Defense Training?

[Del1650]

I am a Corrections Officer here in our local sherriffs office were we house about 650 inmates. Ive been with the department for about 3 months now and im planning on working in the jail for a while then eventually to transfer over to patrol. As Corrections Officer we get very little defensive training, I would like to enroll in some type of martial arts class maybe once or twice a week that would be benificial to my career, but am unsure of what type of training i should seek. Maybe some sort of close combat training? What would you guys suggest?

[Switchback]

I would steer clear of the sport-oriented types of disciplines. Also, fancy kicks and spinning punches may look cool, but they are not that practical. In detention facilities (and houses, for that matter), space will be really limited and you will need something that is in-close and personal (knees, elbows, etc). When you get to the street and you are wearing a lot of gear, the alst thing you want is to try a kick hihger than the common peronial (mid-thigh). The best techniques will have you using your oponents strength and balance against them, as opposed to relying on your raw strength.

My first choice would be MMA type of clubs... and they are becoming propular in more and more areas. They tend to pull in parts of a lot of disciplines and have a lot of ground fighting. Anyone who has been in a real fight will tell you that it almost always goes to the ground.

Other ones that I like include Krav Maga, Jujitsu and Hopkido. It just depends on what you have available in your area.

[Del1650]

This stuff is all new to me. What does MMA mean? Thanks for the reply

[Switchback]

Mixed Martial Arts. With the popularity of ultimate fighting style competitions, there are MMA clubs popping up all over the place. In my relatively small town, I know of 3 that are run by reputable guys.