Orange County Peace Officers Receive Jiu-Jitsu Training from Ryron Gracie

Law enforcement officers in Orange County are now even more capable of rolling with the punches after receiving proprietary jiu-jitsu training from a member of the storied Gracie family.

According to Jonathan Daniel, an investigator with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the training was organized by Sunny Yu, a principal instructor at Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Durham.

“Sunny brought in all this information, met with the chief, sat down and talked to him and the sheriff and [said], ‘Here’s the certified training — it’s tried and true, it’s been proven, it’s only for military and law enforcement officers,'” he relayed. “[The sheriff] looked into it himself and came back and said, ‘Let’s do it; let’s bring that here.'”

With the approval of Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood, Yu arranged for deputies to meet Ryron Gracie, the eldest grandson of Brazilian jiu-jitsu co-founder Hélio Gracie.

Daniel claimed that neighboring law enforcement agencies were eager to participate in the training when Blackwood announced that Ryron would be coming to Orange County.

“I know Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Durham, Wake County, the [North Carolina] Highway Patrol — multiple people that were closely connected to us decided to buy in as well once he was able to spread the word and talk in detail about what they were doing and how it had been proven for so long,” he stated.

The grappling maneuvers taught by the Gracies serve as cornerstones of military fighting systems such as the Modern Army Combatives Program and Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.

Those maneuvers were taught to local class participants by Ryron over the course of five days, with an emphasis being placed on conflict de-escalation and proper use of force.

“You spend the week with him, Monday through Friday, the entire day on the mat, and he goes through different tactics, techniques of how to control subjects, how to bring them down, how to keep good weapon retention — obviously, you can afford to lose that — as well as ways to transition from controlling them on the ground to moving into handcuffing positions,” explained Daniel.

Ryron and his brothers promote the ambassadorship of self-defense techniques through the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy, which was established 28 years ago in Torrance, California.

Having already received ample training on those techniques, the officers in Orange County who were privy to instruction are now able to teach the maneuvers to colleagues.

“You take the time to first learn them, practice them, do them together, and then you have to start practicing teaching one another so that when you come back to your agency, you’re able to bring it and [say], ‘This is a better way to do this; this is a safer way for you, to prevent you from being injured, as well as cutting down on injuries to other people,'” affirmed Daniel.

Blackwood previously approved training for deputies on verbal judo, which is a discipline that entails body language, persuasion and nonviolent approaches to potentially dangerous situations.

Daniel noted that his department has a continued interested in putting deputies through training that enables them to better serve and protect residents of Orange County.

“Obviously, the public is constantly on the sheriff’s mind and everyone’s mind,” he noted. “We want to serve people, we want to do the right thing, and by bringing this training in ahead of issues and troubles and problems that come in, then you’re able to handle anything that comes up.”

Carlos Gracie developed Brazilian jiu-jitsu with his brother, Hélio, in the early-to-mid 20th century as a way for smaller, weaker people to defend themselves against bigger, stronger assailants.

Photo by Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Orange County Peace Officers Receive Jiu-Jitsu Training from Ryron Gracie

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