Meet Tobias Ford — owner, principal consultant, instructor, and performance advisor of Ekenosen Tactical Athlete Consulting. After nearly three decades as an athlete in some capacity, Tobias knows what it takes to maintain his edge. As a traditional athlete, Tobias participated in both high school and collegiate level competitive sports (soccer, cross country). As a career-based tactical athlete, he served twelve years in the US Army with tours to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He is currently several years in the fire service, with four of those years being spent as a member of technical rope rescue, swiftwater rescue, and TEMS (SWAT medic) special operations teams. Additionally, Tobias possesses a notable training background in martial arts and defensive tactics, including disciplines such as Kai Shin Jeet Kune Do, Armas Kali, Pekiti Tirsia Kali, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Combat Submission Wrestling, C-Tac, Vehicle Centric Defensive Tactics, and TRICOM Close Quarter Combatives. Over several years, he has had the privilege of training under the tutelage of highly regarded experts and mentors and continues to actively train under their guidance today.

Throughout his life-long journey as an athlete in some capacity, Tobias learned quickly that being able to perform optimally at any given time takes dedication to maintaining high levels of skill, physical fitness and health, nutrition, recovery, sleep, movement and mobility, stress management, and mental preparedness. All of it takes time, awareness, and discipline that only comes through making small, intentional, consistent actions daily in order to form long lasting, sustainable habits. This concept has been a cornerstone throughout the majority of Tobias’ life journey. It is a universal principle that he understands to be applicable to anyone seeking self-improvement and is now foundational to the systems, standards, and performance frameworks he develops for the tactical professionals and departments he serves.

Tobias’ initial prompting to start a business came during the latter third of his military career. As his time in service was coming to an end, his desire to serve continued on. His transition into the fire service helped to satiate that desire to some degree, but the need to do more, and to give more only grew. What that looked like for him exactly was not yet clear, but he knew that it meant an “emptying of himself” (ekenosen) into the purpose of serving others (Philippians 2:2-8).  It meant taking the entire sum of who he was, what he’s obtained, and what he’s learned, and pouring it into improving others’ well-being. Fast forward to the present, and a small business endeavor that began in 2017 has evolved into what Ekenosen Tactical Athlete Consulting is today. A platform through which Tobias develops and oversees performance systems that sharpen the tactical athlete’s edge—strengthening individual capability while elevating departmental readiness standards for those called to serve.

Tobias attributes much of his success and the best parts of his development to his largest influences, mentors, and instructors. Though not an exhaustive list, these include his late father Walter V. Ford, his late brother Walter D. Ford, his three daughters Miranda, Maddison, and Makinze, Sifu Alan Baker, Guro T Kent Nelson, Sensei Erik Paulson, Guro Dan Inosanto, retired SGM Bryan Hise, retired SGM Jerry Mike, retired SFC Ernest Soria, and above all Jesus Christ.

Ekenosen Tactical Athlete Consulting is primarily a tactical performance consulting firm, providing readiness oversight, performance system development, and high-accountability coaching services based out of Georgia (United States).