Ground Fighting for Law Enforcement Personnel
Our Dangerous Trend Toward Hitting the Deck

By Arnie Lipson

Recently, I was teaching an expandable baton refresher course for in-service law enforcement officers at a criminal justice academy in Northern Virginia. During one of the breaks, I had the opportunity to observe their 40-hour ground-fighting course in session. The officers were dressed in sweat-pants and T-shirts, and they were either barefoot or wearing only socks. None of the officers were wearing a gun belt or any other type of equipment, which is normally worn in the course of their duties. As they practiced techniques such as hip and shoulder throws, foot and leg sweeps, and grappling techniques while on the ground, I couldn’t help but to consider the fact that this may be a dangerous trend.

Ever since the Gracie family started to dominate the “cage match” scene, I have noticed that many defensive tactics instructors in law enforcement have stated that “all street fights will end up on the ground.” I would have to disagree, unless of course one trains to go to the ground deliberately. This seems to be the case in some law enforcement circles lately. Some officers have resigned themselves to the fact that if they get into a physical confrontation; they will end up on the ground. As a result, they decide to train themselves to grab and hit the deck, instead of strike and stay on their feet. Ground fighting is very effective for those who practice it all the time and become experts. Yet even then, most are not performing the same techniques in the same way while dressed in full law enforcement garb. Let’s look at some of the safety issues concerning this trend in training.

TRAIN THE WAY YOU FIGHT, AND FIGHT THE WAY YOU TRAIN

Just as we do in our combatives classes, we dress in training as we will dress on the street. It is unrealistic for an officer to train in “pajamas” if he isn’t working in them. The hip and shoulder throws, as well as purposely locking oneself to an attacker on the ground is unrealistic when a gun belt and equipment are worn. All these techniques offer deliberate and easy access to an officer’s weapons.

THE PROBLEM OF MULTIPLE ATTACKERS

If there are multiple assailants involved during a confrontation, it does not make sense for an officer to go to the ground to apprehend his subject. In the movies, the bad guys fight the good guy one at a time. They stand on the sidelines in a fighting stance and wait their turn. Reality is an officer grappling with his assailant, as the other assailants put the boot to the officer’s head, stomp his legs and body, or assault him with a weapon. Most likely his own.

LOSS OF MOBILITY

We have two problems confronting us here. We have less mobility to employ our weapons and unarmed skills, and we give up an easier escape should the arrest go bad. If an officer is tied up on the ground fending off one or more attackers, it is harder for him to employ power development techniques when he strikes. It is also harder for him to either get to a weapon, or escape, and come back to arrest another day.

POSSIBLE UNINTENTIONAL PERSONAL INJURY

It is bad enough sustaining an injury by falling, or getting knocked to the ground. By grabbing an assailant and deliberately going to the ground with him, the officer puts himself at unnecessary risk for injuries caused by hitting the ground with not only his own body weight, but that of his attacker as well.

DIFFICULT TO DISENTANGLE

When an officer grapples with an assailant on the ground, he ties up his limbs trying either to wrap the attacker up to gain control, to gain a position of advantage, or to prevent himself from being put in a position of disadvantage. All of this hinders his ability to defend against other possible attackers or escape if necessary. Furthermore, depending on the officer’s physical condition, he may not be able to continue fighting for his weapons and his life while on his back.

NO CLEAN FINISH

Even if the officer succeeds in besting his attacker on the ground, he needs to untangle himself, maintain his advantage, and secure his assailant all at the same time. Whereas a good clean striking technique which succeeds in stopping the assailant, keeps the officer in a position of advantage while he secures the arrest.

SIZE AND WEIGHT DIFFERENTIAL

Being 5' 5" tall and weighing 145 pounds, I can truly relate to this one. This would also apply to female officers as well. It doesn’t make sense for an officer to risk his or her safety by tangling on the ground with an assailant who is heavier, larger, or stronger. The potential for injury is extremely high. The greatest number of injuries during officer empty hand skills training seems to occur during two on one drills. When two officers have difficulty taking one “assailant” to the ground, they all fall on each other as they go down. There are shoulder injuries and broken ribs sometimes as a result. If this happens in training, imagine the potential during a real life confrontation? It is foolish to do this on purpose.

In summary, ground fighting is generally a dangerous game to play for a fully uniformed officer of average training. I believe that a 40-hour course with little to no follow-up training will teach an officer just enough to get hurt in a confrontation. Ground fighting doesn’t account for multiple attackers; the introduction of weapons (usually the officer’s weapons) and the loss of many advantages that at officer may have started with. As a veteran officer of almost 14 years, I believe staying on your feet makes you harder to beat. If you do get knocked to the ground, employ the same fighting principles on the deck that you employ on your feet. Your goal, however, is not to tangle on the asphalt, and pin your assailant. Your goal is to cause as much pain as you possibly can in the shortest amount of time, so that you can get to your feet, and get to your weapons. Stay up and stay safe!