After such a great response from the last class we had where we hosted Ed Calderon & crew (April 2025) this iteration went even better.
The Urban Movement class was designed to enable students to navigate a hostile environment in an urban setting. This was a very well-attended offering here in Toronto. Students came from as far away as Alberta and Los Angeles. Several American attended as well as people from different provinces. I was somewhat pleasantly surprised by the mix in the turnout.
From the Manifesto’s Website, the course is described:
Protecting yourself from pick pockets to escaping a foreign country as it’s collapsing, you will learn how to observe – exploit and disrupt.
The world’s most unpredictable environments aren’t always overseas—they’re often the streets we walk every day. Urban Movement, designed by renowned unconventional security specialist Ed Calderon, is a deep dive into the mindset &methods of staying one step ahead wherever you are.
Blending street-level criminology with field-proven tradecraft, this course reveals how to see the world through the eyes of a threat actor—whether it’s a pickpocket, scammer, or violent criminal—and use that perspective to sharpen your own situational awareness.
A wide breadth of topics were covered in this class: Social engineering, urban “flow” and dynamics, discussion of contemporary examples of the use of these methods, discussion about entry methodologies as well as building structures and codes.
There was a great deal of discussion and coverage about the technical side of surveillance and counter-surveillance, namely how various tools are employed against you and what you can do about them. We got to discuss the Flipper Zero, along with other devices which are complimentary. One of the fascinating angles covered was one’s electronic signature and how much you actually emit from your personal devices when you’re casually just walking around. To this end, the discussion then turned to things like burner phone and of course, considerations and best practices of how one would travel safely with technology.
One of the fascinating lessons was on the use of various information platforms out there and how they can be leveraged in both offensive and defensive intelligence roles if you suspect you may be compromised or even just a target. This then led down the path of how to source and build various tools which could aid in building a multi-layered defensive posture using easily-sourced equipment. From there we moved on to so interesting show-and-tell (and try) with access cards and IDs, and then *SURPRISE* how to apply all this stuff within the context of the events that were unfolding that morning in Mexico, especially alternative communications methods and access denial in a travel mode.
This all led to our final exercise where students were tasked with leaving the “safe house”, finding NFC tags with instructions, connecting with a contact, getting a clue which they then had to follow-up on to get their next task which, when completed, would direct them back to the safe house again. This all took place outside and then in a sketchy mall just to make things interesting. All in all, the entire weekend was full of huge gobs of information, plenty of involved taskings and a great deal of fun.
Absolutely loved having Ed, Eddie and Zach back up and we are looking forward to next time.
Till then, stay safe and Stay Crafty!
Shout-outs to: Atlantic Avenue Athletic Club for allowing us use of their space; Ten Catering for the awesome food; Survival Tactics for the nifty giveaways; Urbex_gta for the medical and logistical support. Thanks to everyone who attended. See you again soon!
