http://www.lawofficer.com/article/training/ground-game
I think this was a well thought out constructive agument by the author. I have to agree with many points.
I do not believe he is against learning to be competent on the ground. But for officers and the training they often get it is almost a waste of time. What he is saying is they have people come in and show them these great things. They get to practice it over a few days. But he is smart enough to realize they will not be proficient in using what was taught after the few days. They would need more ongoing training for it to be beneficial in a high stressful and real dangerous environment. As he points out they are not competitive. If they don't get it right it could cost them their life.
Therefore if you can make the arrest without going to the ground you should. It is for your safety. He places his safety as being more valuable than that of the suspect. He is correct. There are man situation that can be done and make the arrest without going to the ground. But it has become popular in their training to take the attacker down to control them.
I recall an incident in a school that I used to work. There was a fight. I got called yo break it up. One of the guys that was fighting has some serious issues. He was known to be violent to other, men, women or children. He even would fight his mother. I broke up the fight. Metal chairs were being used in the fight. He didn't have the chair. I got him out of danger and disarmed the person with the chair. They still tried to get at each other. I got one in one room and had to deal with him. He found out the police were on the way. He has a record. He tries to leave. I restrained him. The police arrived. I hand him over to them. Next thing I know they were all on the ground wrestling and the 2 officers were losing. I started to jump in and get control. But I see how close he was to one of their weapons. I decided not to get in and let them do their job. I was only going to get in if he reached for their gun. I don't think he knew how close he was to it. Then this tiny female officer shows up. She walks over and told the guy remember what I told you. He stopped fighting and put his hands behind his back and they escorted him out. I talked to her later and asked what that meant. She told me he has a history with the department. They had a conversation before when he was fighting them. He knew exactly what she meant. I can't repeat it.
I was able to restrain him while standing and not cause harm. But protocol says take them to the ground. They did that and had a fight on their hands, If they would have kept hi standing they could have controlled him without fighting.
If they are going to teach go to the ground they need more training than some week end warrior training in order to be more effective.
I agree with the author, that to teach going to the ground as a primary tactic is bad advice; but to teach it with only a few hours practice is reckless.
I get it that cops can't just walk away - a different tactic generally expected of lay people. And there are times when going to the ground is tactically a better move: usually, when there is backup around. This mitigates the problem of having friends of the perp from attacking, since the backup cops can handle them; and the ground provides protection not generally afforded when the perp is standing. The ground limits sight and movement, thus limiting the information a perp can use to attempt an escape or communicate with another perp.
But the reality is that no fighting should be used without practice. And a lot of it. And on-going. I didn't get the idea that that was the case in the article's class.
It's all about the situation. The bad idea is being a one trick pony. Sometimes going to the ground is the best thing you can do, sometimes it isn't. And it's also good to spend a lot of time training on the ground because the people who train to fight on the ground tend to be the most knowledgeable on getting back up or not going to the ground to begin with. If you get an olympic level wrestler together with a Black Belt in Jiu Jitsu and a Black Belt in Karate and tell both Black Belts to stay on their feet as long as possible against him, who do you expect will be able to stay up better? My money is on the Jiu Jitsu Black Belt 9/10 times because Jiu Jitsu stylists train against takedowns far more often than practitioners of most other martial arts.
The situation will always dictate the tactic. One on one with no friends around to back up the assailant, controlling them on the ground is a great tactic. As possum mentioned, with backup around it is also a great tactic. And if you are being overwhelmed on your feet to begin with, going to the ground is almost inevitable anyway, so knowing what to do what you get there will be far more valuable than banking on your other skills. Against multiple attackers, understanding striking distance, defense, and having experience striking is your best friend until an opening for escape becomes available. Trying to win is never the correct tactic against more than one attacker. Getting away is the best tactic there. Should somebody close the distance, though, striking won't be your best skill set for that circumstance anymore. Grappling will be, particularly to get out of the clinch or off the ground so that you can get back to escaping. And it sure doesn't hurt to know how to snap a limb while you're down there, either, taking somebody out of the fight and making the escape even easier.
It's unnecessary to ground a compliant suspect. But a non-compliant suspect isn't going to be arrested on his feet. He has to be taken to the ground. Seriously, try controlling a standing opponent while juggling handcuffs. So to ignore ground training, because the author has a hard on for Karate or whatever it is he does, is silly.
eh didn't read it.. bottom line is the ground games very importain in mma or street situations... u don't wanna hit the streetz on the ground u wanna avoid it in street situations however if u do go there u needa know what to do there
Any thoughts on this article?
http://www.lawofficer.com/article/training/ground-game
