Rapid Assault Tactics for Law Enforcement ! Part 1.
Law Enforcement and the Reasons Why They Need Quality Martial Arts Training!
Let me first say that I have the highest respect for law enforcement officers and the job that they are asked to do every day. However, recently, a law enforcement officer from a nearby city was shot and killed after a suspect wrestled his gun from him.
This reminded me of all the television shows I have watched like “COPS” and “Most Shocking Police Videos”. Many times you see one, two, three and sometimes more officers trying to take down one suspect sometimes a female suspect. It is shows like this that has caused people in my family, my friends, and students to ask why after seeing me training and demonstrating how to control and take down much bigger and stronger men than myself why police seem to have such trouble at times.
First, I would like to point out that officers have to worry about disciplinary action and civil liability. I have researched material that Paul Vunak has on the subject which he has been training the U.S. Military and law enforcement for over 30 years. Let me say first that I could write a whole book on this subject but I will just touch on the most important parts of it now.
Rapid Assault Tactics (R.A.T.) is what Paul Vunak developed for our East Coast Navy Seals. Because there is so much contained within Jeet Kune Do (J.K.D.) and Filipino Martial Arts (F.M.A.) you could spend an entire lifetime trying to experience it all. Because there is so little time to allocate to martial arts, Paul Vunak streamlined the most important elements into a program that could be learned very quickly. He also discovered that many other government agencies have enjoyed this program as well.
I was so impressed by this program that we call self preservation that for the last 10 years I have made this the core of my fighting system and the first thing that I teach students when they start training. After students start to get good at this, I start to teach the other basics like blunt and edged weapons and street kickboxing and trapping which we call self perfection drills.
With that said let me get back to the subject at hand. Most officers I have known and talked to on this matter have said they have very little training in the martial arts. I have trained a few officers right after police academy and found that they had little to no realistic defensive skills. They informed me that after the self defense course they are required to take, they are not required to train on a regular basis.
This self defense course is intense and comprehensive but is only about a week long. Most departments may offer a periodic refresher course but this is usually only once a year. I have met and trained with officers that have trained for years and some who have black belts but these are few and far between. Though they can fight well they do not have the controlling skills or if need be the termination ability for quickly ending an altercation. These things could very well save their lives and the lives of others around them and keep them from losing their gun.
I will say again that a whole book could be written on the R.A.T. and on why officers need to train on a regular basis. I will just say that normal people I have trained over the years feel that they have become so good at this system mixed with street trapping, kickboxing, and basic weapons that they stop training. When asked why the average response is they feel that their skills are better than they ever thought and all their friends and family agree with them that they do not need to be any better. I wish them well and caution them that training with me and demonstrating in front of friends and family does not mean they come out on top in an altercation but I feel that at least have a chance.
In conclusion, I think that anyone can benefit from training the R.A.T. system but I urge all law enforcement officers to check it out because even one day per week training will eventually give them the skills that could prevent injury or death during a violent altercation.
