About Quinton

Hello,

If I haven't met you, my name is Quinton (My friends call me Q). I’m the founding Director and Senior Instructor at HardTarget.

Coming from a military family, I began martial arts at the age of 5. I am a boy who left school at 15 years old with an absolute desire to save the world. I studied hard and joined the New Zealand Police in 1991, serving for nine years and protecting those in need. I married my first love, Vicky, and together we created HardTarget with the vision of creating a safer New Zealand whilst enhancing and empowering lives.

I am a husband, father, teacher and mentor who has dedicated the last 25 years to making a positive change in the world.

Enjoy the moments,

Q

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About HardTarget

HardTarget is unique in that we currently provide conflict management programmes to the New Zealand Defence Force and other high-level military and government departments, school teachers, corporates, small businesses, and many other community groups. This dynamic range of people working in diverse roles and environments has provided us with an extensive background in developing conflict management programmes, which are effective, appropriate and fit for purpose.

Over the last couple of decades, HardTarget has developed the NZ national programme for security and has had the privilege of working with people throughout New Zealand and internationally, within South Africa, the USA, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Estonia. This international experience ensures that we maintain training strategies that are up-to-date and of the highest international standard.

With HardTarget's extensive experience, we now understand that conflict resolution is more than just our physical bodies clashing. It is truly about communication, empathy, personal awareness and knowledge. Through these experiences, we strive to make a positive contribution to the world by listening to and partnering with others to create dynamic, intelligent, and comprehensive programs that address your specific needs and foster a safer, more enjoyable environment.

After gathering a lifetime of experience, coming back to my passion for protecting and empowering others within our homes, workplaces, young people and communities is a great privilege.

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Why HardTarget?

Practical and instinctive

Practical concepts that can be used in everyday life enhance our ability to retain lessons learned through consistent practice. We work with the idea of routinising instinctive strategies to decrease the cognitive load while creating good habits, allowing actions to become effortless to recall confidently under stress. Concepts can be used by all people, recognising that every person has a unique role, life story, belief system and individual experiences. Over the years, thousands of participants have provided feedback, describing our courses as being challenging, inspiring, safe, practical, unexpectedly empowering and life-changing.

Empowering and engaging

Enjoyable training is what people remember. It is immensely important to us that everyone leaves feeling supported with a newfound glimmer of inspiration, ensuring that learnings are remembered, shared with others and applied in everyday life. Participating in training should be challenging, safe for all, and an empowering experience. An experiential approach that is interactive and engaging, where each participant can draw impactful personal wow moments from core concepts.

New Zealand’s most trusted SME

We have dedicated ourselves since 1998 with the sole focus of making New Zealand a safer place to live. The vast range of clients who have trusted us in all aspects of training their people each have their unique challenges within their roles and the law. A significant amount of this training has been provided to New Zealand government departments, including international exposure to over 10 countries. Through this comprehensive experience, we have grown holistically to become a leading SME in New Zealand, as well as internationally.

Proven methods that follow guidelines

Since 1998, HardTarget has been researching, designing and delivering programmes that achieve identified outcomes while aligning with specific guidelines. We are certified ASP international instructors, holding a diploma in New Zealand policing.

Our knowledge is for everyone

We have over 25 years of experience training people within almost every sector of the community. We believe that everyone should feel safe and confident in their world.

HardTarget has an extensive and proven ‘real’ history with long-term partners who trust us. We are the leading provider of personal safety programmes in New Zealand. Our trainers have the experience and knowledge to provide course participants with an in-depth knowledge of skills, and our online courses are completely unique.

Trust us, these guys do:

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