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The Solution:
To us, fighting is fighting. A fight will go from the standing position to the ground and vice versa. And when you are in public safety, weapons are always present during a physical confrontation. Therefore, all hands-on techniques must be performed with weapon awareness and weapon retention in mind. Through our program, the student will learn easy, effective and efficient defensive and offensive techniques as it relates to the Public Safety Officer. Students will continue to practice each technique throughout the program’s duration to facilitate repetition and hands-on experience.
The Bando Systems program is set up to instill (from the beginning) necessary standup and ground (striking, defending and grappling) principles. We understand from years of training individuals and groups, that instilling solid and safe basic principles from the beginning makes all the difference in the end result. To become truly proficient at anything, one must first master the basics. This concept especially applies to defensive and offensive tactics.
Teaching defensive and offensive tactics is like teaching a language. We teach the student pronunciation, meaning and application of the letters, words and sentences, so that when the time comes, they may write the story.
We also understand that "perfect practice makes perfect." Physical training, whatever the specific activity, requires repetition and hands-on experience for success. Without this, confidence, conditioning and ability will be low.
An obvious difference in the Bando program is that the training teaches a response based on principles to address the most dangerous situation an officer can face; when an aggressive, violent and motivated assailant is trying to severely injure or kill the officer. The Bando program does address all the traditional scenarios of basic hand-to-hand control over a suspect. But, it also trains the student to become proficient in body manipulation in conjunction with related striking and other techniques and strategies, so that the officer can adapt and adjust to any situation presented by an aggressor. All of these techniques are trained with weapon retention and weapon awareness in mind.
Understanding Bando’s Three F’s:
A surprise confrontation or violent incident elicits one of three responses from the surprised individual. We categorize these three responses into the following F’s:.
- Fight (immediately react by trying to survive and win by any means necessary)
- Flight (immediately and instinctually run out of fear, surprise and shock)
- Freeze (immediately become paralyzed out of fear, surprise and shock)
During the selection process of choosing a new Patrol K-9 dog, police K-9 instructors and handlers must evaluate prospective dogs. Each dog is thoroughly tested and screened to determine how much "drive" they have, and which "F" characteristic they possess. A qualified canine must possess the Fight characteristic. If they do not possess the Fight characteristic, the canine would most likely be passed up and not selected for police work.
During police K-9 patrol school, each dog is continuously tested and evaluated to make certain that they will not Flight or Freeze during a verbal, physical or violent confrontation with a suspect, to include gunfire. Training the dogs through the use of realistic scenarios severely strengthens their Fight response.
Through the use of realistic scenarios, people (recruits) can also be trained so that their Fight characteristic is eventually strengthened. Just as with dogs, some people (recruits) naturally possess a higher quality of the Fight characteristic than others. As police trainers, we see this phenomenon come to light in every academy class.
Some observers have associated people with Type-A personalities to have a stronger Fight characteristic than people of other personality types. In reality, as police trainers, we have seen the Fight characteristic come through in a variety of different personality types. One never knows how a particular person will respond until they are actually placed into a specific situation that demands a surprised response.
Through realistic training, repetition of techniques, successful application and winning experiences, recruits may become trained Fighters instead of trained Flighters and Freezers. Therefore, choreographed techniques have no place in the Bando System of training.
Teamwork:
The Bando Systems program is the only one (of which we are aware) that incorporates a team response curriculum for a physical fight. In the field, public safety personnel are often faced with the challenge of working hands-on with several other officers in a situation involving the restraint of one or more suspects. There are contact and cover issues. There are communication concerns between the involved officers and the suspects. There are weapon acknowledgement and assessment issues during these situations. And, there are specific techniques we have identified that significantly increase the probability of success in this teamwork environment.
Taser and Other Less-Lethal Weapon Misnomers:
Some departments, officers and trainers feel that Tasers and other less-lethal weapons (like O.C. Spray) are the ultimate tools that make hand-to-hand techniques and training less important. We agree that in certain foreseeable situations where preparation and anticipation are available, these weapons may be the best option. However, when an officer is caught off-guard and by surprise by a suspect who is trying to kill them, these non-lethal weapons often become unobtainable, unusable, and in some cases they can be turned against the officer. These situations are specifically addressed throughout the Bando program.
Teaching How to Teach:
Teaching, in a nutshell, means “the effective communication of information from one individual to another to facilitate knowledge and understanding.” We at Bando Systems understand there is a big difference between teaching recruits and teaching trainers. When teaching recruits, the goal is to effectively communicate information and to ensure that the recruit can effectively execute the techniques in real-life scenarios. In contrast, when teaching trainers how to teach specialized topics, you must make sure they:
- completely understand and are able to regurgitate the principles and core information of the program
- can properly demonstrate and explain (step by step) the techniques learned
- understand and are able to effectively distinguish and adapt their teaching methods to fit different individual needs so effective learning can occur
- can maintain a safe training environment and practicing experience for their students
- are prepared to adapt each technique to specific circumstances based upon the use of Bando’s basic principles
You can be the best fighter in the world, but it does not automatically make you the best teacher. Effective communication and the ability to modify training aids and methods for successful learning is an art in and of itself. Our program is designed to enhance the basic training abilities of each participant.
Priority of Safety:
It is imperative to organize and operate a safe training environment in which officers can learn with the trust and confidence that they will not be seriously injured. Injuries (aside from unavoidable circumstances), rough-housing, egos, goofing-off, and the use of unnecessary speed and force should never be promoted or accepted in a training class for public safety officers. Although the instructors for Bando Systems are all fighters, we are experienced coaches and police trainers as well. Through our training and experiences, we understand the difference between training hardcore fighters for competition and training public safety officers for their professional enhancement. Our program instills the three safeties of training:
- Safety for yourself
- Safety for others around you
- Safety for the partner with whom you are training
Any unsafe behavior or situation should not and will not be tolerated.
Program Development:
"What makes the Bando practitioner hard to keep up with is that they are open-minded. They are thieves who will steal whatever technique works and incorporate it into their own system."
We believe the above listed statement can be applied for every public safety training program. Upon request, Bando Systems can evaluate your agency's training program and make suggestions to modify it to better fit the specific needs of your department.
Certified instructors/members of Bando Systems will have special internet access that provides updates, technique reviews and recent experiences by officers and other instructors.
Report Writing and Incident Documentation:
Technical knowledge and ability is one thing, to articulate it is another. The Bando program provides specific language (in the manual) and writing skills that are necessary for proper incident documentation.
Liability Issues:
Liability is a major concern for modern day law enforcement agencies and public safety departments. The Bando Systems program was developed around three elements:
- Practicality
- Safety
- Liability
These three elements work in unison. Each one needs the company of the other for success.
The Bando program is a complete system that embraces basic principles and comprehensive knowledge of each technique. There should be no “gray areas” of operation or understanding with our graduates, so there is less room for mistakes. Our graduate members possess the ability and experience to recognize specific situations and act accordingly in response. Knowledge is power. The value of our graduates is not measured by the quantity of techniques they learned, but rather the complete comprehension of each technique, related principles and application. Through our free expert advice, we will assist our graduate members in the evaluation and documentation/articulation of serious real-life incidents involving the proper use of Bando techniques. We will also provide free expert courtroom testimony for our graduate members upon proper use and application of Bando techniques.
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