The City of Dearborn Police Department recently hosted a monumental full-day seminar with Supreme Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje of the Pekiti Tirsia system of Kali. Participants included patrol officers, defensive tactics instructors, SWAT members, Canadian metro police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police personnel.
Following an introduction by Guro Jeff Davidson, chief instructor of the Michigan Pekiti Tirsia group, Tuhon Gaje began the seminar with graphic footage of knife wounds from the acclaimed Surviving Edged Weapons training film.
Tuhon Gaje then expounded on Pekiti Tirsia’s integral role in the international Law Enforcement community. As is known, so many police departments and anti-terrorism divisions the world over have adopted the methodology of the Filipino martial arts – and specifically Pekiti Tirsia – in the struggle to maintain law and order, and to protect the lives of both officers and citizenry in these tumultuous times. Assisted by Guro Jeff Davidson and senior instructors from the Michigan and Canadian Pekiti Tirsia groups, Tuhon Gaje relentlessly drilled the officers in attendance in: strategic footwork, edged weapon awareness, locking and controlling, speed-cuffing arrest procedure, and Tri-V methodology as adapted for tactical baton use.
One officer remarked at the close of the day “It is such an honor for someone of Grandmaster Gaje’s standing to share this material with us. This experience has opened my eyes in so many ways.” Another officer, requesting strict anonymity who regularly trains with the Michigan Pekiti Tirsia group had this to say “It was great to watch Guro Davidson take a beating for a change!”
The seminar was coordinated by Sgt. Jimmy Solomon of the Dearborn Police Department, and facilitated by Cpl. Steve Renico, a Dearborn SWAT operator and senior Pekiti Tirsia practitioner under Guro Jeff Davidson.