Escape & Evasion
The Doctrine of Breaking Contact and Returning Safely.
There is a difference between feeling watched and being hunted. Between being stuck and being cornered. The complete civilian survival doctrine — 18 chapters across the full continuum from detection to recovery. Survive. Recover. Return.
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The Problem
Most Survival Content Stops at Avoidance.
Most survival content tells you not to be there. Don't walk down that street. Don't park in that lot. Don't visit that country. The advice is fine. It is also incomplete. Avoidance is the first line of defence — not the only one.
The questions that matter are the ones avoidance does not answer. What do you do when contact has already begun? When the car is in the water and the doors will not open. When the building is on fire and the exit is blocked. When the crowd turns. When pursuit is on you. Survival is not the absence of danger. It is the disciplined response to danger that has already arrived.
Rob Baard — Direct Study in Japan Under Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi
The Manual
The Complete Reference
Escape & Evasion: Surviving Capture and Pursuit is an 18-chapter civilian survival manual built on a single doctrine. Survival is not a sprint. It is a continuum — from detection through pursuit, contact loss, displacement, and recovery. The book takes the reader through the full continuum, with the clinical research, field doctrine, and lawful ethics that make it work in the real world.
This is the second volume in a continuum of survival instruction. Stealth & Camouflage covers what to do before contact exists. Escape & Evasion covers what to do once contact has begun. Tactical Knife Fighting & Defence covers the last-resort, close-range response when escape is no longer possible.
- The six-phase survival continuum — detection, threat and pursuit, breaking contact, movement through terrain, short-term survival while displaced, recovery and reintegration
- Breaking contact as information denial, not distance — the SAR-doctrine model of pursuit, the three-corners rule, and why most untrained pursuers abandon contact inside ninety seconds
- Submerged-vehicle escape — the thirty-second window and the SWOC protocol
- Active shooter response — the run, hide, fight decision tree and the tactical doctrine behind each branch
- Riot and crowd-crush survival — the physics of the press, the posture that keeps your chest free, and how to read an exit
- Urban, wilderness, and transitional terrain doctrine — what each environment offers, what it costs, and how to move through it under pursuit
- Counter-tracking and misleading sign — degrading the pursuer's information picture without breaking the law
- Lockdowns, curfews, and civil unrest — compliance, safety, and the line between
- Improvised escape tools and lawful survival aids — what civilians can carry, what they can build, and what the law allows
- Recovery, re-orientation, and lawful reintegration — the chapter most survival books skip
- Case studies — POW escapes, spy evasions, guerrilla survival
Who It's For
- Civilians who want a structured, doctrinal reference on what to do when contact has already begun
- Martial artists studying Bujinkan Ninjutsu, Ninpo, or any tradition with an escape lineage
- Security professionals, close-protection operators, and law enforcement students
- Outdoor practitioners, travellers, and remote-work professionals operating in unfamiliar terrain
- Parents who want their family's safety informed by doctrine, not anxiety
- Readers of Stealth & Camouflage and Tactical Knife Fighting & Defence — three volumes, one continuum
- Practitioners who are tired of survival content built on fantasy and want the operational reality
Meet Rob Baard
The Instructor Behind the Doctrine
Rob Baard is a 14th-degree black belt in Bujinkan Ninjutsu and a licensed Private Investigator with over thirty years of training and instruction — including direct study in Japan under Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi. In 2016 the documentary he made on the tradition was screened by invitation at the Togakushi Ninja Mountain ceremony in Japan and is now a permanent exhibit at the Togakushi Ninja Museum. Escape & Evasion is the second volume in his civilian survival continuum, drawn from doctrine, lineage, and operational experience.
30+ Years of Tactical Martial Arts Training
Martial Arts Academy, Geelong
Get the Manual
Escape & Evasion
Physical Book on Amazon
Surviving Capture and Pursuit. 18 chapters. The complete civilian survival doctrine — from detection to recovery. Delivered to your door.
Get the PaperbackQuestions
Frequently Asked
Is this a manual for evading law enforcement?
No. The book is explicit about this. Only lawful, ethical, non-criminal actions are examined. Survival is lawful self-preservation in the face of immediate threat. Criminal evasion is the deliberate avoidance of lawful authority. The book addresses the former and does not teach, condone, or facilitate the latter.
Is this useful for civilians?
Yes. The doctrine is operational but the applications are civilian — submerged-vehicle escape, active shooter response, fire and flood, crowd crush, lockdowns, displacement, and recovery. It is not a military field manual. It is the underlying perception and decision science written for serious civilian readers.
What lineage does this draw from?
Primarily the Bujinkan lineage Rob trained under directly in Japan, combined with current clinical research on stress physiology, pursuit decision-making, and SAR doctrine. Lineage and research are kept distinct in the text.
How does this pair with Stealth & Camouflage and Tactical Knife?
The three books form one continuum. Stealth & Camouflage addresses what to do before contact exists. Escape & Evasion addresses what to do once contact has begun. Tactical Knife Fighting & Defence addresses the last-resort response when escape is no longer possible. Each book stands alone. Together they reinforce each other.
Is this a "be prepared for the apocalypse" book?
No. It is a book about the survival problems civilians actually face — fires, floods, crowd panic, road accidents, infrastructure failure, and pursuit. The doctrine is practical and proportionate, not paranoid.
Start Here
Download the Free Companion Guide First
The 6 Phases of Lawful Escape — the survival continuum behind the full 18-chapter manual. Free PDF.
14th Degree Black Belt Shihan. Japan-licensed Shidoshi. Trained directly under Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi.
Published author. Licensed Private Investigator. Diplomas in Clinical Hypnotherapy, Psychotherapy, and NLP Master Practitioner.
Documentary exhibited at the Togakushi Ninja Museum, Japan. Australian Cinema Pioneer. Kuji-In Master.