Our History
HOW WE STARTED
Understanding the need.
Quinton Swanson (his friends call him ‘Q’) came from a military family and had started martial arts at five years old. He joined the NZ Police in 1991 and served nine years in various specialist roles including:
– VIP & Witness Protection Officer and Unit Defensive Tactics Trainer
– Defensive Tactics Instructor at RNZPC for Protection Officers
– Team Policing Squad Team Member and Defensive Tactics Trainer
– Surveillance and Monitoring Officer
– Warrant Execution & Entry Team Member
MAKING IT HAPPEN
Developing skills and passing them on.
During that time he realised that there was a gap in conflict management training, especially in military and law enforcement roles. So with the support of his wife Vicky, he started passionately developing his training systems. He began teaching others what he knew and quickly those around him realised his talent. His scenario-based and instinctive approach was natural to follow and easily recalled in times of stress. Not only that, he could even teach children as he had a way of making them feel at ease despite the underlying seriousness of the content. He left the NZ police and in 1998 they foundered Contact Self Defence Ltd (later called Contact Training Systems Ltd) which initially delivered ‘Management’ training programmes nationally to NZ government departments. These included the Department of Corrections, Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry, Customs Service, NZ Police and NZ Defence Force.
He was also contracted to deliver training to a wide range of other government agencies internationally in South Africa, USA, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore. This international experience ensured that his training was up-to-date and of the highest international standard.
TODAY
HardTarget now has a team of Trainers to deliver the training across a range of sectors in New Zealand and internationally. They are at the forefront of their industry and help all sorts of people to confront challenges to their safety. Teaching skills in the event of an incident, but importantly preventing situations arising by enhancing awareness and increasing confidence. With new technology always evolving we continue to use these as tools to accelerate learning and scale up access to quality content. Have more questions to ask us? Flick us a message HERE.
Try it out first!
If you would like to experience what a course will be like, then try our short free quiz and test your understanding of personal safety before you make a commitment to the full course. Enjoy!
WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT US
“I felt very confident and safe while training. Instructor has great knowledge and content provided through relevant examples.”
“Great for Core Skills! Awesome! I used a lot of this with my store detective position a few years ago so its been good as a refresher & learning new skills as well thank you so much HardTarget.”
“I thought the visual search part was superb. That constantly looking is vital to keep yourself and your team safe”
“Five star rating! Clear & Helpful. Thanks, this course was great, Nice videos outlines. ”
“This is fun, simple and to the point. No mucking around!”
“The introduction with Quinton is very interesting. I like real live video. The skills of interacting with another person and using the verbal and communication is very important. Vision all is another thing too. Thank you "Q".”
“I would now feel confident facing a threatening situation and knowing what to do. The role plays were very beneficial!”
“As a result of life-like scenarios during your training I was not only physically but also mentally prepared when confronted by my attacker. Thank you Q!”
“Great course! A great course that provides you with the knowledge and wisdom to safely perform tasks. ”
“It was top quality and the boys are going to have skills that they can use for the rest of their lives. We will be using HardTarget again in the future.”
“FOUNTAIN OF KNOWLEDGE! Excellent course in which I gained a better understanding of the core skills required as a Security Officer. Just going back to the basics provides what you will eventually build from to increase your knowledge and understanding.”
“As a business owner, I found the team from HardTarget very professional. Highly recommend.”
