The Bodyguard

[EmptyneSs]

so i was reading about chuck zito and how he started his own bodyguard business in los angeles and how celebrities started contacting him for his services and how it lead him to get rich and make tons of contacts in hollywood. it sounded pretty cool. i was wondering how doable this actually is for an experienced martial arist. anyone know?

like what permits, requirments would one need to start his own bodyguard business? a group of good, experienced martial artists would make good bodyguards for celebrities, and evidently good bodyguards are always in demand by celebrities. i wouldnt mind having to escort jessica alba everywere she goes or some shit. being payed rediculous ammounts of money to attend celebrities to their parties and premiers.

is this just a silly pipe dream? or is it a good direction to try to head in? cause all my friends are good martial artists, many of them already work as bouncers and security for club and bars downtown. and martial arts is probobly the only i have going for me right now, i got to do something with it.

[Tom Yum]

I'd imagine being a bodyguard involves alot more than just being an experienced martial artist; its a sercurity job, right?

There's probably alot more that goes into it.

[Garland]

zito's a hell's angel, and he's an actor in one of my favorite HBO drama's -OZ!

Oh, yeah...and...since I read the title of this thread, I'd like to give a shout out to Big Baby Jesus...

have I ever told you your my hero...
la la la lala la la la
...dur dur dur dur-dur-dur da dur durrrrrr
Schplat.

[Tom Yum]

Yeah, I remember reading that zito was a hell's angel with street experience. He's also a very experienced martial artist. So he has qualifications. I think emptyness is also asking what kinds of experience are required to enter this field?
and if any, kinds of permits are required or how one would get into that kind of business.

Anyone? Anyone?

[osopardo]

ok ok i wasn't gonna go into this, but...

I useta do that kind of thing back in the day (mid to late 70's) in Miami for a private agency. Mostly escorting moneyed south americans visiting the area. I started by working at a security agency as a uniformed guard and progressed from there.

Skills and Qualifications:

1. Reliable, sober, attentive, cheerful. Pleasant personality.
2. Fluently multilingual (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, a little Arabic)
3. Excellent driver.
4. Extremely polite (towards everybody, even possible threats to client's security).
5. Intimately familiar with a large portion of Florida (from Key West to Palm Beach), including places to go and places to avoid.
6. Physically large enough to intimidate most people but not so large as to attract attention. Athletically fit. Trained and/or skilled in basic self defense. (Nothing fancy. In those days a little wrestling and a little boxing were more than sufficient).
7. Firearms proficiency. I had taken a few classes in some specific firearms which one might encounter (just an intro really) such as rifles, shotguns and other large-caliber stuff, and had taken enough training to get "marksman" and "expert" qualification pins in handguns. My favorite was the S&W .357 magnum. I never carried a firearm, just mace. If requested by the client to do so, I would simply decline the assignment. My conceal carry license was issued by the state or the county (I forget) after meeting various educational requirements, background checks and random pee tests for drug use. Everything was arranged and paid for by the agency I worked for. Standard stuff for most security agencies.
8. Neat, presentable appearance (no scraggly long hair, tattoos, bad teeth, scars, sloppy clothing, etc.). Again, these were moneyed tourist, usually of my parent's generation, travelling in expensive circles. They related more to clean-cut types, which I could become for the right price.

I tried to put the above list roughly in order of importance. The work was mostly that of being an exclusive tourist guide (which got me into some really nice places I could not have otherwise afforded) with a bit of muscle and "streets" thrown in for "just-in-case" situations. In 7 years I only had two incidents of actual violence and countless incidents resolved with an apology, tact, negotiations of some sort, buying somebody a drink or calling the cops. We tried very hard not to take or clients or be led by them into places where we knew we'd find trouble.

A lot of the work was tense-boring. If your client was partying at a hot nightspot where all the beautiful people go to see and be seen, or at the race track or screaming down the intracoastal in a cigarrette, you'd have to stay alert and sober and not distracted. No flirting, no drinking, no sightseeing. The money as a uniformed guard is not good and if you respond to it by becoming a zoned-out rent-a-cop in a bank lobby you won't get far, but if you show the necessary qualities you can progress to more lucrative and glamorous assignments. Which just means you make a little more money, have a little more fun and are constantly planning to get into something better, like acting, or writing a book, or back to college to study law or forensic chemistry or mortuary sciences, 'cause it's still not gonna be enough. Look at all the people you admire who've done this kind of work (like me!), they all moved on to something else...

[EmptyneSs]

ok ok i wasn't gonna go into this, but...

I useta do that kind of thing back in the day (mid to late 70's) in Miami for a private agency. Mostly escorting moneyed south americans visiting the area. I started by working at a security agency as a uniformed guard and progressed from there.

Skills and Qualifications:

1. Reliable, sober, attentive, cheerful. Pleasant personality.
2. Fluently multilingual (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, a little Arabic)
3. Excellent driver.
4. Extremely polite (towards everybody, even possible threats to client's security).
5. Intimately familiar with a large portion of Florida (from Key West to Palm Beach), including places to go and places to avoid.
6. Physically large enough to intimidate most people but not so large as to attract attention. Athletically fit. Trained and/or skilled in basic self defense. (Nothing fancy. In those days a little wrestling and a little boxing were more than sufficient).
7. Firearms proficiency. I had taken a few classes in some specific firearms which one might encounter (just an intro really) such as rifles, shotguns and other large-caliber stuff, and had taken enough training to get "marksman" and "expert" qualification pins in handguns. My favorite was the S&W .357 magnum. I never carried a firearm, just mace. If requested by the client to do so, I would simply decline the assignment. My conceal carry license was issued by the state or the county (I forget) after meeting various educational requirements, background checks and random pee tests for drug use. Everything was arranged and paid for by the agency I worked for. Standard stuff for most security agencies.
8. Neat, presentable appearance (no scraggly long hair, tattoos, bad teeth, scars, sloppy clothing, etc.). Again, these were moneyed tourist, usually of my parent's generation, travelling in expensive circles. They related more to clean-cut types, which I could become for the right price.

I tried to put the above list roughly in order of importance. The work was mostly that of being an exclusive tourist guide (which got me into some really nice places I could not have otherwise afforded) with a bit of muscle and "streets" thrown in for "just-in-case" situations. In 7 years I only had two incidents of actual violence and countless incidents resolved with an apology, tact, negotiations of some sort, buying somebody a drink or calling the cops. We tried very hard not to take or clients or be led by them into places where we knew we'd find trouble.

A lot of the work was tense-boring. If your client was partying at a hot nightspot where all the beautiful people go to see and be seen, or at the race track or screaming down the intracoastal in a cigarrette, you'd have to stay alert and sober and not distracted. No flirting, no drinking, no sightseeing. The money as a uniformed guard is not good and if you respond to it by becoming a zoned-out rent-a-cop in a bank lobby you won't get far, but if you show the necessary qualities you can progress to more lucrative and glamorous assignments. Which just means you make a little more money, have a little more fun and are constantly planning to get into something better, like acting, or writing a book, or back to college to study law or forensic chemistry or mortuary sciences, 'cause it's still not gonna be enough. Look at all the people you admire who've done this kind of work (like me!), they all moved on to something else...

good post man, thanks for the info.

[osopardo]

I just realized how long ago that all was! Man, I'm gettin' soo old!

Anyways, even tho it was a long time ago (gawd! can you believe it?!? I oughta go into a nursing home!), the requirements shouldn't have changed much since then, hopefully they're more stringent. Try working for a while in some large security agency like Brinks or Wackenhut and let them train you. Then grow from there. I don't know that I'd want to own an agency or go freelance tho... too many headaches and too much liability!

A quick googling gave me this;

http://www.bodyguardsoftexas.com/employ.php

http://www.industry-icon.com/

http://www.miamiprotection.com/executiveprotection.html

Good luck!