How Arnis, a Filipino Martial Art, Keeps a Cop Strong

Deborah Clem and her husband, David Headley, are used to getting alarming calls from neighbors who see them in their yard swinging sticks at each other. The San Diego-area couple take classes in Arnis, a Filipino martial art that uses weapons, including rattan sticks. “One neighbor joked it would not be good for someone to try to break into our house,” says Ms. Clem. She and her husband both hold black belts, and both work in law enforcement in Southern California.

When Ms. Clem, 51 years old, was going through the police academy in 2001, she had a solid fitness level, but zero self-defense experience. “I hadn’t even taken a boxing class,” she says. She graduated but realized the skills she learned were pretty basic. “Those skills are also perishable if you don’t use them on a regular basis,” says Ms. Clem, who is now a police sergeant.

To protect herself on the job, Ms. Clem took up Brazilian jujitsu, which focuses on ground fighting and self-defense. She signed up for classes in 2004 and within two weeks she knew she wanted to enter competitions. She has since competed in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation World Championships.

Through Brazilian jujitsu she learned about Filipino martial arts, which uses weapons (knives, swords, sticks) and empty-hand techniques (boxing, grappling), and is known as Arnis, Eskrima or Kali. In 2009, she and her husband started lessons. Ms. Clem says Arnis classes have improved her reaction time in the field and given her much more confidence.

Ms. Clem recalls one work situation where she was elbowed in the face. “A pop to the face is always shocking,” she says. But her martial-arts training helped her gather herself, think clearly and bring the person to the ground. “When a fight happens in the field, I know I can handle it,” she says.