To be effective for law enforcement, a martial art must include empty-hand techniques as well as weapons techniques. It must rely upon sound principles that allow a smaller individual to control a larger, stronger opponent. It must provide the officer with the skills needed to control a suspect while minimizing injuries, but at the same time giving the officer the option to inflict serious pain and crippling injuries if the altercation suddenly turns into a deadly force situation.
To fit the above criteria, the martial art has to be built around joint locks, throws and take downs. This immediately eliminates arts based predominately on striking and kicking. Here is a ranked list of martial arts that I recommend for police officers.
1. Filipino martial arts (Arnis de Mano, Doce Pares, Modern Arnis, etc.) – Most Filipino martial arts are comprised of Ju Jitsu, Judo or Aikido techniques to cover joint locks, chokes, throws and take downs.
- Advantages: They also include offensive and defensive knife fighting and stick fighting, which could save your life if you are one of the many officers attacked with an edged weapon or blunt force object. The Filipinos are unmatched in knife fighting and the sticks are comparable in size to straight police batons. Since the average Filipino person is smaller than the Japanese and Chinese, their techniques have been adapted to work on stronger and larger opponents.
- Disadvantages: It may be hard to find a qualified instructor. Many instructors may have learned the Filipino martial arts from seminars instead of learning from a school.
2. Traditional Ju Jitsu – These arts are usually based on the Japanese systems of Ju Jitsu that concentrate on joint locks, chokes, throws and take downs. These systems may cover some defensive techniques against weapons.
- Advantages: There are many qualified instructors and strong schools. There are many tournaments offered across the country to compete and improve your techniques.
- Disadvantages: These arts do not usually include a comprehensive study of fighting with and against sticks and knives.
3. Judo – This art is all about grappling and throwing. The throws taught in Judo can be devastating when done on a hard surface.
- Advantages: There are many qualified instructors and strong schools. There are many tournaments offered across the country to compete and improve your techniques. The training allows you to go all out against your opponent, which will get you in great shape for the fights you can find yourself in while on-duty.
- Disadvantages: Judo originated from Japanese Ju Jitsu. The founder eliminated many of the more dangerous techniques and concentrated on turning the art into a sport.
4. Aikido – Aikido is a Japanese system that is based on using your opponent’s force against him. It covers joint locks, chokes, throws and take downs. Most Aikido schools include defensive techniques for countering weapon attacks.
- Advantages: There are many qualified instructors and strong schools. Aikido works well for smaller officers because it teaches students to use their opponent’s force against him.
- Disadvantages: Most Aikido schools do not allow students to apply pressure to their training partners while practicing joint locks and throws. The training partner is taught to throw themselves. This is a dangerous habit that you have to be able to abandon on the street. It may take many years to develop confidence in your Aikido skills under this type of training environment.
5. Hapkido – Hapkido is a Korean martial art that includes joint locks, chokes, throws and take downs. Hapkido also includes most of the kicks found in Tae Kwon Do. Many Hapkido schools include defensive techniques for countering weapon attacks.
- Advantages: There are many qualified instructors, but finding a quality school may be difficult.
- Disadvantages: A large portion of the training time may be spent learning kicking techniques that are hard to perform and may prove harder to justify in police work. Beware of schools that claim to teach Hapkido, but turn out to only teach Tae Kwon Do.
6. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu – No matter what style of martial art you pick, the ground fighting techniques taught in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu need to be added to your arsenal. In the event that you find yourself pinned on the ground by a larger, stronger attacker, almost all of your stand-up martial arts techniques will be thrown out the window. With the recent popularity of mixed martial arts, a large segment of the young male population is learning how to fight on the ground. Make sure you supplement your training with this martial art.
- Advantages: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu concentrates on joint locks and chokes performed on the ground, with particular emphasis placed on positional strategy. The system is designed for countering strength with technique and will make you comfortable fighting off of your back. There are many tournaments around the country that offer you the opportunity to compete.
- Disadvantages: Qualified instructors may be hard to find, but new schools are popping up all of the time. This martial art has been developed as a sport. Most schools concentrate on the sport side of the art. As an officer, the last place you want to end up is on the ground. Since most Brazilian Jiu Jitsu schools only cover ground fighting, I cannot recommend it as a primary martial art for police officers
This list is not exhaustive by any means. There are many other martial arts that could be very effective for police officers. This article is meant to offer my opinion based on over 20 years of martial arts experience and over 15 years of police experience. It is not my intention to insult any martial artist out there.
Please share your thoughts on which martial art you think works best for police officers.
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ive taken a few martial arts before, found hapkido to be good, also krav maga if u can find a school. but recently i found an army combatives book, that showed proper disarms, throwing, joint locks, and ground fighting, keeping in mind that you have a weapon/weapons on you, and flack jackets and gear. it showed varriations on techniques that other arts do. (for example u have an m9 holstered on your right leg/hip, someone tackles you from the front/side/back, you twist so your right side is facing away from the enemy, and you complete a series of techniques to either subdue the enemy, get on your feet, critically injure your opponent, or kill the opponent)
if you have over a year left to start training in something, look for a ninjutsu school (taijutsu). theyre very rare, however im taking it now, and it is extremely effective after a certain time of practicing how to perform certain actions against attackers, but it is a needed skill if someone is attacking an officer. the only downside is the attacks and moves will critically injure an opponent, but if someone is attacking an officer, theyve rightfully waved the flag for semi lethal force to be executed
I would suggest that if you are alone with a suspect/perp, then Jiu Jitsu is fine, if you are larger, stronger, or much more experienced than them. However, if there is more than one opponent, you don’t want to go to the ground, due to the fact that once you are down, any of the opponents can stomp-kick you in the cranium, or anywhere else. This would end the fight, and potentially your life. I know Jiu Jitsu is very popular now, and good to know, but not as a primary fighting method. I would suggest Wing Chun Kung Fu, Kali, Marine Corps LINE or MCMAP, Krav Maga, or H2H (Army s.f.) or Judo, They all seem to have enough of a spectrum of different attacks/defenses to be useful. I am always learning and my cup is never more than 1/2 full (figurative cup, not groin protector), and I hope my humble combat instructor experience helps.
Be safe guys & keep up the good work,
Dave
Jujitsu and Judo can be used offensively and defensively (watch the UFC). Nearly every technique in Jujitsu can be used (99 %) at least and without a Gi. One time I choked a guy out with his tshirt. No Gi competition is a good thing to do to test this out. Judo throws can be done offensively as easy as defensively. I have studied these arts both to black belt level. The striking arts are important too. I have enjoyed reading all of the comments about the different arts that you guys study. I learned something that I use from every art that I studied. There is a tendancy for folks say which art is best or worst or what works best based on the experience of the art they study without testing out other arts to a high degree. I noticed that I never know what I will do until I am attacked or need to do an arrest, i usually surprise myself and then ask myself “why in the world did you use that arm bar or strike”? The technique is generated from the situation circumstances, so it confirms what I usually say about regarding all training as useful in some way, but over time it all flows together.
I’d have to go with Krav Maga. This Israeli method is fast, powerful and puts an opponent down in a hurry.
I’ve practiced assorted martial arts since I was 14 years old and this is the best style yet!
im not a cop but i am a criminal justice major and hope to one day work on the force. i currently practice kuk sool won. ive studied many different arts but personally believe it covers the spectrum nicely. its an amalgamation of traditional korean arts. theres empty hand forms, weapons, and techniques. by 1st degree one will know 6 forms, variety of weapons, and 226 techniques. if anyone out there hasnt heard about it or knows anything about it please check it out. i hope to use this art to help myself when i become an officer. oh, we grapple and spar too.
As in everything in life, evolution is a necessity for survival. We are not fighting with muskets and cannons in a single line anymore. I would argue that, although most traditional arts are good, the modern warrior needs to train in a modern environment with modern techniques and tactics. That being said, I belive in the basics for martial arts. Basic boxing, wrestling, control holds all used in conjunction with less-lethal and lethal weapons seem, to me, the best approach. That being said, I have found Gracie Jiu-Jitsu to be a great art that teaches practical techniques and focuses on “the fight” and not tournaments or cages or rings. However, with most officers I know practicing no martial arts beyond DT sessions, some training in something would benefit. My advice? Gracie Jiu-Jitsu or a boxing / MMA class. Food for thought.
I ran into this web site while putting together a qualitative statistics paper for my CJ degree. I have been a cop and a soldier and will be working in law enforcement again when I graduate. I have been training in martial arts since a very young age. This has become a hobbies of mine that I am passionate about. I have trained in traditional Okinawan (Japanese) Karate, Brazilian JJ, Filipino Kali, Wing chun, Muay Thai, Krav Maga and two Army combatives styles one focusing on BJJ (Army MACP) and one on Kali. I say all of this to preface my opinion. I agree whole heartidly with the authors opinions on this topic. The thing that needs to be looked at is this, how much time and effort you have or are willing to put into learning this portion of your craft. For instance if you are in a management position over seeing cops, and you have only a few weeks or months to dedicate and teach a martial art, it is smart to use a chopped up version of the larger martial arts like Karv, or MACP, or other Line type military martial arts. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with these types of martial arts, I am just bringing up the fact that they are designed to teach concepts that usually take years in a short amount of time. They give you the best short term bang for your buck. Because of this they are by nature missing a lot of the correct positioning or details and structure that exist in the original martial arts that they have been taken from. If you look at those military martial art styles and look into what styles they are made up of, and have time to study those styles then I highly suggest you do that instead of doing the get trained quick and less effectively martial arts. If you have time and the dedication or will power to spend and learn multiple martial arts over a longer time frame you will by far have more tools for the tool box and more training to rely upon and fall back on. As officers you will need to know how to handle knives, punching, kicks, sticks, throws, joint lock ups, and ground fighting. Studying punching, and kicking martial arts will help you learn how to handle those punching, and kicking techniques, so don’t leave them out just because you shouldn’t punch or kick offenders as an officer. In my personal opinion, studying just one martial art limits you, and I have yet to see just one martial art that covers every situation that officers can face on the street. If you have an option I suggest using a traditional martial art like Aikido, Judo, Okenawan Karate, BJJ, or Muay Thy in order to have a foundation in movement and an understanding of the basics. Then build your ground game with BJJ because if miss applied or if you meet your match it always can go to the ground. I also think every cop should study Kali because of the things they will learn about how to handle knives and sticks. However if I had to only do one of the martial arts I would choose Filipino Kali, because of the way it directly handles knives and sticks and because of its quick pick up by the student and effectiveness when it comes to only using a few moves to lock up or finish the problem. In closing if you have time to study then pick a traditional martial art, Kali with knife and stick and ground fighting. If you don’t have time use a military martial art like Krav that is made up of the above mentioned martial arts techniques. My two cents for what they are worth.
I think there is a problem with the basic premise of studying martial arts for real world defense. The problem comes from the word ‘art’, as too many of these are focused on repetitive learning of techniques or forms that have no real place in a real world engagement.
I have been a big fan of true combat krav maga, as it was developed not as an art, but based on effectiveness. However, it can be tough to find qualified instruction, since a lot of it has been watered down to the same strip mall McDojo stuff taught at traditional martial arts studios.
I also generally applaud programs which are moving towards practicality, like the Army Combatives program.
I don’t mean to be offensive to any art form that many people have dedicated sometimes decades of their life to, but I think the mysticism involved in a lot of martial arts along with Hollywood have perpetrated a massive fraud on people studying it primarily for self-defense. I think the large majority of it has little practical use in a real world defense scenario, save for some joint locks, ground fighting, grappling, and striking which can be more effectively taught and performed without much of the structure that goes along with traditional martial arts.
Look at MMA and the evolution it has undergone since becoming a sport. It may only be a sport, but it has already taken martial arts further in the last 20 years than it had come in the previous 2000 years combined. That is largely because as a sport not confined to techniques, athletes would learn and grow based on what is effective, not what is tradition. I’d like to see law enforcement learn a lesson from that.
I’ve trained in Boxing, Judo, Karate, Tae Kwon-Do, Ju Jitsu and the school of hard knocks on the street as a police officer and member of a tactical firearms team. There’s no one magic solution – there are so many different scenarios that present themselves. Police officers (and everyone else that wants to act legally) have to operate within use of force guidelines. Ju Jitsu is probably the most common skill I’ve used on the street coupled with MMA training. You want to stay up on your feet where possible – but in the event you go down, learning how to disable the attacker rapidly is key and getting back up quickly – especially if there are multiple opponents. Main advice I’d give is to train with your work equipment on where possible. It is very different to move in a gi as opposed to shirts, pants and body armour. Also, it’s necessary to train against opponents wearing t-shirts, hoodies, even body armour to get the feel for how different techniques work or don’t work in certain situations. I was fortunate to meet a Ju Jitsu instructor that developed his style to accommodate his work environment as a jail guard. He developed a style that worked in very restrictive spaces where traditional movements failed. Stay safe!
i read a new martial arts system which is build from a turkish master. it should be very real with the movements. they say, this should be special build for police, swat and force team. i can’t link the clip officially, because there is a copyright on the site, but not for the main page which is http://www.amarok.net . you can find in the menu the clip. it looks impressive.
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