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The core fundamentals of the ISR Matrix LE were gradually
developed since 1996 by Luis Gutierrez through his experiences
working alongside law enforcement and corrections officers
to better improve upon their hand to hand and defensive tactics.
The process initially began with several peace officers
asking him how the material they were training at his self-defense
academy would or could possibly translate to the specific
scenarios faced by them on a daily basis. Intrigued by the
variables, limitations, and most importantly, their sincerity
and passion for such material, Luis decided to start meeting
with them after daily training sessions, on off days, and
during their lunch breaks.
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| Having spent most of his adult life at night
clubs and working alongside doormen, bouncers, and security
personnel, Luis had already accumulated quite an extensive
collection of experiences dealing with uncooperative, resisting,
and aggressive subjects and immediately recognized the direct
applicable relevancy of those experiences as officers began
to share similar tales. Though the breadth and scope of their
responsibilities and liabilities greatly dwarfed those of
security personnel, the task at hand to modify and transform
the subject and crowd control tactics specifically for law
enforcement brought training to an entirely new and promising
world of possibilities. |
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Informal and experiential at first, they simply trained and
drilled scenarios bringing in every imaginable variable they
could come up with and tried and tested as many options as
they could bring to the table. With the initial emphasis on
realism and improvisation under pressure and stress, the early
sessions were extremely demanding and challenging to all those
involved. Hand to hand, weapons, tools, duty belts, specific
and spontaneous scenarios, and single and multiple assailants
were all trained with complete contact and full intent. Their
will and new found passion to train outside of the usual parameters
of martial arts and self-defense and through the self-imposed
barriers of traditional defensive tactics coupled with the
luxury and freedom of a training facility open exclusively
for that purpose brought them instant revelations as to what
worked and what certainly never ever stood the slightest chance
to.
Once it was really on, what was supposedly possible quickly
became what was highly probable and all the theoretical
and psychological preparation in the world did not ready
them for what they rudely discovered about their own capabilities
or lack there of. They found themselves on the ground or
back stepping and covering blindly, immobilized or in a
frenzied panic, using no force or going lethal by default.
They were literally struck, pummeled and overwhelmed with
non-thought and yet poorer action. Transporters and escorts
became sloppy boxing matches, wrist locks and restraints
turned to flashlights and batons to the skull, side arms
became targets or quickly found a target and escalation
and de-escalation was measured by the speed of incapacitation.
Nothing to a knock out was the apparently the current use
of force module played out in real time, against real resistance,
and with real consequences. Certainly not what it was originally
intended to be and hence the challenge to recover what was
lost along the way...reality.
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After these first harsh realizations the
process forward to evolve and develop functional tactics
and psychological efficiency under the duress of intense
conflicts became the sole priority of the training group.
The training started to get structured around specific pressures
and the integration of what law enforcement protocols originally
intended for officers to specifically attend to and perform
while facing them. Actuality became forefront in referencing
what worked and did not. Performance and ability dictated
the what, when, and how tactics were used and within what
levels of resistance encountered. Function formed a new
model and measure for tactics and training methods and eventually
a new living matrix was slowly found growing from the seemingly
atrophied and impotent remnants of the old.
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Over the years this hard earned and passionate reviving of
the use of force continuum, or the new matrix within the old
as it has come to be known, would eventually become the ISR;
a living, adaptable, and intricate matrix forged and refined
by function and actuality that gives vitality and life to
the force continuum when interwoven throughout it. Morally
and legally defensible, time tried and tested, tactically
sound and readily transferable, the ISR is the culmination
of a long working process that now enables and empowers officers
to perform their jobs efficiently and confidently with the
direct and accessible reliability of field tested experiences,
real performance, and first hand familiarity to support their
tactics and training principles.
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