Red Man Fight!!!

So here is a fun video of me fighting in the red man outfit.  If you've never put on a red man outfit, but, believe it or not, it's actually is pretty difficult to move around in.  You feel like the Michelin Man.  You're not as quick, your not as flexible and you can't really get much power behind your kicks and punches.  Nobody really looks like a fighter because let's be honest, you're wearing a big red outfit and everthing that you do is slowed down.  The red man outfit is pretty restrictive and when you get kicked by the guy you're fighting, it doesn't really hurt.  You know they kicked you because you feel the impact but nothing really takes you down for the count.  We actually weren't even allowed to punch in the face.  You may be asking yourself, "Than why do we get into the red man outfit?"

We'll the point of this excercise was to get our heart rate up to max capacity.  Going all out for 60 seconds tires you out.  You reach that red zone and at the end of the fight, we have to walk over to somebody and handcuff them.  Wearing the red man outfit adds weight and restricts your movement so after kicking and punching for one minute, you can believe that you're sucking air.  Everything that we've been learning has had a purpose behind it.  It was a good brawl and at the end of my minute, I finished the job by handcuffing one of my classmates. 

I had fun doing this so I hope you enjoy this video.

atching this video. 

PPCT

Just wanted to try something a little different since PPCT is over.  Last week was a long week but everything went well.  Thanks a lot and see you soon!!!

Taser Taser Taser!!!!

I woke up this morning, looked around and thought to myself, “Today is a great day to get tasered!”  Yes, it’s true, I was actually looking forward to getting tasered.  Maybe it was because I really didn’t know what awaited me, or maybe it was just because I knew it was coming so there was no point fighting it.  Either way, I was getting tasered and there was no way around it. 

This morning, we got to the classroom just like we always do.  The room looked the same, nothing that indicated today was taser day.  Sure we’ve known about this for a couple weeks and most of us were excited, nervous but mainly excited......at least I was.  

We started out with a lecture on what exactly the taser does.  We talked about the different situations in which an officer would use a taser.  We asked lots of questions and even watched videos on how effective the taser is when used.  

A question that we asked in class was one that maybe all of you might be asking, “Can you die from being tasered?”  Most of us have been shocked either touching an outlet, the battery in your car or something else.  Whatever the case, you probably remember when you were shocked.  As we learned today, it’s not necessarily the voltage that runs through your body, but the amps.  To put it in perspective, the average home wall outlet has about 15 amps, a Christmas tree lightbulb has about 1 amp, and the taser that police officers use carries about 0.0021.  The bottom line is that tasering is safe and this non-lethal weapon has saved many lives, including that of the potentially harmful subject. 

Thousands of volts going through your body forces every muscle to tighten and keeps you incapacitated.  As I was getting tasered, I could have swore that 5 seconds had passed, but the electricity kept coming.  I tensed up and I could feel the electricity running through my body.  I tried to stand up, but couldn’t.  I tried to stand up and get away from that freaky sound of voltage, but I couldn’t.  My back and my legs just wouldn’t let me move.  I couldn’t hear anything except the sound of my voice grunting and the voltage running up and down my spine which was more powerful than I was.  I knew it would eventually end but these five seconds would feel like an eternity.  Does it hurt?  Well it doesn’t feel good.  Yes, 50,000 volts is what the taser contains but in reality, by the time the probes make contact with your body, it’s 1,200 volts, much less  than the 50,000, but still more than enough to keep you down for the fight.   

Yes, it was funny watching my classmates going through the same pain that I had just experienced.  Most would think that you have to have some weird/sick sense of humor to find this funny, but we were all highly encouraged to get taserd.  

The reality is that as soon to be police officers, we should know what this feels like and how it effects the body.  This helps you to understand when it may or may not be necessary.  We’ll, today was a good day and i’m looking forward to getting some well deserved rest and relaxation this weekend.  

Hope you guys enjoy this video and hope that my pain and the longest five seconds of my life, make you smile.  Thanks for taking some time to read this blog on my journey through the police academy. 

Arrest Control

It’s Saturday night and I’m just sitting at home relaxing.......finally.  I will tell you that I just finished studying for another test that we’re taking on Tuesday on Preliminary Investigation.  The academy has been very busy and I’ve been learning a lot.  My days are starting to run together; between school and studying, I haven’t had much of a break.  

I thought I would be learning a lot about law enforcement, and I have, but what I didn’t anticipate, was how much I would be learning about myself.  I’m 33 years old, so I’m old enough to know my strengths and weaknesses, but being at the academy has brought those to light even more.  I’ve heard from multiple instructors at the academy that once you get to the department, everybody will have strengths and weaknesses so reach out to each other and work as a team.  I’ve begun practicing that in the academy, and in my areas of weakness, I’ve reached out to my classmates.   

The next 3 weeks will focus on PPCT.  The arrest control portion of the academy is what most of us have been looking forward to... I know I have.  Let’s be honest, if you had your choice of being stuck in a classroom or being in the gym learning some cool arrest tactics, what would you prefer?  

We spent a few days throwing each other on the ground, hitting pressure points, falling, twisting joints, and putting our bodies through painful maneuvers.  It’s been really fun, but it’s also pretty painful.  I am definitely sore.  Unfortunately, we had one student suffer from a possible hand fracture during one of the sessions.  I’ve been really excited for this section of the class, but I honestly wasn’t anticipating how rigorous it would be academically.  This week has been the most academically challenging week for me, and for the rest of the class.  It’s required a lot of studying and homework.  And while arrest control is challenging and fun, I think we are all sober to the fact that this portion of the academy is very necessary and extremely important.  In some cases, it could save our lives. 

One final note, next Friday is T-Day......as in Taser Day and I’m ready to get it.  Stay tuned and you might get a video of me in extreme pain.