Contact
505-913-0199
Serving
Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland, and the Greater Seattle Area
Who is ETS360?
Founded by Doug Hicks, Enhanced Training Solutions 360 (ETS360) brings more than four decades of martial arts experience and over 30 years of professional instruction into a modern approach to personal protection, safety education, and human development.
ETS360 grew from a simple belief: effective training should do more than teach people techniques. It should help them recognize challenges, make better decisions, develop practical skills, and become more confident and capable in their everyday lives.
Through Warrior Path martial arts training, personal safety workshops, professional education, and customized training programs, ETS360 helps individuals and organizations develop the awareness, knowledge, and abilities to respond effectively to real-world situations.
Our approach combines practical experience with contemporary teaching methods, emphasizing active participation, critical thinking, problem-solving, and learning through experience.
We believe that meaningful training is not simply about what someone knows or what they can demonstrate in a controlled environment. It is about what they can recognize, understand, decide, and accomplish when circumstances change.
Our goal is to help people become more aware, more capable, and better prepared for the challenges they may encounter.
Doug Hicks has dedicated more than 40 years to studying martial arts, personal protection, and combatives, and more than three decades to teaching others.
His background combines traditional martial arts, military service, law enforcement, professional security training, and decades of experience developing and delivering instructional programs.
Throughout his career, Doug has trained civilians, martial artists, military personnel, law enforcement officers, security professionals, and instructors across North and Central America.
His experience includes teaching defensive tactics, personal protection, conflict management, crisis resolution, officer survival, and reality-based training.
As a martial arts instructor, Doug has received black belt and instructor recognition through several organizations, including:
Tiger Claw Kung Fu School
World Kubojitsu Association
Canadian Jiu Jitsu Association
International Martial Arts Federation
His professional instructional background includes specialized training in defensive tactics, weapons retention, arrest and control, ground control, less-lethal systems, and scenario-based instruction.
While these experiences have provided a broad technical foundation, Doug believes that the true measure of effective instruction is not how much an instructor knows, but how well students learn, understand, and apply what they have been taught.
This philosophy has become central to the development of ETS360 and Warrior Path.
Warrior Path represents the continuing evolution of Doug's martial arts training, teaching experience, and personal philosophy.
Drawing from traditional martial arts, modern combatives, and real-world defensive training, Warrior Path focuses on developing practical skills alongside awareness, adaptability, confidence, and sound decision-making.
Students learn striking, grappling, control, movement, and personal protection skills through a progressive training environment that encourages exploration, understanding, and problem-solving.
But Warrior Path is about more than physical techniques.
Students are encouraged to challenge their assumptions, explore their capabilities, manage their emotions, and develop the ability to remain thoughtful and effective under pressure.
Rather than defining success solely through techniques, belts, or competition, Warrior Path emphasizes individual progress, practical capability, and personal development.
The objective is not simply to become better at martial arts.
It is to become more capable in life.
Doug's professional experience has repeatedly demonstrated that personal safety and effective performance depend on much more than physical skills.
Recognizing potential problems, understanding human behavior, communicating effectively, managing emotions, and making appropriate decisions are often just as important as knowing how to respond physically.
These principles became the foundation for Enhanced Training Solutions 360.
ETS360 expands the educational approach beyond martial arts through personal safety workshops, scenario-based learning experiences, instructor development, and workplace safety education.
Training may address subjects such as situational awareness, conflict prevention, de-escalation, communication, emotional intelligence, decision-making, and practical responses to challenging situations.
The programs are designed to encourage participation rather than passive observation, helping people connect what they learn with situations they may actually encounter.
Whether working with an individual student, a community group, a martial arts instructor, or an organization, the underlying philosophy remains the same:
Develop awareness. Build understanding. Practice useful skills. Become more capable.
Hello, my name is Doug Hicks.
Martial arts and combatives have been a lifelong passion for me. Like many people of my generation, my interest began after watching Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon on the big screen.
In 1981, I began studying traditional Chinese martial arts. I quickly became a committed student, training regularly and helping newer students whenever I had the opportunity. I earned my Black Sash in 1985.
That early experience gave me much more than physical skills. It introduced me to the discipline, dedication, self-exploration, and personal growth that would remain important throughout my life.
Following my early martial arts training, I joined the Canadian Army, serving two years in the regular forces and another five years in the reserves.
My military experience introduced me to a different perspective on conflict, strategy, tactics, and the realities of human confrontation.
In 1988, I joined the Metropolitan Toronto Police Service.
During my law enforcement career, I became a firearms range officer and certified defensive tactics instructor. I studied conflict management and crisis resolution and developed extensive experience training officers in defensive tactics, officer survival, and other specialized subjects.
I served as an instructor at the Ontario Police College and later at the New Mexico State Law Enforcement Training Academy. I also provided training within my own department and advanced instruction for specialized police teams.
These experiences significantly influenced my understanding of personal protection.
They reinforced that real-world situations are unpredictable, that people respond differently under stress, and that effective training must develop judgment and adaptability alongside physical skills.
Throughout my professional career, I continued exploring martial arts and combative systems from different cultures and traditions.
My studies have included traditional Chinese martial arts, Japanese Karate and Jiu Jitsu, Filipino stick and knife systems, Kempo Karate, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Russian martial arts.
I have always respected the traditions and knowledge that different systems offer, but I have never believed that one style or method contains all the answers.
My interest has been in understanding why things work, when they work, and how different principles can be applied effectively.
Over time, this curiosity led me to develop my own approach to training and instruction, combining useful elements from many disciplines with the lessons learned through professional experience.
And that process continues today.
I still consider myself a student.
One of the most rewarding parts of my journey has been teaching.
I enjoy helping people discover abilities they didn't realize they possessed, overcome limitations they had accepted, and develop greater confidence in themselves.
Over the years, I've come to recognize that the greatest benefits of training often extend well beyond the subject being taught.
A student may begin martial arts because they want to learn self-defense, improve their fitness, or develop practical skills.
Along the way, they may also discover greater patience, self-awareness, emotional control, confidence, and a willingness to challenge themselves.
These changes can influence their relationships, careers, personal goals, and everyday lives.
For me, that is where teaching becomes especially meaningful.
Warrior Path and ETS360 are the result of everything I have studied, experienced, questioned, and learned throughout my life.
They reflect my belief that learning should be active, engaging, practical, and personally meaningful.
I want students to understand what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how to adapt that understanding to situations that may be very different from anything they have practiced before.
I also believe that people are capable of far more than they often imagine.
Good instruction creates opportunities for people to discover that for themselves.
Whether we're exploring a martial arts technique, discussing a difficult interpersonal situation, or working through a realistic training scenario, the objective is to develop greater understanding and capability.
Realistic training isn't about how much violence you can deliver. It's about knowing what the situation requires.
That principle reflects much of what I've learned over the years.
Sometimes the appropriate response is physical action. Sometimes it is communication, creating distance, recognizing a developing problem, or choosing not to become involved.
The real skill is developing the awareness and judgment to recognize the difference.
The Journey Continues
After more than four decades of martial arts training and more than 30 years of teaching, I remain fascinated by the process of learning and human development.
There is always something new to discover, another perspective to consider, and another opportunity to grow.
I consider it an honor and a privilege to share what I've learned and to help others explore their own potential.
Martial arts and personal protection may be the starting point, but the lessons can reach into every aspect of life.
I look forward to continuing that journey and sharing it with others.
Doug Hicks
Founder and Director of Training
Enhanced Training Solutions 360
Warrior Path
Whether you're interested in developing practical self-defense skills, building personal confidence, exploring new challenges, or bringing meaningful safety education to your organization, ETS360 offers opportunities to learn through experience.
Explore Warrior Path, our workshops, and professional training programs, or contact us to learn more.