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COVER STORY guy and the duration is controlled by the bad guy. We now have videos of bad guys fighting and we can reverse engineer our defensive tactics to combat their fighting style," Blauer says. "When a UFC fighter is getting ready for a fight, he studies video of the guy he is fighting, preparing for the things he does. Most cops don't study the bad guys; they train in martial arts and focus on court-defensible techniques. As a result, most training is not relevant, realistic and rigorous. Technology has kept up with the bad guys but the training is not keeping up." Rather than work from imagined scenarios, today's most advanced defensive tactics trainers are looking at real combat and figuring out what the officer has to do to survive and triumph. It certainly makes sense to approach defensive tactics this way—instead of forcing law enforcement to adapt to ritualized martial arts techniques, hoping that the techniques work when they have to, trainers are looking at real situations and designing moves and strategies that allow the officers to triumph. To be successful, any defensive tactics training system has to take into account the realities of law enforcement work, and arm officers with the means to survive. If a department is too worried about liability in these situations, officers are hamstrung and almost sure to fail when facing an opponent who will do anything to win. "There are really three fights," Blauer adds. "The first fight is between you and you (courage and fear management), the second fight is between you and the bad guy and the third fight is between you and the legal system. Most departments build their defensive tactics around fight three, which puts officers at risk. I think every move is court defensible if it's reasonable given the situation. It might be reasonable to pick up a rock and bash the bad guy over the head if he has your gun "...Everyone realizes that most arrest situations look more like a football scrimmage than an Aikido seminar." — Fletch Fuller, vice president and director of law enforcement training for ISR Matrix International Tony Blauer (in green shirt) demonstrates techniques from Blauer Tactical Systems. 30 Law Enforcement Technology August 2013 www.officer.com