Page 8 - Police World Edition 4, 2013
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Police World
Vol 58 No.4 2013
8
Article
The Defensive Tactics Group committee organised a weekend training seminar at the North Wales Police
firing range at Ruthin. The event attracted officers and staff from England, Wales, Sweden and Poland.
T
he weekend started with a BBQ at the
home of the Group Secretary, Rob
Stenhouse, so the participants could
socialise before they began training the next day.
This worked out perfectly to break the ice and
made everyone feel welcome.
The first day of training took place at the nearby
University of Chester gymnasium. Thirty-seven
trainees arrived for the session on knife
awareness. Rob has studied this subject for
some time and has combined his experiences of
knife crime with the skills taught in personal
safety training, self-defence and Ju-jitsu. Rob’s
experience allowed him to present a credible
defence to being attacked with a knife. Everyone
actively trained hard and learnt some valuable
lessons.
After a light lunch my session began. The
subject was the element of surprise - more
specifically how to include the element of
surprise in training. My programme was based
on applying fundamental principles to a wide
variety of situations rather than learning specific
techniques for specific attacks. The training
drills attempted to recreate realistic scenarios
and were often very demanding, both physically
and mentally. One could say exhausting.
Fortunately there was no lack of enthusiasm
from the trainees.
Slightly weary the group moved location to the
Ruthin Range for the final session of day one.
Looking like a set from a James Bond movie the
range particularly impressed the officers from
Poland. It is worth mentioning that these officers
are members of the firearms team of an elite
police unit and are not easily impressed.
The range is a fantastic resource and we are
immensely grateful to North Wales police for
allowing us to use it. There are a number of
special training areas that allowed us to
pressure test our techniques in unique
environments; the dynamic and passive skills
houses, a bus and a street scene. Rob and the
training team arranged four scenarios in the
dynamic skills house and set about putting the
group through their paces. This turned out to be
a highlight of the day as people tested
themselves and their resolve. This was enjoyed
by all and was, of course, great fun.
Saturday was going to be another extensive day
packed with seminars and practical lessons.
Training started at 9am with another North
Wales officer, our Treasurer, Tim Taylor, teaching
a very thought provoking lesson on perceptual
distortion.
We then moved on to a practical lesson of
boxing in self-defence situations again delivered
by Tim Taylor. As a boxer and boxing coach he
has the knowledge and skills to bridge the gap
between the 'noble art' and street fighting.
After lunch, Richard Dean, a business training
specialist, gave a presentation on how to
mentally prepare yourself for success. Richard
explained how athletes prepare for competition
and how we can apply the same principles to our
training. Richard then moved onto teaching
stress inoculation drills in the street scene. This
was another practical lesson involving putting
people in situations where they feel
uncomfortable before they have to perform self-
defence skills. Both insightful and interesting the
trainees again threw themselves into the drills
with gusto and enthusiasm.
The Explosive Self Defence System was a
session taught by the system’s creator and the
founder of the Swedish IPA-DTG Slavo Godzik.
Slavo designed the system with police officers in
mind and drew upon his practical experiences
as well as martial arts training.
At 7:30pm with little rest we moved on to the
last session of the evening taken by Martin
Cooper, Group Chair and former Lancashire
police officer. Martin’s field of interest is the
training systems of W.E. Fairbairn. Fairbairn is a
very influential figure in the world of close-
combat.
Day two started with scenarios. After a warm-up
and brief session with the Swedish ESDS
trainers, we went over to the range to see what
Rob and the team had in store. All trainees went
through four scenarios designed to test not only
fighting skills but the use of dialogue and
persuasion to prevent conflict in the first place.
Suffice to say the scenarios were very realistic
and, surprisingly perhaps, all the more enjoyable
for that.
The last session was taken by our international
patron, Peter Consterdine. Peter is very well-
known in the British martial arts scene and has
been involved in karate for over forty years and
was a consultant for the Police Personal Safety
Manual. Peter taught how to generate impact
when striking. It was obvious that Peter has
spent a lot of time and effort studying the
subject and had a wealth of knowledge to
impart.
And then it was over - what a blast! What a
success - phew!
Future plans were hatched and discussions
turned to when the next event will take place.
Watch this space!
Keith Sinclare
,
Vice Chair Defensive
Tactics Group
Defensive Tactics
Weekend COPS 2013
For more
information about
the Group visit
/
Defensive-Tactics
