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Holy cow! Professional wrestling has come a long way since the days when it looked like wrestling. And so has “the manly art of self-defense” (to say nothing of the general concept of manliness).

While you can fault some, many or maybe even most of the LAPD training video’s submission techniques — and wonder why this video doesn’t include handcuffing the perps — at least the cops are being told they’re going to need to go hands-on.

Whether this reluctance is due to the arrival of TASERs, the Black Lives Matter anti-cop cultural bias or high-profile court cases against police using excessive force, a lot of today’s peace officers are reluctant to get physical,

In terms of methods of disarmament (which start at 13:04), the handgun disarm demonstrated shows that Krav Maga ain’t as new as some would believe. And neither are videos that show the perp putting the firearm within easy reach.

The long gun disarm is pretty sweet too. In fact, it’s pretty good stuff for anyone interested in learning close-quarters combat techniques. Even if you take just a few classes, it’s well worth your time. As always, perfect practice makes perfect. Oh, and nice hat!

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15 COMMENTS

  1. The guy in the hat sort of looked like Jack Webb (Sgt Joe Friday). The threat of AIDS, Hep C and other communicable diseases has made officers reluctant to go “hands on”. Nobody wants to get covered with the Bad Guy’s blood.

      • He said he didn’t have his heart in it after Manchester. He declined to discuss with me whatever his current rant was cause of the bombing. That’s been a few days.

        Anybody hear about the stabbing deaths on the light rail in Portland?

  2. This was funny… like the Keystone Cops or Laurel and Hardy.

    We got rid of the tie or went to a break away tie. We got rid of the Sam Browne cross strap. You don’t want anything the opponent can use fore leverage and control. We got rid of the flap you had to unsnap to get to your .38 revolver.

    In 1976, disarming was taught the same way with minor changes which resulted in removing the subject’s index finger if they didn’t give it up.

    First step, never get that close without a backup. At the time of this film, a great many procedures were very basic if they existed at all. For example, there was no procedure if a bad guy had a gun on your partner and told you to hand over yours. It wasn’t until 1963 and the Onion Field case that it was determined that you never give up your weapon. Statistics were that if you did you were both dead.

    Serious incidents almost always result in changes of procedures. The Newhall incident, also called the “Newhall massacre”, was a shootout between two heavily armed criminals and officers of the California Highway Patrol in the Newhall unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, California on April 5, 1970. In less than 5 minutes, four CHP officers were killed (executed) in what was at the time the deadliest day in the history of California law enforcement. This brought about changes in vehicle positioning and the use of shotguns.

    Law enforcement is mostly reactive. Not just that cops react to a reported crime, but also by changing tactics in reaction to changes in the way they must handle what goes on out on the street. When this film was made, people had far more respect for authority (parents, pastors, police, teachers, etc). That progressively changed, especially during the 1960s when figures of authority were treated with utter contempt and violence. Law Enforcement had to up their game to deal with the streets. Today, as many readers of this column have voiced, cops are viewed worse than the criminals who victimize good people.

  3. A lot of that is… so… either illegal or going to get ya killed. And like Mc-ninja, largely depends on your training dummy being cooperative.

    Violence of action is more adequate. Strike hard and fast.

  4. “Whether this reluctance is due to the arrival of TASERs, the Black Lives Matter anti-cop cultural bias or high-profile court cases against police using excessive force, a lot of today’s peace officers are reluctant to get physical…”

    All of that plus the chicken/egg issue of hiring less physically capable officers. Take your average LAPD roll call in 1949 and compare it to one today and you’ll start to see why the ‘bat-belt’ is so important compared to the days of a right hook being the common technique for a resisting suspect.

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