Invictus: Why Make it Mandatory?

 We have all seen the videos of officers failing miserably while attempting to make arrests or control actively resisting subjects.  At best, it can look like a Keystone Cops sketch.  In less humorous situations, we observe officers use force which can easily appear to be too excessive for the situation.  And at worst, we sometimes see officer’s get seriously injured or even killed.  Full disclosure, I spent at least half of my career as a police officer doing the job with no serious martial arts or defensive tactics training.  In situations where physical force was required, I did what most other police officers with no training do, I tackled and prayed I would be able to overpower whoever it was who was resisting arrest.  Looking back, I realize how very fortunate I was to never end up on the losing end of one of those physical encounters.  And this very reason, I believe, is why many police officers never seriously consider training Jiu Jitsu or other effective martial arts.  Most Police Officers have simply been lucky.  Why start training Jiu Jitsu if you have always been able to simply overpower criminals who have resisted arrest?   

The reason is simple, you are playing Russian roulette with your life and the life of your fellow Officer’s.  I can tell you with an absolute certainty, if you do this job long enough, you are going to have to fight someone who is bigger, more powerful, and more athletic than you at some point.  It is not a matter of if the ultimate fight ever happens, it is a matter of when.  How prepared will you be when this happens?

I am going to focus on the art of Jiu Jitsu for obvious reasons, it is the art I have the most experience in and it is also the art that I believe is the most applicable to Law Enforcement.  One of the main advantages of Jiu Jitsu is its ability to neutralize another person’s size and athletic ability in a physical fight.  Jiu Jitsu simply put, uses techniques which allow a person to be able to place themselves in a position to use leverage to control another human being.  This in essence, is what we are attempting to do as police officers when we are effecting an arrest on a resisting subject. 

Those of us who have trained Jiu Jitsu for a period, have had practical experience using Jiu Jitsu at work and have experienced firsthand how effective Jiu Jitsu can be.   Thanks to social media, many of us who are Police Officers and also Jiujiteros were able to connect and to begin sharing some of our experiences and ideas about how to marry Jiu Jitsu into Law Enforcement defensive tactics.  Through all of these online discussions birthed the #bjjmakeitmandatory movement which then led to the creation of Invictus.  

One of our main goals at Invictus from the beginning has been to inspire Police Officers to begin training Jiu Jitsu.  One of the ways we are attempting to do this, is by featuring Police Officers from around the country who are Black Belts in Jiu Jitsu and who are in good standing in both the Law Enforcement community as well as the Jiu Jitsu community.  We at Invictus have had a lot of black belts from around the country who have reached out and offered to teach at one of our seminars.  I can tell you we are humbled and very grateful to those who have reached out to us.  But our primary focus at this time is getting the word out on how effective Jiu Jitsu is for Law Enforcement, and who better to deliver that message than fellow Police Officers who have also put in the time and dedication to become Black Belts in Jiu Jitsu. 

Another reason we prefer to feature Police Officers who are Black Belts is relatability.  When you come to an Invictus Seminar, you are able to immediately relate with the instructors because we have all done the same job and faced the same challenges.  You know that instructor has been where you have been at some point in their career.  Invictus instructors are also to directly relate Jiu Jitsu techniques to applicability on the street.  Invictus instructors are not operating off of theory, they are operating off of real world experience.  

For this reason we will continue to look to use fellow Police Officers who are Black Belts to share their knowledge with you when you come to an Invictus Seminar.  This does not mean that in future seminars, exceptions wont be made for certain instructors based on their background and contribution to the Law Enforcement community.  We at Invictus want to provide everyone with the best knowledge and techniques available and ultimately have a good experience.  I very much look forward to meeting many new faces at our next seminars.  Till then, STFUT!!!

Jason Rebsch

Invictus Leo Co -Founder

Police Officer

Jiu Jitsu Black Belt