Article
Submitted By Dan Hect
By Richard
North
Presented
by Martialforce.com
Online
Magazine
My name is Richard North.
I am a proud member of a local law enforcement agency in San Diego County.
My current assignment is being a K-9 handler in an elite specialized unit
within the department. I have been a peace officer for fifteen years. During
my tour of duty, I have worked in some of the most challenging areas San
Diego can offer. I have also been a training officer, corporal, FBI-trained
hostage negotiator, and a tactical coordinator. Five years ago, I was
selected to be a K-9 handler. After over five hundred hours of training, I
am now a certified patrol/narcotics detection K-9 handler.
My martial arts training
started nearly twenty-five years ago, like most young men and women, in my
teenage years. First was boxing. This took place in San Diego starting at
the age of 11 until I was 14. I then began Tae Kwon Do, where I trained for
many years and then life happened… a wife, career, children, rent, bills
etc… Later, I trained Hattan Suru in Imperial Beach, California, and earned
a brown belt. While training in Imperial Beach, I also returned to boxing
until I discovered Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in June of 1999. My chief instructor
is Mr. Roy Harris, 3rd degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
On December 7, 2006, I
tested and was promoted to the rank of Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
under Mr. Harris. On April 1, 2006, I opened SouthBay Jiu Jitsu Club in
Chula Vista. My student base numbers in the high forties.
I have decided to write
this article articulating some experiences I have taken part in involving
the practicality of grappling for control and arrest techniques. The number
of accounts I recall involving arrest and control techniques using Jiu
Jitsu, over the years, would be in the hundreds. From simply controlling a
person with command presence or verbal commands, all the way up to knock
down, drag out, bloody uses of force.
“The vast majority of
violence towards peace officers occurs during the handcuffing process.”
Leverage, joint
manipulation, and body mechanic control are critical when contacting a
suspect/subject who does not want to be detained or arrested. The vast
majority of violence towards peace officers occurs during the handcuffing
process. This is when the reality sinks in, “Hey, wait a minute… I am going
to jail.” The first handcuff goes on and then the fight begins. This is also
an area where most officers and deputies lack training and knowledge in
controlling a suspect. The quicker you handcuff a suspect, the less
opportunity they have to resist, fight, or run. However, you must maintain
control over a suspect when it comes time to handcuff for a detention, or an
arrest. Therefore, the question is “How does one maintain control over a
person with one hand, handcuff with the other hand, and not be injured?”
Well that goes back to leverage, joint manipulation, and body mechanic
control.
Body weight and size comes
into play, but not to the extent many people believe. Weight and size
matter, but there are positions you can place yourself in to have an
advantage. When I decide to handcuff a suspect/subject, I order the person
to place his/her hands behind their back. I reach out, take hold of both of
their wrists, and place the backs of their hands together. I then order them
to interlace their fingers together. Once this is completed, I then take
hold of three to four fingers and give a slight squeeze. The squeeze lets
the person know I have control of them. I then order the suspect/subject to
slightly separate their feet apart.
This positioning does a
few things:
The only muscle groups
available for the suspect/subject to pull their hands free are his traps and
a small percentage of triceps. The interlaced fingers act as locking device
to make it that much harder to free their hands. Their backs are to me, and
we all know in Jiu Jitsu what a bad position offering one’s back to someone
can be. From this positioning, I can apply a blood choke, or if it turns
into a deadly force confrontation and use of a firearm is out of the
question (i.e. crowded area where children are present), there is the wind
choke.
Using the instep of one of
my feet, I can apply downward pressure to the back of their knee and force
the suspect to the ground. I can sweep their feet and force a hard impact
to the ground. I can simply push my suspect away and transition to any
degree of force necessary to stop the threat, or overcome their resistance.
From this starting
positioning, when I apply my handcuffs, it is done with one hand, my free
hand not controlling the suspect’s hands. The single strands of my handcuffs
make contact with the suspect’s wrists, and within a second, the handcuffing
is complete.
There is generally not
enough time for the suspect to react to the handcuffing, let alone think
about attacking me. I have had so many people, once handcuffed, comment on
the speed and control. I once had a 325 pound, hardcore gang banger inform
my partner in contrail booking that if I had not handcuffed him the way I
did, and with the speed I did, he intended on killing me. My partner
informed the banger, “You may have wanted to try another deputy- that one
would have taken you apart.” The banger smiled and answered, “I figured
after he cuffed me, not tonight with this one.” This all relates back to
Jiu Jitsu:
In the latter parts of
your training: purple, brown, and black belt levels, some say there is not
much more knowledge that comes with these belt levels, just refinement.
However, I disagree. At these levels come experience, knowledge, and
understanding about leverage, awareness, sensitivity and timing. In the
beginning, Jiu Jitsu is very structured with rules and formulas. A few years
down the road, once you’ve donned a blue belt, the rules start to change.
Your instructor tells you to pass the guard a new way, which
violates the rules you have followed. When your belt is even darker, you are
given a new path; now there are no rules and you are able to pass the guard
whenever and however you choose. Why? Well, let me explain:
I will tie this all into
the handcuffing in a few paragraphs. When the rules change, you start to
develop an understanding about leverage. “If I twist my hips this way, more
weight is pressed through my elbow and my opponent can no longer apply that
darn bent armbar, because he can no longer get under my elbow…” When your
instructor tells you to violate the rules they have so strictly enforced
over the years, it is because your awareness and sensitivity to movement has
elevated to a level where you are reacting to your opponent’s movements,
countering them before he/she is halfway through their first movement (high
purple belt level). Therefore, a new Jiu Jitsu game has opened up to you.
“If I told you today,
tomorrow you would be in a deadly force confrontation and you would fight
for your very life, would that change the way you train today?”
~Bruce Lee~
The last few years of
training, before that black belt is donned around your waist, are spent
perfecting your timing. Learning when and how to move, why to move, when and
what not to do, then making these movements all reflexive. This takes
thousands of mat hours, thousand of drilling hours, thousands of hours
experimenting and making your Jiu Jitsu game yours, stamping your signature
into the art. I have tweaked and twisted my handcuffing technique over
fourteen years of service to the community in which I work.
Improving and changing my
handcuffing technique has taken me through the full experience of Jiu Jitsu
training. When I first started handcuffing suspects, I could hardly get the
cuffs on. I fumbled around indecisively, unsure of myself and sadly enough,
I had a few fights I should have been ready for but was not. Therefore, my
training officer gave me structured instructions on handcuffing. After a
while, I became comfortable handcuffing. But then I started to see openings
in my game, ways an opponent could defeat my movements and technique, so I
developed my knowledge and understanding of leverage. I figured out the best
handcuffing position and how to control my suspect, allowing me to have
higher levels of awareness and sensitivity. Last came the timing of the
handcuffing. Handcuffing vs. when to take action, how to take action, and
use of the appropriate force levels when needed.
“It is hard to fight
someone who will never stop fighting.”
~Unknown Soldier, Navy Seal~
Jiu Jitsu is not only a
physical activity but is also psychological. I can teach a student all the
techniques Jiu Jitsu has to offer, but if that person does not have the
warrior’s heart, he will never be able to step into battle and come out
victorious. The warrior’s path is the most honorable path in life.
Warriors are the chosen people. If one is not willing to step in front of
the crowd to possibly give their life for another, or even be forced to take
a life, then those who aren’t shouldn’t criticize those who are willing.
Some important
characteristics of a warrior’s mindsets: Please let me explain; a warrior
needs to focus on having and remaining:
-
Alert and tactically prepared for
potential threats
-
Aware of your opponents tactics and
thinking
-
Skeptical of appearances: wary of
assumptions
-
Insatiably curious
-
Skilled at communicating with all types
of people
-
Able to learn from other’s mistakes
-
Resilient after setbacks
-
Able to make sound controlled decisions
even under stress
-
Committed, no matter what!
I would like to clarify one
thing: In every incident I have ever participated in, whether the level of
force had been verbal commands, command presence, chemical, hands on, impact
weapons, less lethal or deadly force (all levels which I have taken part in
at one point or another in my career), all have been forced on me by the
actions the suspect dictates. I did not decide the levels of force, which
were taken; I simply reacted to the actions a suspect took. I do not decide
who goes to jail, who lives, who dies; I simply react to the
actions/situation of those who prey on the weak.
You can go though life being
preyed upon, preying on the weak, or being the protectors of the weak. The
weak never fully accept their protectors, but they know their protectors are
necessary for their survival. Those who prey on the weak seek them out when
they are alone, then kill without remorse. But those who prey on the weak
stay away when the protectors are on duty, because they know the warriors of
society crave the righteous fight. The protectors will fight until their
last breath. This is the way of a warriors path, it is the most honorable
path to take in life.
By
Richard North
Submitted By Dan
Hect
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