HUTCHINSON, Kan. (KSNW) — Thirty eight law enforcement officers from Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Washington State have spent the past week at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center undergoing the one-week Gracie University Jiu-Jitsu instructor certification program.
The goal of the course is to train the officers in how to teach fellow officers in their department Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques to minimize injuries and the use of deadly force. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is designed to allow someone who may be smaller and weaker than their opponent to successfully fend off or even force their opponent to submit through a series of throws, locks, and ground attacks.
“Our mission is to train and equip Kansas law enforcement officers with quality resources to handle potentially dangerous situations minimizing the risk of injury to anyone involved,” says KLETC Executive Director Darin Beck.
Jeremiah Hackerott, an instructor with Gracie University since 2010, says the goal of the course is officer safety and to give participants a more gentle option for when they have to get hands-on in a potentially volatile situation.
“Participants will complete this course with weapon repetition and distance management skills,” said Hackerott. “They will also walk away with the ability to teach others and develop a healthy culture that keeps them wanting to train long-term.”
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is also known as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. It was first developed in Brazil by the four brothers, Carlos, Oswaldo, Gastão Jr., George, and Hélio Gracie. It rose to prominence in the United States in part through Gracie family members competing and winning in the early years of the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC as it is more commonly referred to today. Most mixed martial artists today incorporate Gracie Jiu-Jitsu techniques into their fighting styles.
The Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in Hutchinson is the state’s central law enforcement training facility and is the headquarters for all law enforcement training in Kansas.
