TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) - At this week long class, officers are hitting the books, and the exercise mats.

It's part of a training program known as Strategic Self Defense and 
Grappling Tactics, or SSGT.

The course was developed by martial arts expert Johnny Smith

Participants in this class are SSGT instructors.  They will take what 
they have learned back to their agencies and teach officers self 
defensive tactics that can be used in virtually any situation.

"If an officer is tackled, subject tries to tackle them to the ground, 
if subject gets officer on teh ground, we show them how to deal with 
those situations," Smith said.

Law officers say SSGT is practical, easy to teach and  effective.  Joe 
White is with the DeKalb County Police Department in Georgia and says he has put to use in the field what he has learned through SSGT.

"Had a young man needed to be escorted out of a movie theater.  he was  asked to leave, didn't want to leave, we used the escort technique we had been practicing, he tried to pull away from me at which time I was able to execute the take down and get him in custody before he knew  what was going on, he asked me, what just happened.?" Officer White said.

SSGT instructor Carl Dabadie offered to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique on me. In a split second, I was on the ground.

"Biggest thing here is injuries to subject and officer, we don't want 
either one, and if we can come up with a system that uses minimal 
amount of force to overcome resistance, it works out better for 
everyone," Dabadie said.

SSGT instructors update their techniques on a regular basis. They say 
the simplicity of the course makes it easy for patrol officers to 
retain and put the training to good use, when it counts.

www.gossgt.com