Learning the Hard Way

Area officers undergo martial arts training

Kristi Richie
Minden Press Herald Staff

Law enforcement off officers from the big city were in small town Minden Tuesday for some very specialized training.

Members of the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force, including officers from Shreveport Police Department, the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office, Louisiana State Police and the DEA itself, trained for two hours with Isshinryu martial arts master Clyde Stanley.

"There is no finer resource in the area of self-defense than Clyde Stanley right here in little ole Minden," Keith Billiot, DEA Resident in Charge, said.  "We take advantage of Clyde's expertise.  It's just an enormous knowledge he has regarding takedown techniques and submission holds."
The DEA holds these training sessions several times each year with Stanley - sometimes in buildings or even in car scenarios.  Stanley's martial arts background gives officers some different techniques in apprehending suspects that aren't generally taught in regular police academies.

Tuesday's training consisted mainly of takedowns of suspects resisting arrest.
We worked on ways of getting the guy down on the ground, controlled, and handcuffed," Stanley said.  "We also worked on some submissions and cuffing techniques."
Stanley, a Master of Isshinryu Karate and an eighth degree black belt, has trained  police officers, sheriff's deputies, FBI agents, and SWAT team members, using martial arts moves in suspect takedowns.
The more we train at various seminars all over the United States, the more we realize how incredible he is as a master of Isshinryu,"

Billiot said.  "He's got such a knowledge of handholds and defensive tactics.  He's such an expert at it.  Things that are simple to him he shows us so quickly and easily.  Clyde is truly a great friend to us."

The DEA Task Force held a training session at Clyde Stanley's Karate and Self Defense Tuesday. Stanley and Daryn Clark, one of the school's black belts, assisted the task force with various take down and submission techniques. Some participants were (front, from left) Clark, Task Force Agent Randy Benton, DEA Group Supervisor Richard Childers, (back) Special Agent Mike Hembree, DEA Resident Agent in Charge Keith Billiot, Stanley, and DEA Group Supervisor Gary Hill. Others in attendance were undercover officers whose identities are guarded. Task force members included officers from the DEA, Caddo Sheriff's Office, Shreveport Police Department, and the Louisiana State Police.