Course Instructors

Jeff Reese

Chuck Maiorana has been in law enforcement for nearly 30 years and is currently a 24 year veteran of the Pennsylvania State Police. He has been training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu since 2008 and is a Gracie NEPA purple belt under Jeff Reese.

Chuck is one of the premier defensive tactics instructors in the Pennsylvania State Police who has been a pioneer and the constant driving force in the implementation of Gracie Jiu Jitsu into the department’s defensive tactics program. He holds multiple instructor certifications from the Gracie family themselves and instructs weekly defensive tactics classes for the Pennsylvania State Police and local / municipal officers.

Chuck is also a certified instructor of our MOPETC approved / CLEE certified Gracie NEPA LEO Program and was instrumental in developing its curriculum alongside Jeff Reese. He also serves as an assistant jiu jitsu coach at the Gracie NEPA HQ Academy.

Chuck Maiorana

Jeff Reese is a black belt in Gracie Jiu-jitsu with over two decades of experience and has trained with two generations of the Gracie family with the privilege of having three time UFC champion and hall of fame fighter Royce Gracie as a primary mentor.

Jeff has worked with officers from various departments and agencies including PSP, USP Canaan, Pennsylvania Probation and Parole, DCNR, Scranton PD, Wilkes-Barre PD and many more local municipalities. In 2023 Jeff received a civil service commendation from the Pennsylvania State Police for his dedication to working with law enforcement.

Jeff is among the most sought after defensive tactics instructors in Pennsylvania and has championed the implementation of Gracie Jiu Jitsu into various department’s defensive tactics programs. He holds instructor certifications from the Gracie family themselves and instructs daily defensive tactics classes at Gracie NEPA HQ in Olyphant.

De-escalation Culture

Course Foundations

Critical Thinking

Community Optics

Injury Reduction

people walking on grey concrete floor during daytime
people walking on grey concrete floor during daytime
police car at street
police car at street

The mindset is not “What is the highest level of justifiable force for this altercation?” but instead, “What is the lowest level of force needed to neutralize the threat and take a subject into custody?”

Officers are taught how to calmly and efficiently manage physical confrontation, through proper training they are able to maintain the cognitive function to make sound decisions in the most stressful circumstances.

Use force that is perceived as inhumane or excessive fractures community relations. This course instructs techniques that are humane in their application and benign in appearance and therefore far less likely to incite community backlash.

Due to the control-based nature of the curriculum, published data at agencies where officers engage in regular jiu-jitsu practice has revealed a reduction in officer field injuries by as much as 48% and reduction in subject injuries by as much as 53%.

Gracie NEPA LEO “Train the Trainer” MPOETC accredited course (cleo1747) consists of 40 hours of lessons that not only examines the most common scenarios law enforcement professionals encounter in a hands-on situation with a non-compliant subject but also uniquely prepares the officer (even one with absolutely no previous jiu-jitsu experience) with instruction skills to competently teach other officers within their organization.

COURSE GOAL: To teach students the necessary tactical knowledge and skills to safely and effectively control and arrest a combative subject across five distict phases of a combative altercation, as well as how to teach these skills to their own students.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:
• Students will demonstrate a minimum standard of arrest and control skills with every technique in each of the five technical blocks presented, including:
◦ Body physics and dynamics
◦ Balance, stances, and movement
◦ Handcuffing
◦ Searches
◦ Takedowns
◦ Ground control and escapes
◦ Weaponless defense
◦ Tactical de-escalation/verbal commands
◦ Tactical communication skills and techniques

• Students will demonstrate a minimum standard of presentation skills, command of adult learning concepts while teaching the above listed topics.

COURSE MINIMUM TOPICS:
a) Use of force scalability
b) Safety orientation and warm-up(s)
c) De-escalation/Verbal commands - in exercise(s)
d) Handcuffing - in exercise(s)
e) Subject's Actions and Officer's response to force
f) Control/Takedown - in exercise(s) Verbal command
g) Class exercises/Student Evaluation/Testing
h) Adult Learning Concepts/ Scalfolding Formula

Daily Course Structure:
Morning Block Students will be presented with and actively practice arrest and control skills with every technique in each of the five technical blocks presented throughout the week.

Lunch

Afternoon Block Students will be presented with and guided through the teaching methodologies as they actively instruct both small and large groups the lessons from the morning block in each of the five technical blocks presented throughout the week.

Course Cost: $600

Course Description

gracienepagrappling@gmail.com