Hello, I am also a police officer. I would suggest Yoshinkan Aikido. It focuses on practical application. Someone mentioned that the Tokyo riot police must train in Aikido for a year. Yoshinkan Aikido is the style that they and every female officer must study

thank you all for your advice i have not replied due to checking out some schools

please keep in mind that which ever art you choose, you get out what you put in. if you trained for an hour a day you'll be amazed at the speed you'll become efficient. (not overnight mind you.)finding a good practice partner is also very beneficial. it will enable you to practice using your art in real world situations through role playing.

first i did a trail in judo, did not really like that it was mor guided to competition and they separate you in weight clases, i need to control subject that are much bigger than me. i also stood in a aikido class and loved it, it seem more practical for me (and i have a short fuse) so the philosophy is great for me. and once agian thank you all for your time. and i welcome any other advice

People say that those wrist lock and flip techniques don't work. They are full of it. If you aply enough pressure to someone's wrist, elbow, etc. they are going to flip. Period. I have only used one Aikido technique in a real fight (Tenchi Nage) and it works great.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by senseilou:
Assumption, Aikido takes 10 years to learn. Fact, depends on the person, if you have some martial art training, it doesn't take as long. ...[/QUOTE]

I think this "10 years to learn" thing has been taken entirely out of context. The founder's original quote (from "The Art of Peace" translated by John Stevens) was "In your training, do not be in a hurry, for it takes a minimum of 10 years to master the basics and advance to the first rung"....

This to me means, it takes more than a while to become proficient in the basics before you reach the first level of understanding.

An interesting book I came across once - Norman, Donald A, (1993), "Things That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine" - states (vaguely - since I can't remember the exact quote) that for an average person to become proficient to a basic level of proficiency in any manual skill, would require at least 5000 hours of focused practice. (Roughly 2.5 years practicing 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 125 weeks).

This is true of any martial art. You cannot expect to be reasonably proficient in it without significant investment in time and effort. But it depends entirely on a number of factors:
1. you
2. your teacher
3. your inate ability
4. your teacher's ability to draw it out of you
5. your commitment, passion and focus
6. your prior training and level of understanding
etc. etc.

Let me ask this question:
Would you be confident of a commercial pilot's abilities to fly the plane in which you were a passenger with less than 3000 hours actual flight time? How about 100 hours?

So it takes time, everything in life does.

And a journey of a 1000 miles....

As is often the case, I found this thread in google while looking for other information. I know it's an old thread but I just wanted to add my 2 cents about Aikido and Judo for police officers.

As to taking too long to learn, all I can say is it is like anything else - you get out of it what you put into it. If you practice regularly and diligently, you can progress quickly. If you want to be considered an "Aikido Master", then you are looking at decades of study. But that is a different goal than trying to become proficient enough to apply the techniques in self defense or as a police officer in the field.

Yoshinkan Aikido is more popular with police departments than other styles of Aikido. But I also know police officers who train with the Aikido Association of America and they swear by it. One Sheriff's Deputy who was teaching a class that I was in addressed the 'Aikido does not work" theory by saying "who ever said that never saw the look on a suspects face when he feels the locks".

To my knowledge, all Japanese Police Officers are required to be black belts in either Aikido or Judo. Many train in both.
Judo is excellent for police officers. But you have to train with a law enforcment oriented group. If you are a police officer training at the YMCA, a community center or a competition oriented club, then you will not get your needs met. But that can be said for any martial art. You have to train with someone who understands the needs of an officer and train with those needs in mind.
Take a look here for an article on a Judo seminar held for Police Officers: http://www.deputysheriff.org/INFORMANT-Winter04.pdf

I think most people see aikido as an art that cant be used within a 10 year peroid, but you are learning and memorising techniques so when a situation does arise you will know what to do straight away as you've done the technique that is effective for that attack a thousand times.

Hey mightymouse,

JAMJTX is right. All Japanese Police are taught Aikido. (I do believe Aikido is more common then Judo though. The way I've been tought is that Judo is mainly a compition sport.) You see them walk the streets with there Jo (4.5 foot stick). I watched 3 of them take down 5 US Sailors in front of a club in Yokohama. It is every effective. But true to of what JAMJTX said, your needs as an officer might require something more or something different.

We a X-Judo student in our class. He was a black belt. Our Sensai found out about this and when he teaches he tells the guy who knows Judo to attack him as he would in Judo. And everytime he is throwin down on the mat. The point is that no matter how he attacked the Sensai he was always bested. From practicing with the Judo guy I see there a advantages to it. But not as many as you will see in Aikido.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mightymouse:
first off i would like to say that since reading this forum i have gained a great deal of respect not only to Akido but for all MA. a little about myself i'm 5'5 145 male and a police officer i'm looking to get into MA my parnter is into Judo and swears by it to be best for are line of work but after reading about Akido i believe that akido is more practical on the bases of not harmimg your enemy which means no brutality law suit i dael with fighting situation on the street alot (or trying to not) so would Akido be the MA for me any feedback will be welcome and thanks for all the people that post info it makes it very easy for people like me to get the right scoop on MA[/QUOTE]