| Personal Details Summary | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ed Calderon |
| Age / How old / Birthday / Date of Birth / DOB | Born in 1982. As of 2025, he is around 43 years old. |
| Wedding & Marriage / Wife / Spouse / Partner / Dating | Check the full bio for relationship details. |
| Children / No. of Kids | One |
| Ethnicity / Origin / Heritage / Race | Hispanic |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Who did Ed Calderon work for? | Ed Calderon works as a private investigator and a security consultant. Throughout his career, he has advised governments, international organizations, and private companies on security issues. |
Wikipedia Biography / Profile Background
Introduction :
- Ed Calderon is a combat specialist in non-permissive environments.
- He is also a writer, a security consultant, and a speaker.
Personal Life : Parents, Family and Education
- Ed Calderon was born in 1982 in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, where he was also raised.
- He spent most of his youth in Tijuana involved in reckless activities.
- Reflecting on his upbringing, Ed describes his family as a close-knit, stable Mexican household, with a god-fearing saintly mother and a hardworking, strong father. Ed lost his middle brother, Eric, when he was 13, an event he recalls as his first major encounter with grief, that also profoundly affected his parents. Eric was remembered as “the best of us” and the life of the party, and is survived by Ed and their older brother.
- Ed’s father was an electrical engineer who built transformer boxes and light posts, while his mother, Elvia, worked as a nurse…a profession that initially inspired Ed to consider becoming a doctor, before he pursued a career in law enforcement.
- Growing up in a border town like Tijuana meant that Ed was influenced by American culture from an early age, and this had a direct impact on his life.
- Ed then lived a nomadic lifestyle for a while after he turned eighteen years old, living off the contents of his backpack while hiking through Mexico and the United States.
- He returned to Tijuana during the holiday season and discovered an article in the newspaper that led him to a new and stable career path.
- When he’s not working or travelling for work, Ed continues to reside in Texas, USA, and often visits his hometown of Tijuana in the borderlands of Northern Mexico.
- In 2012, he left Mexico permanently when the new administration rehired previously fired police officers who had cartel ties, drug offenses, and other crimes. Some were officers Ed had helped arrest or remove.
- Currently, Ed is a single father to a 10-year-old daughter (age as of 2025).
Career, Job, Salary and Net Worth :
- The article Ed saw in the newspaper upon returning from his hiking days got him to start working for the government for the next decade. He specialized in working in counter narcotics, protection and security across the borders, and executive protection.
- He has also worked with the Baja state police in the fields of counter-narcotics, organized crime investigation, and public safety in the northern border region of Mexico. Ed originally applied for this police job because the ad specifically sought “single men without kids.” At the time, this fit his situation perfectly.
- While working for the government, Ed took training courses in everything that was available to him. He also studies cases and methodologies in order to round out his on the go education.
- Ed’s in-depth knowledge got him the role of instructor for the operations groups he was involved with at the time. His research in improving weapons methodologies led him to Scott Babb’s Libre Fighting System seminar.
- He trained special police units with Scott Babb in Mexico. The reports and feedback that the students gave him made Ed realise that the borderland was a perfect testing ground for new methodologies.
- Since then, Ed has been a security consultant advising several of the most prestigious law enforcement organisations such as the FBI, the Navy SEALs, and Indonesia’s Kapaska. He has also directly trained and instructed intelligence agents working for the United States and Mexican governments.
- He has been a guest on major podcasts including The Joe Rogan Experience (episodes 1302, 1408, and 2369) and Lex Fridman Podcast (episode 346).
Interesting Facts, Height and Trivia :
- Ed created the brand Ed’s Manifesto and through it, he posts educational and training videos on YouTube. He also travels the entirety of the United States and Mexico for speaking and training events.
- Ed’s Manifesto was also created because Ed has stacks of Moleskine notebooks where he did all his research.
- Ed’s combat background is in Thai boxing. His combat style and philosophy was also greatly influenced by Scott Babb’s Libre Fighting System, as well as by South African combat movement.
- Ed also leads seminars and private training courses focusing on the topics of unconventional edged weapons, anti-abduction methodologies, unarmed combat, region-specific protection work, and personal security.
- He favours an immersive style of teaching and training and opts for realistic scenarios for his student to learn.
- Ed stresses that his family was entirely law-abiding, and that “none of this madness” came from their upbringing.