In recent years there seems to be a growing discussion and debate regarding which pedagogical model or theory of learning and coaching is most effective for police training.  When I get asked what theory or pedagogical model underpins my teaching and coaching my answer is, “There isn’t ‘one’. I am guided by my personal values of curiosity, excellence, and respect and by what works best for the participants in my training.” My 35-year journey as a police trainer has taught me to stay curious, keep an open mind, and continually seek better ways to serve the heroic men and women I have the … [Read more...]

I agree that when it comes to training for subject control tactics it may be optimal to train with a partner who is going to provide the verbal and physical cues and the varying levels of resistance and aggression an officer would face on the street. But optimal is not always possible. Sometimes the only person you have to train with is yourself. I agree that it may be optimal to practice striking with a training partner in a dynamic environment, which replicates the real-world performance environment. But optimal is not always possible. Sometimes you only have a heavy bag or a homemade … [Read more...]

In the third part of his miniseries on keys to integrating mental skills work, mental performance coach Aaron Walsh shared the following:  Three principles to guide our content.  The second aspect of enhancing engagement is related to how we present to the athletes. Once we identify what needs to be delivered, how do we maximise our time with the athletes, so the work is meaningful to them? Below are three principles I have leaned on to make this happen: In reading these three key principles it struck me that if we substitute the words “trainer” for “athlete” and … [Read more...]

I recently listened to Episode #53 of The Primal MMA Coaching Podcast where host Scott Sievewright interviewed Andy from The School of Grappling. Andy is well educated, well read, very articulate and seems to have a strong reputation in the grappling community. Very early on in the interview Andy made the following statement: “I basically have emersed myself in this whole topic about how we learn, how we perceive, how we act from a philosophical interest, and it is cool that I can apply it to grappling. What I have learned over the years is that many theories have many great … [Read more...]

There is a lot of talk about the importance of failure and mistakes for learning. People are encouraged to fail fast and fail often and are told that to be successful they need to fail more. Trainers are told they need to develop training environments where participants are encouraged to fail and encouraged to make mistakes. We hear it said that we learn more from our failures than we do our successes. Maybe that is because we fail to examine our successes to extract the lessons and the learning. Too often we only debrief when something goes wrong, and we perceive there was a failure, and may … [Read more...]