#16: Dexter Fletcher – Form Follows Function when Hunting Monsters

The Black Belt Podcast

“When you go into a Hostage Rescue you have to see it as if you are protecting or trying to save your own child, your own mother, your own brother. If you can’t put yourself in a situation to see it that way you can’t do that job. And that’s the way Miami Dade SWAT SRT, that is what our perspective was. The Job that we do is real, and you are going to have to perform. You are going to be put in situations where you have to respond at the highest level, and if you fall short someone loses their life. When you see the reality of life and death, and you are responsible for that, it puts a different level in you. You have a mindset that you cannot fail, there is no failure in this, if you fail you die, your teammates die, and more importantly the person you are trying to save dies.”
– Dexter Fletcher

My guest this episode is Dexter Fletcher, who served for 35 years in the Miami Dade Police Department, and 30 of those years on S.W.A.T. as part of their Special Response Team. He is a multi-discipline martial arts master with a 3rd Dan Black Belt in Nisie Goju Ruyu Karate & Ju Jitsu and a 5th Dan Black Belt in Nagasudo Ju Jitsu and Combative Arts. Mr. Fletcher specializes in training Police, SWAT, and Military Units Nationally and Internationally. He has first-hand experiences protecting Presidents, Popes, and Dignitaries. His highly decorated career has involved everything from frequent hostage rescue situations, to hunting fugitives, to protecting civilians from the monsters in this world.
This episode is all about the makings of a Guardian and what it takes to function at the highest levels in the most extreme and stressful environments. My key takeaway is that Form must Follow Function. In life and death situations when you are responsible for yourself, your teammates, and those you are protecting your training must prepare you to perform with zero room for failure. Hero’s like Dexter Fletcher are a very rare and humble bread, they are guardians who put the preservation of others over their own self-preservation. I consider Dexter Fletcher to be a Modern-Day Samurai, who lives by a strict code of conduct driven by a definiteness of purpose and a selflessness dedicated to service and the preservation of life. We can learn so much from being in the mere presence of such individuals, who truly walk the walk, I am humbled and honored to spend time with this remarkable man. Tune in for a life changing episode.