant to Macho Products, Inc. who manufactures RedMan police training gear and martial arts training equipment. His design input and testing refinements resulted in the worlds’ first manufacturer produced self-defense training suit, which was in turn called the R.A.D. Systems Aggressor. This suit became, without modification, the Enhanced RedMan Suit for police survival oriented defensive tactics training.

The American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers (ASLET) appointed Larry as a Regional Director in 1993 where he spearheads the promotion of quality law enforcement training in the mid Atlantic and nationally until 2000. Larry was an ASLET Staff Instructor from 1994 – 2000, teaching in conferences and seminars around the country. He has been published in numerous law enforcement magazines, journals and newsletters, and has been featured in SWAT magazine, The Campus Law Enforcement Journal, Law Enforcement Trainer magazine and The Police Marksman magazine. Larry has also appeared on the Law Enforcement Television Network (LETN) over twelve (12) times with regard to police defensive tactics, self-defense and simulation training methods. He is a frequent presenter at state, national and international training forums, and he has been the guest speaker at numerous professional and awareness oriented functions.

As a result of streamlining his professional endeavors in 2000-2001, Larry was able to introduce the much anticipated R.A.D. FOR MEN Program in the March of 2001, which was the culmination of many years of research and refinement. Resisting Aggression with Defense, for Men is the “brother” program of the ground breaking and highly acclaimed Rape Aggression Defense Program for Women.

Larry currently teaches self defense and police tactics upon request as a consultant, through the National Academy of Defense Education, (formerly the Tidewater Academy of Self-Defense) which is currently located in Poquoson, Virginia. He is the author of numerous training manuals which are a concise summary of the police defensive tactics and self-defense philosophies he has learned, developed and refined over the last twenty-nine (29) years (1980-2009).

The R.A.D. System of Self-Defense

According to creator, Lawrence N. Nadeau:

Rape is something like a pebble dropped into a pond. Its impact, so visible at first, quickly diminishes as society forgets, leaving the victim alone with her pain. The forgotten pebble is yesterday’s rape, tomorrow’s statistics. The crime of rape is reported so infrequently that society in general is oblivious to its magnitude. Until it happens to ‘them’ or someone ‘they’ know and love, its just another headline, just another crime that happens to someone else. There are a vast number of experts on the subject of rape. Experts in prevention, criminal motivations, suspect profiling, statistical analysis, social responsibility, psychological effects on victims, etc… And quite frankly, I am humbled by their knowledge and dedication to this critical social issue. I can offer little to the theories and studies conducted in an attempt to understand rape and its consequences, but agree that understanding the problem is a key to rectifying it. 20 years ago my research into defense classes designed for women led primarily to one or two hour lectures that focused on avoidance, prevention and compliance if attacked. These lectures are good, but fail to fill the need for physical self defense training, and their recommendation of only compliance is libelous and counter to the instinct of self preservation. To the other extreme, we found the martial arts defense training, generically applied to men, women, seniors and children. This approach is excellent for developing body mechanics, physical fitness and confidence, but the time consuming dedication needed to be proficient is more than most people are willing to endure. In addition, martial arts training and its instructors are often too traditional, regimented and ceremonial for the vast majority of our population.

This research led to the development of the Rape Aggression Defense System, a system of defense for women. It advocates realistically employable tactics, without the time investment, ceremony, regimen, or mystical concepts of a martial art. The R.A.D. System, however, is no quick solution in itself, but is a course of carefully selected defensive tactics with helpful guidelines for continued personal growth. One can easily refer to the Participant Manual and review specific techniques of defense, when time has been set aside for practice. A person’s attitude about safety and even survival is a personal thing and the level of seriousness one has, is usually directly proportionate to training dedication. Malcolm X once said, “It is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.” Though Malcolm X was to some a controversial figure in history, his statement rings with truth. I believe we as a society have been guilty of this philosophy in not teaching women how to defend themselves, though they are the victims of constant brutal attack.

The Rape Aggression Defense System is not for the weak at heart, or the conscientious objector. Our system is specifically designed for women who are willing to consider as a viable option, defense, in situations where their life is in jeopardy. Is this program any better than what you have previously learned or will learn in the future? The answer to this question is “Not necessarily”. Many instructors or developers of programs insist that their method is the best. Instructors often lend themselves to opinion, and often these opinions are distorted by personal biases. Please do not be swayed by one Instructor’s criticism of another, evaluate each program, method, class, tactic and/or technique on its own merit. After many hours of training in numerous methods, I believe that there are good elements in all kinds of programs. I also believe that what is most important is not a volume of knowledge, but the ability to apply what you know Find a method to which you can dedicate your training time. Practice that method. Make it your dominant response in the stress of a violent encounter.

Consider the following:

  • Ease in learning and retention;
  • Practical nature;
  • Applicability under Stress;
  • Continuity within structure;
  • Ability to accept/adapt previously learned skills.

Then decide.