How martial arts benefits police tactics

Jeff Baker was working security at the Ultimate Fighting Championship in Charlotte when he fell in love.

It was the 1990s, and the UFC had recently popularized jiujitsu, a martial art and combat sport that focuses on ground fighting and holds.

"This giddy little Brazilian kid dominated," Baker said. "It truly shows where a small person could beat a much larger opponent."

Baker, then a Charlotte police officer, began learning jiujitsu in 2000. He took classes from martial arts expert Luis Togno, who was then holding classes in Gaston County.

It was there that he met Gastonia Police Officer Craig Lowrance. The two shared a passion for jiujitsu.

"Having been a small kid in high school, not so much as bullied but just intimidated, back in the '80s, you know, I kind of got to the point where I didn't like feeling that way and wanted to have a little more confidence. I got into martial arts in general," Lowrance said. "And then in '93, that's when the UFC came out, and that's when people started learning about this new art called jiujitsu."

Today, Baker has come full circle. Baker and his wife, Lynne Robinson, recently opened Gaston Jiu Jitsu Academy at 358 W. Main Ave. in downtown Gastonia. Lowrance is an instructor there, and together they train Gastonia police officers.

"If you do something you love, you never have to work a day in your life," Baker said. "I love jiujitsu. I believe in jiujitsu… It's very addictive... No matter what's going on in your life, you come in and forget about that, or somebody is going to crush you."

Baker's route to opening his own martial arts studio was circuitous.

A military veteran, he joined the Army in 1983 after attending and leaving two different colleges.

He decided to join the Army after watching the action movie "Rambo," and he became an Army Ranger, serving three years in active duty and four years as a reserve officer.

After serving in the Army, Baker attended Gaston College and studied criminal justice, and in 1989, he joined the then-Charlotte Police Department.

"I guess it's a civilian way of being in the military," he said of his work in law enforcement.

Baker eventually went back to school, earning a degree in sociology and psychology at Gardner Webb University.

He worked at the Charlotte Police Department, which eventually became the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, for around 14 years, and he became interested in jiujitsu after watching matches at the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

"It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen in my life," he said.

In the early 2000s, Baker left the police department and became a private investigator, work he did until 2020. He practiced jiujitsu off and on for around 15 years, and in 2017 he started training full-time, at the age of 56.

He began competing, and he earned his black belt in 2021. He is now a three-time International Brazilion Jiujitsu Federation world champion in his division, and he's also a six-time champion in a different tournament held by the IBJJF.

In 2021, Baker met Robinson, who has a doctorate in statistics and competes in jiujitsu, on social media, and the two married in 2023, becoming both partners in life and in business.

At Gaston Jiu Jitsu Academy, the couple offers adult and children's jiujitsu classes, a self defense class for women, as well as wrestling classes and specialized training for police officers.

Lowrance, who has worked at Gastonia Police Department since 2004, said that the training offered to police is especially helpful in preventing police shootings, as it teaches police how to physically de-escalate a situation without using their guns. The Gastonia Police Department requires all newly hired officers to complete the training.

Lowrance said that the Gastonia Police Department got the idea from a police department in Marietta, Georgia, that required jiujitsu training for new officers.

The Marietta Police Department reported that officers participating in the training reported a 48% reduction of injuries to officers using force and a 53% reduction of injuries to the person being arrested when force was required.

Lowrance said that the training at one point helped him subdue a man who fought him and reached for his gun.

"It's an answer to getting the job done more safely with less injury. Why would you not want to do it?" Lowrance said. "I recommend jiujitsu for all law enforcement."

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: How martial arts benefits police tactics