Maximum tolerance is law enforcements way of dealing with escalating situations, every law enforcement agent learns to use restraint to neutralize threats. But not every law enforcement agent has the same level of maximum tolerance, when losing the control battle some law enforcement might end up using deadly force.
“Jiu-Jitsu creates a higher threshold, some people may lose control and may resort to strikes. If we can expand that threshold, that’s the ultimate goal,” said Bill Owens. “They [police] don’t want to be on the news for the wrong thing, they will do anything to not be in that position.”
Not all law enforcement agencies receive the same level of training, positions like corrections only offer a couple hours a year of training. Dave Draeger, Juvenile Corrections Officer, is a student in the program who says that learning Jiu-Jitsu has made him more calm in the workplace.
“It’s a great way to mentally prepare for my job,” said Dave Draeger. “Its unfortunate but we do have to go hands on in corrections. Several times I’ve had to go hands on and things get messy. Live rolling teaches you to deal with things. I’m a lot less nervous now, but the downside of corrections is that they barely have training. They do eight hours a year, I do eight hours every two weeks here.”
But Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu isn’t just for law enforcement agents and mixed martial art super stars.
“It’s for everyone, I call it the cools man tennis,” said Owens. “You can be a little kid or you can be a 72 year old and still join and get something out of it.”
Prodigy Martial Arts also offers other programs like the Muay Thai, the art of eight limbs, which is a kickboxing variant that utilizes knees, elbows, fists, shins, clinching and sweeping techniques. The gym also offers martial arts classes to children, these classes go on while adults take their classes.
