Should police be more like UFC fighters?

Rener Gracie is coaching police officers – Academy’s recruits in a delicate role-playing scene in a municipal building in the suburb of Seattle. An intern in all-black dressed in is like a thief in a police show in the 90s, a “bad guy”. Another task in a full patrol uniform was to arrest him. The bad guy mimics rage and blows his chest out while the patrolman retreats, in the air, this is a picture of the downgrade. Gracie then shouted “action!” and the uniformed recruit arrested the suspect, twisted and worn him into abstract chaos before finally capturing him.

Gracie was commissioned by Bellevue, Washington, and the police department directed the trainees through different hands and battle scenarios. He is six feet four, has a thin muscle frame, and has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, a martial art that his grandfather and uncle developed in Rio de Janeiro about a hundred years ago by modifying traditional Japanese girlish martial arts. “Jujitsu” is a Japanese word that translates into “the art of gentleness”. Compared to other martial arts, strikes are striked, with little explosive movement: practitioners hang themselves on opponents such as blankets, slowly developing into increasingly favorable holdings until they can use joint locks, say or choke to hold their opponents, forcing their opponents into surrender. Gracie believes this is very suitable for law enforcement. His “Gracie Jiu-Jitsu” system is designed to help individuals reduce larger, stronger opponents without having to resort to more violent forces. Gracie has been doing this type of training since 2008, but he said that after the public demand for police reform reached new highs, law enforcement interest rose in 2020. George Floydmurder. “We’re talking about twelve courses, 15 courses a year, like seventy-five courses a year,” Gracie told me.

For more than two years, patrol officers at the Bellevue Police Department have been taking frequent classes using Gracy’s courses as part of their shifts. Bellevue Police Chief Wendell Shirley said the lessons provided another tool for New York City officers. “In this sense, it’s not violent, ‘I’ll rule, overwhelm you,’ like you usually see in the physical encounters of a policeman,” he told me. Shirley, who has been a policeman for nearly three decades, said he’s been taking many classes on defensive strategy over the years. He said: “Most of them are, ‘Hey, you have a baton and then hit them in the back.’

Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is a basic component of the Ultimate Battle Championship, where competitors use martial arts such as Jiu-jitsu and wrestling among competitors, as well as eye-catching martial arts such as boxing or Muay Thai. The UFC has some strong friends in the Trump administration, including President Trump himself, who play regularly and recently said he wants to fight UFC on the White House grounds. A few months ago, FBI director Kash Patel, who was obsessed with over 55 FBI field office leaders, wanted UFC combatants to train field agents nationwide. according to Reuterstwo people briefed the matter, saying the current FBI agent described the stadium as “surreal” and “weird.” However, Gracie believes that the concept is nothing new, as his family has long helped train law enforcement. He told me: “When the news came out, I was like, it’s been happening for thirty years.”

In 1989, Gracie’s father Rorion opened the first American Brazilian Jiu-jitsu school in Torrance, California. Rorion Gracie was taken to a civilian team to retrain LAPD officials after the Rodney King scandal. In 1993, he helped organize the first UFC event, an unmanned struggle for martial artists from around the world. Rener Gracie’s uncle, Royce, is one of the smallest and least ambitious members of the Gracie family, and he will continue to win the game using Jiu-Jitsu. In the following years, Green turned their family’s art of struggle into a multi-million dollar empire that now includes 250 schools around the world, as well as self-defense programs for law enforcement officials and civilians. Grapes are also involved in training in foreign military and police forces, most notably in the United Arab Emirates, where Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is a national sport and is taught in schools.

To date, Rener Gracie claims his family has worked with 15,000 lecturers from thousands of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in the United States, often bringing them to his main location in Torrance for a week-long workshop where they learn technology to bring back their respective departments. But despite the widespread nature of these trainings, the relationship between law enforcement and the public continues to deteriorate as police kills a series of killings (asphyxiation occurs due to asphyxiation) led to strong protests from the public.

He believes that police officers are usually not trained and prepared for physical disputes, which escalates them to “reasonable choice of highest strength or tool.” Training requirements for law enforcement personnel vary by state, but California police principals need 664 hours of training to be selected, which is much smaller than the training required for beauty permits. After completing the academy, recruits need to undergo another four hours of “use of force” training every two years. Gracy said that even if training officers came to Torrance for a week-long training workshop, the technology they brought home was less (if any) by their officials.

“They would fool it into four techniques, training once a year or three hours of blocks,” Gracie said. “They did an hour. You know, talking about handcuffing, that was their arrest control training back then.” To fix that, he set up the ongoing Brazil-Jewish program at the Bellevue Police Department, and he hopes to create more of these schools in law enforcement agencies nationwide.

A few months ago, I attended a workshop by Professor Gracie at Bellevue headquarters. More than a dozen patrolmen were all wearing white gi– Martial Arts Uniform – Turn your footsteps, defend yourself from attacks, protect your gun with shoulder locks. While Gracie was providing tips to officers around the mat, a photographer dragged him to shoot the promotional content that was later used to help sell Gracie’s plan to other agencies.

Once, Gracie invited me to jump in and test what he called “Safewrap.” Gracie first developed the form to help hospital staff limit violent patients, which is significantly deviating from the way officials have been traditionally taught to limit and arrest suspects. One of the positions to train suspects is the position of prone: put them face to face and force their arms to be handcuffed behind their backs. It is difficult to assess a medical emergency when a suspect is prone to occur and an officer cannot see the suspect’s face on top of him or her. Researchers warn that chest compressions at this location may lead to choking or heart attacks. (Eric Garner and George Floyd were bound by police in prone positions before their death.) Meanwhile, Safewrap involves putting suspects next to them, allowing them to breathe unlimitedly.

Another lecturer, Gracie and Raphael Park, wrapped me around my chest and legs. Gracey wrapped her arms around my neck as I fell on the mat, placing me next to me while the park crossed my legs. Gracie grabbed my other hand tightly, putting me in a nervous position. He invited me to resist, so I summoned everything. (For reference, I was six feet one and two hundred and fifty pounds; I was also my ex wrestler holding a blue belt in BJJ-that was what I thought I had a chance to fight.) I kicked, twisted and twisted, but I found myself locked in place. I can breathe freely, too. Gracie then puts in handcuffs while I stay with me.

After class, I spoke with some of the patrol officers in attendance who were eager to promote the technology they used from the classroom. Michael Silva, a young officer, told me that the idea of arresting someone when he first joined the army was frightened. “All of these policemen are in the fight, and I’ve never really been in a fight like this,” he said. “Like, what should I do?” But a few days ago, Silva successfully used Safewrap technology to tie up men. “Once, he put my partner in trouble,” Silva said of the man. “It’s a little sloppy…but we have the theory, its concept, we take him to Safewrap…he has no painful complaints.” Other officials described a similar situation: a modest woman narrated limiting a man’s figure twice.

Although Gracie and other supporters of Jiu-Jitsu believe their approach is safer, it still centers on the physical conflict in arresting suspects, making it unlikely that advocates of criminal justice reform will fully embrace the plan. As Craig Hanaumi, an officer who works in community engagement and serves as one of the program’s coaches, told me, all the use of force can be harsh, “It’s actually unpleasant to force someone to do something.” In recent years, many critics have also focused on a general warrior-like policing culture that has also undermined efforts to improve public perceptions of police as law enforcement cover-up practices. Gracie embraced this warrior culture. One might argue that his Jiu-Jitsu course was its climax. At the end of the last meeting on the first day, Gracie provided their training uniform with special belts for two officers. These belts are often used to close the training gown and indicate the grade and experience in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. However, Gracie’s belts are also designed to resemble the highly controversial thin blue line flag that was popularized in the Black Lives Matter movement in 2014. Since then, the national flag has been banned by multiple police departments.