What Martial art for a corrections officer?

Question

Hi. Can you guys give me any idea what would be an ideal martial art to study for a prison guard ?

I found myself in a bit of a “no way out” situation the other day. I got out of the situation, thanks to talking this person down. However, it made me think that if I hadn’t managed to talk him down and had to fight, all we’d do is exchange punches till one of us goes down, which I can do easily but think it’s better not to.

I need something smart, hard-hitting if required, pretty easy to learn and something that can, in time, become spontaneous to a degree.

Thanks for your help guys.

Gee, what a response, thanks guys.

Just to clarify. Yes, the prison does offer a very basic unarmed combat type system. It comprises of about 5 or 6 moves. It is only designed to stun the prisoner and move him off. Things such as jaw, throat, wrist pressure point manipulation, striking the shoulder area, punching the shoulder area etc etc. It’s very simple and pretty easy to learn. The prison does not give us on-going training, it’s only covered in the pre-service course.

Also, just to clarify. Here, in Australia, no weapons of any kind are allowed to be carried, which I agree with 100%. If we need to use spray a qualified person is called. If we need to use batons it’s only used in CERT (riot) situations.

I’m looking for something that I can add to this and study on an on-going basis. Something that’ll save my bacon in a one-on-one or, a one-on-three situation.

Thanks to all the corrections officers for their input.

Stay safe people.

Answer 1

As a fellow corrections officer I know full well what your asking. I did Kenpo and kickboxing for 3 yrs prior to becoming an officer. My 1st encounter in a 5 x 7 cell was a very eye opening experience. It is very hard to kick and move inside a very small area that is taken over by a steel bunk and toilet. The space is even smaller when your dealing with a violent inmate thats trying to take you down to the concrete. And regardless of what some of these other laptop grandmasters tell you, The truth is someone under the influence of drugs or alchol isnt gonna be feeling any pain no matter how hard or how many times you hit them. I am a 220 pd man that works out and is in shape and knows how to throw a punch and kicks extremley hard. So to see a guy take a shots to the head and keep coming will mess with your mind. This was a 4 or 5 minute war for life. Till I wore him down. No back-up was there because no one could see or hear where I was in that part of the unit. What I learned that nite is that there are some guys that can take a beating and keep coming. Thats when I decieded to find another art to train in that covered more than just kicking and punching. I needed an art that covered all phases of combat e.g. striking,grappling, pressure points submission holds and throwing. etc. I did some internet research and visited a few schools and tried a few different things till I came across Hapkido. This art encompasses ALL phases of combat and teaches you how use the appropriate amounts of force when needed. You'll learn principles of combat, not just techniques.I could go on and on but do your own research about it. I've been doing Hapkido for 10 yrs and law enforcement for 12 yrs. I wouldnt trust my life on anything else. Be safe!

Answer 2

Hard question. The answer is probably the answer to a different question. How does a correction officer find a good martial art school.
Look for a school where the master instructor spends a lot of time with the students teaching one on one occasionally.
I would avoid a school with tones of trophies on display.
Chose an art that has some submission holds, and teaches releases. Some weapons training as well. this will get you used to distancing and hand eye coordination. Our school teaches Wing Chun under The World Wing Chung Kung Fu Association. These schools cover all of these things. Some of them have program es for bouncers and security people.
Good luck and stay safe. google Keith Mazza or William Chung. or investigate the links at our web http://wwwncmartialarts.com If you are in Delaware we offer deep discounts for law enforcement people and free to some military

Answer 3

Three good choices: Thai boxing, Sabat or Tai Chi Sholin
Both Thai boxing and Sabat are mostly feet but very effective. Tai Chi a very advanced art from whick karate was copied.
It was a 135 pound Thai boxer that put heavyweight boxer and world champion Mohammad Ali in the hospital as a result of their exhibition match. Both forms of the foot boxing will allow a person to jump and kick an opponent in the face 3 to 6 times before returning to the floor.

One warning with any of the martal arts though. You want full contact forms. Most of the martial arts are more like dancing and no one gets hurt. To be effective in your case, you have to know how to hurt. And you will learn that only through full contact. And I gurantee you will be hurt in learning. Not severely, but cracked ribs happen. I am skilled in 6 forms. I listed two. I do not do the sabat. I also am skilled in another I won't even mention as it's whole intent is to kill. I'm going to say Thai Chi since you might get into wrestling type situations. The other two are really far more effective standing and particularily a couple feet away from the opponent. Aren't they giving you training though? They should be before putting you into the cage area.

In the mean time try a magine tightly rolled up. Think of it as a club, most effective brought down in a stabbing motion. What makes it good is if it is taken away, it is just a magazine. It takes a while to roll it up tightly again.

Answer 4

Hi there

You need a course that's been tailored to suit your job profile.
The reason for this is for legal reasons and because most martial arts are full of other stuff which will be of no use to you.

In the UK all Police training is run by the Centrex organization. I'm sure there will be a similar one for the US and other countries. You need to find out who they are and speak to them.

People on here will only recommend their own art based on their experience. Try speaking to fellow officers and see what system they recommend. Chances are it will be some sort of jujutsu aikido based system with some batton training thrown in for good measure.

Best wishes

idai

Answer 5

Look for a martial art and instructor that teaches not only kicking, punching, and striking but also the use of the knees and elbows, along with take-downs, and ground fighting. All these things have certain disadvantages or limitations to them in that situations change and as that happens you have to be able to change with them. An example of this is after that initial punch or exchange when you might be wrestling and struggling with a person kicks become less usable as well as punches sometimes and that's when knees and elbows along with take downs start to come into play or your ability to use them. Once on the ground then it becomes a wrestling match so your ground fighting skills then come into play at that point.

Look for a school and instructor out there that teaches all of these aspects and if you can't find one you may have to start at one school for stand-up type skills and after a while switch to another school or style for ground fighting and take-downs.

Answer 6

A pain compliance system is the concept most commonly selected by police forces and correction facilities around the world. This could be a single discipline they select due to a connection with a local trusted instructor, or a broader accepted curriculum element that is included in initial training.

There will most likely be policy, protocol, and legal limitations on the method, techniques, and concepts used to subdue and restrain prisoners or suspects in your country that you must adhere to, especially as a professional police officer or corrections officer. Pain compliance systems are generally preferred over hard striking systems as they allow a measure of control and manipulation without the significant risk of causing long term or life-threatening injury. As your most likely situation should be dealing with a belligerant or non-responsive indidivual in a custodial setting, you would want to use pain compliance concepts to enforce your directions. I'm sure there will be other means at your disposal if the situation becomes more physically threatening.

Of the officers I know, Aikido, Hapki-Do, Judo and Jiu-Jitsu are very common and often taught in a very limited way during their basic training. Any of these would provide you with technqiues to manipulate indiviudals using their own strength or weight without necessarily having to strike them.

You should, as someone else suggested, check with you supervisors or union to see if any programs or instructors are recommended internally also.

Good luck

Ken C
9th Dan HapMoosaKi-Do
8th Dan TaeKwon-Do
7th Dan YongChul-Do

Answer 7

Actually you don't want a Martial Art. What you need is military/police hand to hand combat training. These usually choose the most effective and fast positions and moves from all the martial arts. For example, there are very few kicks, because they take time to execute.

Answer 8

I'm a Correctional Officer and a Repo-man. Everyone has their own idea of what is the best. I can't even count anymore the amount of takedowns I've done in my career so far. Where we work we can't "strike" I/M's. So no punching and no kicking of the I/M's. Those of us who do train and the I/M's know not to **** with, take Judo/JuJitsu and some MMA. You can't throw kicks anyway in a cell. It's too small.

Answer 9

American Kenpo would be a good art. Also MMA would be a very good art, because MMA covers EVERY aspect of a fight. MMA teaches Submission Grappling and either American Kenpo or Mauy Thai kickboxing for striking! MMA is NOT just for the ring! Don't listen to idiots that say otherwise!

It's VERY important that you learn Submission Grappling as a corrections officer! Also American Kenpo teaches knive defense which is also VERY important for your job!

Answer 10

the idea is to subdue the person will the least amount of damage to the inmate. but things do get rough, thats why i suggest JUDO, Hapkido or aikido. these are takedown martial arts where the purpose is to throw the other person onto the floor, once hes on the floor you are able to get ontop of him and control him. you dont want to take a striking martial arts because most prisons are made for quantity for the buck, meaning tight quarters leaving you no room to punch let alone kick. and once you have the person on the floor its easier to cuff em.