Kelly McCann: A Modern Close-Combat Legend

J. Kelly McCann is one of the world’s leading experts in counterterrorism, anti-terrorism, close combat, and all aspects of personal and corporate security. With more than four decades of operational and training experience in 65 countries, his knowledge of real-world personal-defense weapons and tactics is unequaled. That knowledge is clearly reflected in every detail of his Canis folding knife design from Spyderco. The only way to truly appreciate that design, however, is to have a deeper understanding of the remarkable man behind it.

Kelly McCann began his military career in 1980 after earning a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from St. Anselm College in New Hampshire. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as an infantry platoon commander, raid company commander, legal officer, and recruiter. During this time, he also provided specialized tactical training to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

In 1987, McCann was personally selected by General Al Gray, Commandant of the Marine Corps, to select and train the personnel that would form the counterterrorist force in III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF). A “plank owner” (original member) of III MEF Special Operations Training Group (SOTG), McCann was personally responsible for creating and leading their Special Missions Section. 

Following his tour with the SOTG, McCann was ordered to the Special Operations/ Low Intensity Conflict (SO/LIC) section of the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Warfighting Center in Quantico, Virginia. Enroute from III MEF to Quantico, he was temporarily assigned to the Legal Attaché, London, England to interface with the 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) and the Royal Marine Special Boat Squadron (SBS), as well as specialized units of Scotland Yard in London.

At SO/LIC, McCann was responsible for standardizing all hostage-recovery and counterterrorism training, equipment, and tactics throughout the Marine Corps. He also served as the Marine Corps’ Counter-Drug Liaison Officer with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Now Major McCann, Kelly was ultimately assigned to the Intelligence Support Activity (ISA) (Task Force Orange) to assume sensitive duties in conjunction with national security objectives.

After that tour with “the unit,” McCann resigned his regular commission in 1990 and founded Personal Defensive Measures (PDM), a sole proprietorship. Under the PDM banner, and later as co-owner and CEO of Crucible Security Specialists, McCann continued his close working relationship with “the unit.” He also became one of the world’s most sought-after sources of training in high-risk-environment tactics, techniques, and procedures. In addition to training literally thousands of personnel in the Department of Defense, special-mission and direct-action units, and various U.S. government agencies, he also deployed to dozens of foreign countries to provide specialized training and operational support to allied governments. His company was responsible for screening and training all U.S. law enforcement officers deployed to Kosovo as part of the UN International Police Monitor program, and he was the subject matter expert for diplomatic security services for DynCorp. McCann was also selected as a key technical advisor to the U.S. Marine Corps during the restructuring of their combatives and close-combat programs and provided training to the security assets of numerous Fortune 500 companies.

In the private sector, McCann has served as a consultant and trainer to multiple Fortune 75 companies, providing specialized instruction in anti-abduction and personal security skills for high-profile personnel, as well as advanced protective services training for their security details.

During the 1990’s McCann began sharing aspects of his knowledge with the civilian community. Under the pseudonym “Jim Grover,” he served as the Personal Security Editor for Guns and Ammo magazine and a contributing editor to Handguns magazine. He also produced several groundbreaking video series on unarmed combatives and defensive handgun skills.

Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, McCann’s extensive knowledge of counterterrorist and anti-terrorist operations made him extremely sought after as an on-air commentator and subject matter expert. He served as CNN’s security analyst for two years and has showcased his dynamic speaking skills in more than 1,000 media appearances on FOX Network, CNN, CNBC, NBC, CBS, and other national networks. 

After appearing publicly under his own name, McCann abandoned his “Jim Grover” pseudonym and continued to produce instructional materials for the civilian self-defense market. As one of Paladin Press’ most popular authors, he appeared in more than a dozen best-selling video titles on all aspects of armed and unarmed self-defense and wrote the book Street Smarts, Firearms, and Personal Security. He also became a contributing editor and columnist for Black Belt magazine and authored the best-selling book and video series Combatives for Street Survival.

Although McCann still provides specialized training to select military, private security, and corporate clients, he currently spends most of his time managing Kembativz Brand, LLC and the Renegade Combat Sports Club, which he co-owns with his partner Michelle Ly. As a USA Boxing certified coach, a Muay Thai kru (instructor), and a certified corner/cut man, he provides world-class training in boxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jujitsu, and folkstyle wrestling to fighters who compete at the local, regional, and national levels.

Kelly McCann’s contributions to the special operations, law enforcement, and civilian personal-defense communities are unequaled. The training he has provided has literally saved countless lives and his accomplishments easily equal or surpass those of legendary close-combat figures like W.E. Fairbairn and Col. Rex Applegate. Spyderco is honored to have had the opportunity to collaborate with him on the Canis design and extremely proud to include him among our team of expert design collaborators.