SCARS is based on sciences of psychology, physiology, physical movement as well as research on the
nervous system. SCARS was developed by Peterson after serving two tours in the
US Army 173rd Airborne Brigade during the
Vietnam War. Currently, SCARS is taught through private seminars, larger scale contracts, online training and
DVDs. It contains no defensive actions, as all checks against the enemy's kicks or punches are delivered as strikes to vulnerable
nerves. The program is based upon the idea that every human body reacts in the same way to specific injuries, and the program puts together various strikes to specific nerves, bones, and organs in order to debilitate an aggressive individual. The goal is to produce an "autokinematic reaction", creating a spinal reflex that happens in all humans. For the first seven years the fighting system remained exclusively known to and practiced by US Special Forces. The program was taught via seminars, government contracts, and also the SCARS Institute of Combative Sciences, once known as "the most expensive school in the world".
Public education In 1993, the company produced video programming to teach its techniques to the general public. Live seminars are also available to the public in which are taught reliable hand to hand, and hand to weapons combat techniques over the span of three days.
Cancellation by US Military By March 1998, internal
Naval Special Warfare Command documents confirmed that the time commitment for the 30-day course meant that no units of Naval Special Warfare Command had been trained in the SCARS system in over two years; on April 17, 1998, the SCARS course was cancelled by Naval Special Warfare Command. As of 2011, the Naval Special Warfare Command had implemented
mixed martial arts inspired combat training. ==See also==