Self Defense Classes for Abilene Police
By: Stephanie Castillo
Updated: November 2, 2011
ABILENE -- An Abilene police officer is using a hobby of his to teach his
colleagues some tried and true techniques to defend themselves in the
field.
Sgt. Jason Hack has been cage fighting for years, and now he's sharing his expertise with his fellow officers.
On Monday nights, a conference room at Abilene's Law Enforcement Center transforms into a mixed martial arts training gym.
"What we're here to do is help train our officers to better arm themselves in a self defense manner when the other tools have become inoperable or not accessible to them," Hack said.
Hack leads the class with his daughter, Halleigh. The two teach officers boxing, kicking, and grappling techniques.
"The academy teaches the basics of this. What we do is we're getting more in-depth and more detailed and more skilled at each of these disciplines," he said.
Those skills provide officers with an extra tool to defend themselves.
"If you have somebody coming at you in certain situations, MMA teaches you how to react to get them on the ground to where you are in the dominant position," Halleigh said.
Officers who attend the class said the training has come in handy more than once in the field.
"I have had to use these techniques to take people into custody. If I can use the techniques that I learn in here to get someone into custody safely without having to use some of my intermediate weapons, then that's what I'm going to do," said APD officer Chris Collins.
While the techniques definitely come in handy for the officers, the trainers said learning MMA is something everyone can benefit from.
"Even if you think in a smaller city like Abilene that tends to be pretty safe, it's really easy to get attacked. You never know when it's going to happen or who you're going to be up against. So it's good to know how to defend yourself and what to do," Halleigh said.
Sgt. Hack and Halleigh train at a gym for two hours a day three to four times a week.
Sgt. Jason Hack has been cage fighting for years, and now he's sharing his expertise with his fellow officers.
On Monday nights, a conference room at Abilene's Law Enforcement Center transforms into a mixed martial arts training gym.
"What we're here to do is help train our officers to better arm themselves in a self defense manner when the other tools have become inoperable or not accessible to them," Hack said.
Hack leads the class with his daughter, Halleigh. The two teach officers boxing, kicking, and grappling techniques.
"The academy teaches the basics of this. What we do is we're getting more in-depth and more detailed and more skilled at each of these disciplines," he said.
Those skills provide officers with an extra tool to defend themselves.
"If you have somebody coming at you in certain situations, MMA teaches you how to react to get them on the ground to where you are in the dominant position," Halleigh said.
Officers who attend the class said the training has come in handy more than once in the field.
"I have had to use these techniques to take people into custody. If I can use the techniques that I learn in here to get someone into custody safely without having to use some of my intermediate weapons, then that's what I'm going to do," said APD officer Chris Collins.
While the techniques definitely come in handy for the officers, the trainers said learning MMA is something everyone can benefit from.
"Even if you think in a smaller city like Abilene that tends to be pretty safe, it's really easy to get attacked. You never know when it's going to happen or who you're going to be up against. So it's good to know how to defend yourself and what to do," Halleigh said.
Sgt. Hack and Halleigh train at a gym for two hours a day three to four times a week.
