Erwin Ballarta is the executive director of the Texas Police Association, a 501(c)(3) association founded in 1895 with the main purpose of promoting professionalism in law enforcement. Ballarta was previously the Executive Vice President of Capitol Strategic Operations He is a

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

expert in Pekiti Tirsia Kali and various weapons. Ballarta has taught hand-to-hand combat and weapon tactics to the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

, the

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Highway patrol A highway patrol, or state patrol is either a police unit created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways, or a detail within an existing local or regional police agency that is prima ...

, and various

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

personnel and has been a

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and various celebrities. He was a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

with the

Texas Department of Public Safety The Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas, commonly known as the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), is a department of the state government of Texas. The DPS is responsible for statewide law enforcement and driver license adminis ...

(DPS), where he was the Recruit School Coordinator and Defensive Tactics Coordinator for the Training Academy. He retired from the Texas D.P.S. at the end of August, 2008. He is also president of the Austin Filipino American Association and the executive director of the Texas Kali Association.

Martial arts

Ballarta began his training in 1974 under Fred Tolentino in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

in a family style of

Arnis Arnis, also known as Kali or Eskrima/Escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines. The three are roughly interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines (" Filipino Martial Arts", or FMA), which em ...

. In 1975, he met Leo T. Gaje Jr. and began training during frequent trips to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1977, Ballarta fought in the first

full contact ''Full Contact'' () is a 1992 Hong Kong action film produced and directed by Ringo Lam, and starring Chow Yun-fat, Simon Yam, and Anthony Wong. Plot The first part of the movie takes place in Bangkok, Thailand. Gou Fei's (Chow Yun-fat) frie ...

Arnis tournament in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the Palarong Pilipino Pekiti-Tirsia tournament. Ballarta won first place as the first Filipino American full contact Arnis champion at the Philippine Embassy in New York City. During these early years of Pekiti-Tirsia in the U.S., he and Tom Bisio traded the champions' trophy back and forth each year at the tournament. Erwin's titles also include the 1980 Grand Champion (Great Gorge,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

) and the 1981 U.S. Midwest Champion.

Law enforcement

In 1982, Ballarta moved to

Big Spring, Texas Big Spring is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Texas, United States, at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 87 and Interstate 20. With a population of 27,282 as of the 2010 census, it is the largest city between Midland to the west, A ...

to continue his training with Gaje. He was Billy McGrath's roommate during that time, and also shared a house with Ronnie Bautista and Lee Bonvillain for a few months. Bautista is a former sheriff's deputy from Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, and Bonvillain is a former police officer for the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Soon after arriving in Texas, Erwin became a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

with the Big Spring Police Department. He was soon promoted to the rank of Sergeant of the Patrol Division, then Crime Prevention and finally Criminal Investigation Divisions. From 1987 to the August, 2008, Ballarta was a State Trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) in positions that have included Staff Sergeant Governor's Protective Detail, Staff Sergeant DPS Training Academy, and rising to the position of Staff Lieutenant Defensive Tactics Coordinator at the DPS Training Academy. The Defensive Tactics Section offers instruction in legal

use of force The use of force, in the context of law enforcement, may be defined as the "amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject". Use of force doctrines can be employed by law enforcement officers and military perso ...

issues, custody death, baton tactics, OC Pepper Spray, empty hand self-defense, edge weapons defense, baton tactics, pressure points, survival ground tactics, handcuffing, and handgun retention. Among his many certifications are

Emergency medical technician An emergency medical technician (EMT), also known as an ambulance technician, is a health professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found working in ambulances. In English-speaking countries, paramedics are ...

certification and an Instructor's Certification with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Office of Standards and Education. He is an ASP Tactical

Baton Baton may refer to: Stick-like objects *Baton, a type of club *Baton (law enforcement) *Baston (weapon), a type of baton used in Arnis and Filipino Martial Arts *Baton charge, a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people *Baton (conductin ...

Instructor and a Chemical Aerosol Projector Instructor. In 2006, Ballarta received certification as an Arrest and Control Tactics Instructor at

FLETC The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) serves as an interagency law enforcement training body for 105 United States government federal law enforcement agencies. The stated mission of FLETC is to "...train those who protect our home ...

in Georgia.

Instruction

Ballarta has taught the following subjects at specialized schools. *

Edged weapon An edged weapon, or bladed weapon, is a melee weapon with a cutting edge. Bladed weapons include swords, daggers, knives, and bayonets. Edged weapons are used to cut, hack, or slash; some edged weapons (such as many kinds of swords) may also permit ...

Defense,

Philippine National Police The Philippine National Police ( fil, Pambansang Pulisya ng Pilipinas, acronymed as PNP) is the armed national police force in the Philippines. Its national headquarters is located at Camp Crame in Bagong Lipunan ng Crame, Quezon City. Current ...

*Defensive Tactics Instructors Course,

Quantico, Virginia Quantico ( or ; formerly Potomac) is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 480 at the 2010 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, DC, bordered by the Potomac River to the east a ...

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

Recruit School, (also at Quantico) *DPS

SWAT Team In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

*DPS

Narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

Agents *DPS Criminal Law Enforcement Agents *Improvised Survival Weaponry,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Federal Police *DPS Narcotics Agents (TNCP) *

Handgun A handgun is a short- barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ...

retention *DPS recruit schools *DPS narcotics *Officer survival schools *DPS SWAT *

Tactics *DPS Recruit School *Midland Sheriff's Office *Women's Self Protection, Sul Ross University *DPS employees, Big Spring, TX. Midland, TX. * Oleoresin Capsicum spray (OC) training classes *Survival Ground Tactics He has been recognized by the FBI Training Academy, Quantico, VA. for his efforts and contribution in the field of Defensive Tactics and developed and instructed the Arnis Baton Tactics class for the Texas DPS Troopers Officer Survival Course (implemented statewide). Before joining the State Police Ballarta was the Head Instructor for Safety Baton Tactics, Permian Basin Law Enforcement Academy. In 1997, Ballarta helped establish a formal agency alliance between the

and Texas DPS.

Instructional controversy

In the A-2005 DPS Recruit School, Ballarta was the instructor during full-contact fighting training called "Active Countermeasures". During this fight, Trooper Trainee Jimmy Carty was fatally injured, dying 10 days later. According to sworn statements, Ballarta was informed of the mis-match in skills of Carty and his opponent, but refused to schedule a different opponent. Ballarta was also the referee during this match and had several opportunities to end the match when it was apparent that Carty was overwhelmed. Since this incident, the DPS had an outside consultant review the training program. After review, the program was modified to mirror the Arrest and Control Tactics of FLETC. The widow of Jimmy Carty has filed a "wrongful death" lawsuit against the DPS. Case no. 11–40253, Christy Carty V. Texas Department of Public Safety, et al. has a final disposition filed with the 5th Circuit Court on March 14, 2012. Document: 00511788802 indicates the case was dropped. "For the reasons above, we REVERSE and RENDER in favor of Defendants on the remaining claim against them based on qualified immunity. We REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion." 6 This court ruled that the district court abused its discretion in not addressing Defendants’ motion for Plaintiff to file a reply under Fed. R. Civ. P. 7(a) to Defendants’ answer raising the qualified immunity defense and instructed the district court to order Plaintiff to file such a reply."

Personal security

Ballarta is also head of security for cyclist

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 Tour de ...

. Ballarta performed security duty for

References

External links

Texas Police AssociationTactical Kali
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballarta, Erwin American municipal police officers American state police officers Bodyguards Filipino eskrimadors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Big Spring, Texas