4 Essential Factors of Becoming a Bodyguard

by Executive Protection Institute EPI was founded in 1978

If you want to work in the personal protection industry, you must not buy into the "stereotypical" characteristics of a bodyguard that Hollywood movies promote. Instead, you should think carefully about what you will have to do on the job every day.

Want to learn how to be a bodyguard? If yes, then here are four essential factors of becoming a bodyguard you must keep in mind:

Be calm, relaxed, and collected all the time.

If you are the type of person who finds it hard to control your frustration when you get rattled, do not become a bodyguard. As a bodyguard, you will be dealing with drunk, enraged, and ignorant people on a daily basis. If you cannot keep a cool head while listening to them acting crazy about why they are refusing your instructions, you will only make things worse.

Learn how to say "No" to people without losing your cool, and be prepared to listen to all kinds of things. Being thick-skinned will help you simply disregard all the comments and still be able to do your job without fighting back.

Forget martial arts and learn simple restraint techniques instead.

When the time comes that you need to defend yourself or others, you will not be able to use any fancy martial art moves to resolve the situation. For one, you will not have enough room to move, and very likely, there will be other people in the way that must not be involved in any dangerous situation.

Simple restraint techniques that you would learn in your bodyguard training work every time.

Most people that want to fight bodyguards cannot actually fight and just brawl or scramble on the ground. Ignore any moves that rely on pain or force because intoxicated attackers will not feel the pain until hours later. By stepping in an armlock, you will get instant compliance without risking the attacker landing a serious injury on you.

Be alert and maintain a safety zone around you at all times.

The most common injury to bodyguards is being hit from behind. This is because the attacker is afraid of attacking you front on in a fair fight. You need to understand that when approaching a conflict situation that you do not underestimate any people nearby.

Keep moving around the event when talking with the person of interest so that you are a harder target to ambush from behind and can quickly move around if needed.

Pay attention to all the details.

Spend time on your new work location, getting to know what belongs and what does not in your area. This way, you can immediately detect when something is out of the ordinary and needs investigating.

Before investigating, though, make an entry in your logbook regarding what you are investigating and note registration plates or any identifying factors. This may sound strange and unnecessary, but you might not get the chance to come back and write this information down if you are seriously injured.

Armed with this knowledge, you will be able to succeed in your job as a bodyguard!