
Mike Malpass worked in law enforcement as a police officer in Arizona from 1996-2022. During his career, he held positions as a patrol officer, Tactical Training Detail as an instructor and later assigned to his department’s S.W.A.T. team as a tactical operator, in 2005. Prior to that, he was a police officer for the Dublin, Ohio Police Department since 1992. His most recent assignment was to the police training academy as a lead defensive tactics instructor where he also conducted a neuroscience study on training the brain for better decisions under stress. In 2019, he published his first book, Taming the Serpent: How Neuroscience Can Revolutionize Modern Law Enforcement Training. He retired from the police department and published his second book, Fall Seven, Rise Eight. A Kaizen Approach to Law Enforcement and Life in 2022.
Mike is a five-time national kickboxing champion. He is a sixth-degree black belt in the Burmese art of Bando under Dr. Maung Gyi and a first-degree black belt in Shotokan and Isshinryu Karate. As well as the Naban grappling found in the Burmese Bando system, Mike has also studied and practiced Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling, Sambo and Brazilian Jujitsu. He has also achieved the status of Full Instructor of Combat Systema under Kevin Secours, Integrated Fighting Systems, in Montreal, Canada.
Mike holds the following certifications from the State of Arizona through AZ POST: Lead Defensive Tactics Instructor, Impact Weapons Instructor, Firearms Instructor, Taser Instructor, Force on Force Instructor, Level 1 Grenadier Instructor, Distraction Devices Instructor High-Risk Traffic Stops Instructor. |
Prior to being assigned to the S.W.A.T Unit, Mike was assigned to the department's Tactical Training Detail for four years where he taught courses in: Building Search, Active Shooter Response, Tactical Handgun, and Patrol Vehicle Tactics. He also holds the Force Science Instructor Certification.
Mike also authored many lesson plans that are approved through AZ POST to be taught to his agency and to law enforcement personnel from numerous agencies in Arizona, as well as military personnel prior to deployment overseas. These courses include: De-escalation, Neuroscience for Fear Management and Conflict Resolution, Ground Survival, Advanced Defensive Tactics Concepts, Dignitary Protection Defensive Tactics, Rifle Retention, Edged Weapons Defense, Team Arrest Tactics and Women's Self-Defense classes. |
In 1989, Mike earned his bachelor's degree in Exercise Physiology from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Building on his education, law enforcement career and fighting experience in boxing, kick-boxing, and mixed martial arts fighting, Mike has integrated modern neuroscience with tactical skills into a reality-based training system designed for real-world force encounters. |
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