Any advice for someone going against "REDMAN"

[Swole2005]

I'm in the police academy right now and we already had one week of Defensive Tactics. One week of that, and have numerous brusies. Next monday, we have to go fight the REDMAN for 4 minutes, 2 minutes on the ground, and 2 mintues standing. Any advice on surviving this torture. I keep hearing from the other class, that some people were knocked out. Any advice will be helpful.

I only have one week worth of learning in some defensive tactics but not sure if that is enough to fight off a skilled instructor. we have 3 more weeks left of DT but don't know why we are having to do redman this early.

Thanks for the advice ahead of time.

[biggesto]

Sounds simple but remember to breathe. The best way to do that is to give loud repetitive verbal commands, which you should do anyway. As long as you are yelling, then you will be breathing. We had guys out of breath very quickly because they forgot to breathe.

Don't forget kicks too. We were given a practice baton and most guys tried to beat Red Man to death. I got a couple quick kicks into the common peroneal and that kept him away from me.

Also, get behind him, position 2 1/2 or 3. Red Man is less mobile than you are

[Quopper]

Sounds simple but remember to breathe. The best way to do that is to give loud repetitive verbal commands, which you should do anyway. As long as you are yelling, then you will be breathing. We had guys out of breath very quickly because they forgot to breathe.

Don't forget kicks too. We were given a practice baton and most guys tried to beat Red Man to death. I got a couple quick kicks into the common peroneal and that kept him away from me.

Also, get behind him, position 2 1/2 or 3. Red Man is less mobile than you are

Good advice! I didn't do Redman in the academy, because we learned Koga not PPCT. But once in the dept, I only had 3 days of PPCT and the following month dept training was Redman. Talk about being freaked out! I didn't know how I would stay alive. But the kicks helped me tremendously!!! I am NOT a very big girl, and the kicks were about the only thing that kept me in the game, besides trying to stay at the 2 1/2. On the ground, remember, he can't move well, be quick, but be on target, the problem with Redman is you can't really hurt them, but they can hurt you. So deliver all of your strikes and kicks like you actually intend to hit the person standing 4 feet behind the Redman. Make them mean, and make them ALL count!

Good Luck!

[Bodie]

Take the beating like a man. There are real guys you'll meet on the street that won't stop kicking your *** because a whistle blows.

[CarCop]

Different philosophy

Some may not agree but here goes: Redman is not a game. Sure it's fun and all but in your shoes right now you are supposed to be learning. Don't look at it as "How can I survive redman?" If you look at it that way then your looking for quick answers to get you through a 4 minute fight.

Instead: Look at it as a real fight. This is one oportunity in which you will be able to look back at yourself and evaluate your weaknesses. You don't get many times to paly for "real" and see what needs fixing.

I promise you this, when your on the street and get into a fight, the suspect is not going to stop at 4 minutes (long time by the way) and is not going to be wearing any red padded gear. It'll hurt and if your not ready, it could kill. Don't look for answers, get your answers from the results.

Like Bodie said : Take an *** whopping like a man!

[USAcop]

Be psyched up before you duel with the redman. Pound your head on the wall or whatever psyches you up.

Redman always seem to be ready for the angle kicks because those hurt after awhile. make sure you don't telegraph them. angle kicks are one of the most effective.

They want you to use the PPCT stuff as much as possible.

Do knee strikes on the common perroneal (thigh) or whereever you can strike. those hurt and work well. Keep doing the strikes until they go down. Once they are down handcuff them. don't stand around admiring your work

palm heel strikes are effective and one of the safest strikes for the officer.

Expect the unexpected and plan accordingly.

Don't grab *** it have a plan.

The redman encounter should be tough enough and place you in such a position that you are pinned and cant do anything and have to fight your way out. they want to see if you want to give up.

You will enjoy watching the videos of redman afterwards. Some of those redman videos are some of the funniest things you will ever see.

Hopefully you have the type of academy where you have your redman encounter and than you immediately run down to the range and shoot.

[6233108]

Try to get REDMANS back and work him into a naked choke...Game Over
Knees to the head knock the stuffing out of the guy inside of REDMAN too.

I agree it is no game so end it as quickly as possible......Love to see REDMAN tap out

[TPM]

Redman

Remember to breath, use loud verbal commands and be aggressive. Use all your tools personal weapons, baton and OC. When the Redman attacks move in a lateral motion to his strong or support side. If you just step back the Redman will overun you. You cannot control a situation if your not in control of yourself.

If you end up on the ground lay on your back and fight. That way you can use kicks, punches, baton, and handgun.

I can tell you from expierence the student will find every crack in the Redman suite. I been hurt several times while wearing the Redman suite for a simulation class.

No matter what happens never give up the fight!

[JRT6]

I'm not a fan of redman or the fist suit. It has it's place but the BG on the street isn't wearing padding and won't just let you strike him un-answered. In other words a padded up dude is gonna react a lot diferently than a non-padded person to your strikes and a BG is not gonna stand there and take it while you whale away and try to find something that works. The Redman I did years ago was a joke, I put the guy in a bear hug and held him there until the time ran out, how realistic is that?

I agree with the other posts that the biggest threat of suit is physcological and there is some value in that especially in this generation of new cops who were never in a fight at kids.

[kdt021]

In the academy we did what the instructor called SAD day. (Sudden Attack Defense). It went like this:

1. Run up and down 3 sets of stairs 3 times
2. Enter a black room keeping your eyes closed
3. Do 10 push ups and 10 jumping jacks, then you are guided to the center of the room
4. The lights come on and...BOOM 3 instructors in REDMAN ready to kick your ***.
5. We had to do varing scenarios 4-5 times. (you only did the stairs the inital trip but the PU and JJ were repeated before each scenario in addition to starting with your eyes closed in a dark room). One you started on the ground, the other they were in front of you, some in back, etc....
6. At the end, you had to fill out a questionare on what music was playing (they had music blaring), and what movie was playing on the screen (it was full metal jacket). This illustrated how you get tunnel vision and auditory exclusion. I happened to notice the movie at the very end as I was leaving the room. I had no idea it was on and FMJ is one of my favorite movies.

[shsabres]

I remember going against the redman too...we had to go through all kinds of commands to find a "key" for him to do what we tell him....we also had pepper spray too..it was fun having partners too, however, my partner was stupid...he'd try something like pepperspray and then when that didnt work he'd throw it to the ground....and then go for something else, so Im sitting there grabbing the stuff so it doesnt get used on me.

[IhPj]

I'm not sure how exactly OST is conducted throughout the US, but you should all remember that some people come into the Police Academy never actually having been in a 'fight' or a confrontational situation. You might suggest they take the *** whooping 'like a man' -which is all well and good, but if you've never had your *** whooped it can be difficult.

I remember at Hendon (which is the Academy for the London Metropolitan Police) one of our OST instructors dressed up fully in the FIST suit and we (as Recruits) had to deal with them. Invariably, within 45 seconds most people were tired after delivering about half a dozen full power strikes and clear verbal commands and how they let their defences drop due to tiredness and as observers we could see how tunnel vision they had become because they would not see the second instrucotr come up from the blind side etc.

Even if it is a simulated environment, it gives someone an idea of what to expect. Scary but most definitely a valuebale learning exercise.

[pumpkin]

Remember to use the bathroom before

[JJS]

Im kinda surprised no one gave you the #1 rule, keep your head down and your hands up. You will never make it through a hand to hand fight with your hands down low and your chin sticking out. Your just asking to get knocked on your butt if you do that.