Escape & Evasion
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.
Physical book · Delivered to your door · Available now
The Problem
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
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.
Who It's For
Meet Rob Baard
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
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
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
The 6 Phases of Lawful Escape — the survival continuum behind the full 18-chapter manual. Free PDF.
Shihan 14th Dan · Japan-licensed Shidoshi